Algebraic and fixed point equations over inverse limits of algebras (Q1177146): Difference between revisions

Algebraic and fixed point equations over inverse limits of algebras have been studied extensively in the theory of semantics. It is possible to introduce a natural metric that takes into account the inverse limit structure of the given algebra. Systems of fixed point equations can then be viewed as ``contractions'' in the given metric, in which case, existence and uniqueness theorems from the theory of metric spaces are applicable in the context of semantics. The authors prove that a process is definable by a (finite) guarded system of equations if and only if it is definable by a single guarded equation. It is interesting to note that the related question ``if a process is the unique solution of a finite system of fixed point equations, is it the unique solution of finite guarded system of equations?'' (raised by the reviewer [Inf. Comput. 75, 264-288 (1987; Zbl 0626.68029)]) still remains open. In fact, the last reference solves this problem for systems consisting of a single equation.