Applications of Games to Propositional Proof Complexity Alexander Hertel Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Computer Science University of Toronto 2008 In this thesis we explore a number of ways in which combinatorial games can be used to help prove results in the area of propositional proof complexity. The results in this thesis can be divided into two sets, the first being dedicated ...

We present a certified declarative first-order prover with equality based on John Harrison’s Handbook of Practical Logic and Automated Reasoning, Cambridge University Press, 2009. ML code reflection is used such that the entire prover can be executed within Isabelle as a very simple interactive proof assistant. As examples we consider Pelletier’s problems 1-46.

Passage-time densities are important for the detailed performance analysis of distributed computer and communicating systems. We provide a proof and demonstration of a practical iterative algorithm for extracting complete passage-time densities from expressive semi-Markov systems. We end by showing its application to a distributed web-server cluster model of 15.9 million states.

For all practical purposes, the Micali-Vazirani [MV80] general graph maximum matching algorithm is still the most efficient known algorithm for the problem. The purpose of this paper is to provide a complete proof of correctness of the algorithm in the simplest possible terms; graph-theoretic machinery developed for this purpose also helps simplify the algorithm.

Authenticated data structures are a model of computation where untrusted responders answer queries on a data structure on behalf of a trusted source and provide a proof of the validity of the answer to the user. We present a survey of techniques for designing authenticated data structures and overview their computational efficiency. We also discuss implementation issues and practical applications.

The present work in ̈estigates a way to produce circular polarization in the millimeter spectrum, using a Fresnel rhomb. It includes a theoretical de ̈elopment and its practical proof. Q 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 20: 353]357, 1999.

When rewriting a regular language with a left-linear term rewriting system, if the set of reachable terms is regular, we show that equational tree automata completion can compute it. This was known to be true for some known TRS classes preserving regularity, but was still an open question in the general case. The proof is not constructive: it assumes that the set of reachable terms is regular, ...

This paper studies sound proof rules for checking positive invariance of algebraic and semi-algebraic sets, that is, sets satisfying polynomial equalities and those satisfying finite boolean combinations of polynomial equalities and inequalities, under the flow of polynomial ordinary differential equations. Problems of this nature arise in formal verification of continuous and hybrid dynamical ...

We investigate unconditional security for message authentication protocols that are designed using two-channel cryptography. We look at both noninteractive message authentication protocols (NIMAPs) and interactive message authentication protocols (IMAPs). We provide a new proof of nonexistence of nontrivial unconditionally secure NIMAPs. This proof consists of a combinatorial counting argument ...