Erich Grädel – författare

A central aim and ever-lasting dream of computer science is to put the development of hardware and software systems on a mathematical basis which is both firm and practical. Such a scientific foundation is needed especially for the construction of reactive programs, like communication protocols or control systems.For the construction and analysis of reactive systems an elegant and powerful theory has been developed based on automata theory, logical systems for the specification of nonterminating behavior, and infinite two-person games.The 19 chapters presented in this multi-author monograph give a consolidated overview of the research results achieved in the theory of automata, logics, and infinite games during the past 10 years. Special emphasis is placed on coherent style, complete coverage of all relevant topics, motivation, examples, justification of constructions, and exercises.

Finite model theory,as understoodhere, is an areaof mathematicallogic that has developed in close connection with applications to computer science, in particular the theory of computational complexity and database theory. One of the fundamental insights of mathematical logic is that our understanding of mathematical phenomena is enriched by elevating the languages we use to describe mathematical structures to objects of explicit study. If mathematics is the science of patterns, then the media through which we discern patterns, as well as the structures in which we discern them, command our attention. It isthis aspect oflogicwhichis mostprominentin model theory,“thebranchof mathematical logic which deals with the relation between a formal language and its interpretations”. No wonder, then, that mathematical logic, and ?nite model theory in particular, should ?nd manifold applications in computer science: from specifying programs to querying databases, computer science is rife with phenomena whose understanding requires close attention to the interaction between language and structure. This volume gives a broadoverviewof some central themes of ?nite model theory: expressive power, descriptive complexity, and zero–one laws, together with selected applications to database theory and arti?cial intelligence, es- cially constraint databases and constraint satisfaction problems. The ?nal chapter provides a concise modern introduction to modal logic,which emp- sizes the continuity in spirit and technique with ?nite model theory.

This book is addressed to all those - logicians, computer scientists, mathe­ maticians, philosophers of science as well as the students in all these disci­ plines - who may be interested in the development and current status of one of the major themes of mathematical logic in the twentieth century, namely the classical decision problem known also as Hilbert's Entscheidungsproblem. The text provides a comprehensive modern treatment of the subject, includ­ ing complexity theoretic analysis. We have made an effort to combine the features of a research monograph and a textbook. Only the basic knowledge of the language of first-order logic is required for understanding of the main parts of the book, and we use standard terminology. The chapters are written in such a way that various combinations of them can be used for introductory or advanced courses on undecidability, decidability and complexity of logical decision problems. This explains a few intended redundancies and repetitions in some of the chapters. The annotated bibliography, the historical remarks at the end of the chap­ ters and the index allow the reader to use the text also for quick reference purposes.

The annual conference of the European Association for Computer Science Logic (EACSL), CSL 2009, was held in Coimbra (Portugal), September 7–11, 2009. The conference series started as a programme of International Workshops on Computer Science Logic, and then at its sixth meeting became the Annual C- ference of the EACSL. This conference was the 23rd meeting and 18th EACSL conference; it was organized at the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of S- ence and Technology, University of Coimbra. In response to the call for papers, a total of 122 abstracts were submitted to CSL 2009of which 89 werefollowedby a full paper. The ProgrammeCommittee selected 34 papers for presentation at the conference and publication in these proceedings. The Ackermann Award is the EACSL Outstanding Dissertation Award for Logic in Computer Science. The awardrecipient for 2009 was Jakob Nordstr¨ om. Citation of the award, abstract of the thesis, and a biographical sketch of the recipient may be found at the end of the proceedings. The award was sponsored for the years 2007–2009 by Logitech S.A.