Merging frameworks for interaction (Q1037376)

Both Dynamic Epistemic Logic, DEL [see, e.g., \textit{H.~van Ditmarsch, W. van der Hoek} and \textit{B. Kooi}, Dynamic epistemic logic. Synthese Library 337. Dordrecht: Springer (2008; Zbl 1156.03015)], and Epistemic Temporal Logic, ETL [see, e.g., \textit{R.~Fagin, J. Y. Halpern, Y. Moses} and \textit{M. Y. Vardi}, Reasoning about knowledge. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (1995; Zbl 0839.68095)], are well-established formalisms for the purpose of describing and analyzing the dynamics of knowledge of communicating agents. In the first part of the readable paper under review, the interrelations between these frameworks are studied. To this end, the authors let a DEL model, \({\mathcal M}\), resulting from successive updates caused by certain events, be grounded on a corresponding concept of \textit{protocol}. It is then possible to assign an in a sense equivalent ETL model to \({\mathcal M}\), as is shown in the paper. On the other hand, the class of all ETL models originating from a DEL model in this way can be characterized in terms of well-investigated properties of multi-agent systems like synchronicity and perfect recall. -- Special emphasis is put on a simple version of DEL, the logic of public announcements, PAL, in the second part of the paper. The authors develop a temporal version of PAL by merging the ETL and the DEL approach to the extent that only protocols arising from public announcements are admitted. They provide an axiomatization of the resulting logic, TPAL, and prove a corresponding soundness and completeness theorem. In addition, they show that TPAL is decidable, consider a version involving the global modality, and connect TPAL with the original PAL. The paper is concluded by a detailed review of ongoing research and a list of open problems.