Architectures in parametric component-based systems: Qualitative and quantitative modelling

One of the key aspects in component-based design is specifying the software architecture that characterizes the topology and the permissible interactions of the components of a system. To achieve well-founded design there is need to address both the qualitative and non-functional aspects of architectures. In this paper we study the qualitative and quantitative formal modelling of architectures applied on parametric component-based systems, that consist of an unknown number of instances of each component. Specifically, we introduce an extended propositional interaction logic and investigate its first-order level which serves as a formal language for the interactions of parametric systems. Our logics achieve to encode the execution order of interactions, which is a main feature in several important architectures, as well as to model recursive interactions. Moreover, we prove the decidability of equivalence, satisfiability, and validity of first-order extended interaction logic formulas, and provide several examples of formulas describing well-known architectures. We show the robustness of our theory by effectively extending our results for parametric weighted architectures. For this, we study the weighted counterparts of our logics over a commutative semiring, and we apply them for modelling the quantitative aspects of concrete architectures. Finally, we prove that the equivalence problem of weighted first-order extended interaction logic formulas is decidable in a large class of semirings, namely the class (of subsemirings) of skew fields.

Rank functions on triangulated categories

We introduce the notion of a rank function on a triangulated category 𝒞 {\mathcal{C}} which generalizes the Sylvester rank function in the case when 𝒞 = 𝖯𝖾𝗋𝖿 ⁢ ( A ) {\mathcal{C}=\mathsf{Perf}(A)} is the perfect derived category of a ring A. We show that rank functions are closely related to functors into simple triangulated categories and classify Verdier quotients into simple triangulated categories in terms of particular rank functions called localizing. If 𝒞 = 𝖯𝖾𝗋𝖿 ⁢ ( A ) {\mathcal{C}=\mathsf{Perf}(A)} as above, localizing rank functions also classify finite homological epimorphisms from A into differential graded skew-fields or, more generally, differential graded Artinian rings. To establish these results, we develop the theory of derived localization of differential graded algebras at thick subcategories of their perfect derived categories. This is a far-reaching generalization of Cohn’s matrix localization of rings and has independent interest.

Automorphisms of a Clifford-like parallelism

We focus on the description of the automorphism group Γ∥ of a Clifford-like parallelism ∥ on a 3-dimensional projective double space (ℙ(HF ), ∥ ℓ , ∥ r ) over a quaternion skew field H (of any characteristic). We compare Γ∥ with the automorphism group Γ ℓ of the left parallelism ∥ ℓ , which is strictly related to Aut(H). We build up and discuss several examples showing that over certain quaternion skew fields it is possible to choose ∥ in such a way that Γ∥ is either properly contained in Γ ℓ or coincides with Γ ℓ even though ∥ ≠ ∥ ℓ .

Hilbert’s 17th problem in free skew fields

This paper solves the rational noncommutative analogue of Hilbert’s 17th problem: if a noncommutative rational function is positive semidefinite on all tuples of Hermitian matrices in its domain, then it is a sum of Hermitian squares of noncommutative rational functions. This result is a generalisation and culmination of earlier positivity certificates for noncommutative polynomials or rational functions without Hermitian singularities. More generally, a rational Positivstellensatz for free spectrahedra is given: a noncommutative rational function is positive semidefinite or undefined at every matricial solution of a linear matrix inequality $L\succeq 0$ if and only if it belongs to the rational quadratic module generated by L. The essential intermediate step toward this Positivstellensatz for functions with singularities is an extension theorem for invertible evaluations of linear matrix pencils.