We present a new proof rule for proving almost-sure termination of probabilistic programs, including those that contain demonic non-determinism. An important question for a probabilistic program is whether the probability mass of all its diverging runs is zero, that is that it terminates “almost surely”. Proving that can be hard, and this paper presents a new method for doing so. It applies directly to the program’s source code, even if the program contains demonic choice. We use variant functions (a.k.a. “super-martingales”) that are real-valued and decrease randomly on each loop iteration; but our key innovation is that the amount as well as the probability of the decrease are parametric. We prove the soundness of the new rule, indicate where its applicability goes beyond existing rules, and explain its connection to Blackwell’s classical results on denumerable (non-demonic) Markov chains.
Thu 11 JanDisplayed time zone: Tijuana, Baja California change
13:40 - 15:20 | |||
13:40 25mTalk | A new proof rule for almost-sure termination Research Papers Annabelle McIver Macquarie University, Carroll Morgan University of New South Wales; Data 61, Benjamin Lucien Kaminski RWTH Aachen University; University College London, Joost-Pieter Katoen RWTH Aachen University | ||
14:05 25mTalk | Lexicographic Ranking Supermartingales: An Efficient Approach to Termination of Probabilistic Programs Research Papers | ||
14:30 25mTalk | Algorithmic Analysis of Termination Problems for Quantum Programs Research Papers Yangjia Li Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mingsheng Ying University of Technology Sydney | ||
14:55 25mTalk | Monadic refinements for relational cost analysis Research Papers Ivan Radicek TU Vienna, Gilles Barthe IMDEA Software Institute, Marco Gaboardi University at Buffalo, SUNY, Deepak Garg Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Florian Zuleger TU Vienna |