Level: M2
Contact: Uli Fahrenberg (uli@lmf.cnrs.fr)
Location: Laboratoire Méthodes Formelles, ENS Paris-Saclay
Keywords: Higher-dimensional automata; concurrency theory; automata theory
Description
Higher-dimensional automata (HDAs) are an extension of automata which allows to model concurrent and parallel executions. Like standard automata they consist of states and transitions, but also of higher-dimensional cells (squares, cubes, etc.) which model parallel execution of several events. This gives HDAs a somewhat geometric flavor.
Recent work has created a need for types of automata which are more general than HDAs: partial HDAs in which some faces may be missing; HDAs with silent transitions; and ST-automata which do away with the geometric intuition of HDAs altogether. The objectives of this internship are to clarify these notions and the relationship between them, to develop the language theory of these models, and to develop their applications.