CS735 Homework

Date of submission: 02 April 2016

1. Consider the relation sparse defined as follows. Let a = (a1 , . . . , ak ) and
b = (b1 , . . . bk ) be two tuples in Zk for some k N, then a sparse b iff
i, j {1, . . . , k}, (ai aj iff bi bj ) and (|ai aj | |bi bj |)
Prove that (Zk , sparse ) is a wqo.
2. Prove that the liveness problem (whether a net is live) for weighted Petri
nets cannot be decided using the coverabilty tree technique. Hint: see
Question 3 of practice problems posted online (i.e., can two nets have the
same coverability tree) and adapt its solution!
3. (Adapted from Questions 4 and 5 of practice problems given online) Given
a Petri net (N, m0 ) and a place p of N , consider the persistence problem:
Do all executions (firing sequences starting from m0 ) of N reach a marking
in which p has at most 1 token?
(a) Prove that the persistence problem is decidable for Petri nets.
(b) Generalize the above problem to all well-structured transition systems. What is the compatibility notion required and what are the
effectivity conditions?
4. A Petri net can be thought of as a vector addition system. The aim of this
question is to formalize this relation. An n-dimensional vector addition
system with states (VASS) is a tuple V = (Q, , q0 ), where Q is a finite
set of states, q0 is the initial state and Q Zn Q is the transition
relation. A configuration of V is a pair (q, v) in Q Nn . An execution of
V is a sequence of configurations (q0 , v0 ) . . . (qm , vm ) such that q0 = 0 and
for each i, (qi1 , vi vi1 , qi ) is in .
(a) Show that any VASS can be simulated by a Petri net.
(b) Show that any Petri net can be simulated by a VASS.
(c) An n-dimensional vector addition system (VAS) is a pair (v0 , W )
where v0 is the initial vector and W Z is the set of transition
vectors. An execution of (v0 , W ) is a sequence v0 v1 . . . vm where
vi N for all 0 i m and vi vi1 W for all 0 < i m. Show
that any n-dimensional VASS V can be simulated by an (n + 3)dimensional VAS (v0 , W ) for a suitable choice of v0 and W . That
is,
i. Show that any execution of V can be simulated by (v0 , W ) for a
suitable v0 .
ii. Conversely, show that this VAS (v0 , W ) simulates V faithfully.