Abstract Many theorems involving special functions such as ln, exp and sin can be proved automatically by MetiTarski: a resolution theorem prover modified to call a decision procedure for the theory of real closed fields. Special functions are approximated by upper and lower bounds, which are typically rational functions derived from Taylor or continued fraction expansions. The decision procedure simplifies clauses by deleting literals that are inconsistent with other algebraic facts. MetiTarski simplifies arithmetic expressions by conversion to a recursive representation, followed by flattening of nested quotients. Applications include verifying hybrid and control systems.

Abstract. Polynomial constraint-solving plays a prominent role in several areas of engineering and software verification. In particular, polynomial constraint solving has a long and successful history in the development of tools for proving termination of programs. Well-known and very efficient techniques, like SAT algorithms and tools, have been recently proposed and used for implementing polynomial constraint solving algorithms through appropriate encodings. However, powerful techniques like the ones provided by the SMT (SAT modulo theories) approach for linear arithmetic constraints (over the rationals) are underexplored to date. In this paper we show that the use of these techniques for developing polynomial constraint solvers outperforms the best existing solvers and provides a new and powerful approach for implementing better and more general solvers for termination provers.

We present a construction technique for abstract interpretations which is generic in the choice of data abstractions. The technique is specialised on C/C++ code, internally represented by the GIMPLE control flow graph as generated by the gcc compiler. The generic interpreter handles program transitions in a symbolic way, while recording a history of symbolic memory valuations. An abstract interpreter is instantiated by selecting appropriate lattices for the data types under consideration. This selection induces an instance of the generic transition relation. All resulting abstract interpretations can handle pointer arithmetic, type casts, unions and the aliasing problems involved. It is illustrated how switching between abstractions can improve the efficiency of the verification process. The concepts described in this paper are implemented in the test automation and static analysis tool RT-Tester which is used for the verification of embedded systems in the fields of avionics, railways and automotive control.

We present the circuit-level verification of a common arbiter circuit. To perform this verification, we address three issues. First, we present a specification for the arbiter and show how this specification amounts to a set of topological constraints on trajectories of the continuous model. Second, we show that computing bounding sets for these trajectories is complicated by stiffness of the differential equation model and present novel techniques for handling stiff equations in a formal verification context. Finally, we note that while no arbiter can be guaranteed to always grant a pending request, we can show liveness in the presence of concurrent requests in an “almost surely ” sense. I.

Abstract. We present a new algorithm for deciding satisfiability of nonlinear arithmetic constraints. The algorithm performs a Conflict-Driven Clause Learning (CDCL)-style search for a feasible assignment, while using projection operators adapted from cylindrical algebraic decomposition to guide the search away from the conflicting states. 1

Abstract. Specifications and implementations of complex physical systems tend to differ as low level effects such as sampling are often ignored when high level models are created. Thus, the low level models are often not exact refinements of the high level specification. However, they are similar to those. To bridge the gap between those models, we study robust simulation relations for hybrid systems. We identify a family of robust simulation relations that allow for certain bounded deviations in the behavior of a system specification and its implementation in both values of the system variables and timings. We show that for this relaxed version of simulation a broad class of logical properties is preserved. The question whether two systems are in simulation relation can be reduced to a reach avoid problem for hybrid games. We provide a sufficient condition under which a winning strategy for these games exists.

Abstract Boolean constraints play a fundamental rôle in optimization and constraint satisfaction. The resolution of these constraints has been the subject of intense and successful work during the past decade, and SAT solvers have reached a spectacular maturity. This chapter gives a brief overview of the relevant literature on modern SAT solvers and on the recent efforts to better integrate Boolean reasoning with other constraint satisfaction techniques. As a case study that illustrates the use of SAT and CP we consider an application in computational biology: the task to build gene regulatory networks (GRNs). We report on experiments made on this problem with a combined SAT/CP approach. 1

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This paper presents a bounded model checking (BMC) tool called hydlogic for hybrid systems. It translates a reachability problem of a nonlinear hybrid system into a predicate logic formula involving arithmetic constraints, and checks the satisfiability of the formula based on a satisfiability modulo theories (SMT) method. We tightly integrate (i) an incremental SAT solver to enumerate the possible sets of constraints and (ii) an interval-based solver for hybrid constraint systems (HCSs) to solve the constraints described in the formulas. The HCS solver verifies the occurrence of a discrete change by enclosing continuous states that may cause the discrete change by a set of boxes. We adopt the existence property of a unique solution in the boxes computed by the HCS solver as (i) a proof of the reachability of a model, and (ii) a guide in the over-approximation refinement procedure. Our hydlogic implementation successfully handled several examples including those with nonlinear constraints.

Abstract Polynomial constraint solving plays a prominent role in several areas of hardware and software analysis and verification, e.g., termination proving, program invariant generation and hybrid system verification, to name a few. In this paper we propose a new method for solving non-linear constraints based on encoding the problem into an SMT problem considering only linear arithmetic. Unlike other existing methods, our method focuses on proving satisfiability of the constraints rather than on proving unsatisfiability, which is more relevant in several applications as we illustrate with several examples. Nevertheless, we also present new techniques based on the analysis of unsatisfiable cores that allow one to efficiently prove unsatisfiability too for a broad class of problems. The power of our approach is demonstrated by means of extensive experiments comparing our prototype with state-of-the-art tools on benchmarks taken both from the academic and the industrial world. Keywords Non-linear arithmetic · constraint solving · polynomial constraints · SAT modulo theories · termination · system verification 1