Decidable extensions of Hennessy-Milner logic

Abstract

We propose a new class of logics for specifying and model-checking properties of distributed systems - Dynamic Epistemic Spatial Logics. They have been designed as extensions of Hennessy-Milner logic with spatial operators (inspired by Cardelli-Gordon-Caires spatial logic) and epistemic operators (inspired by dynamic-epistemic logics). Our logics focus on observers, agents placed in different locations of the system having access to some subsystems. Treating them as epistemic agents, we develop completely axiomatized and decidable logics that express the information flow between them in a dynamic and distributed environment. The knowledge of an epistemic agent, is understood as the information, locally available to our observer, about the overall-global system. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2006.