Time and logic: A calculus of binary events (Q1805011)

Time is not viewed as a fundamental notion but as a notion deduced from the concept of causality: ``First we introduce the notion of a binary event which generates a bit and thereby marks a point of time. Assuming causality between the binary events allows to map a coherent set of binary events into a simultaneity set of a single point of time. This set provides the base for the definition of an algebra over binary events and a logic over time-bound propositions''. A functional/operational complete and modular method of specification for processing systems can be derived. The modules are able to describe separately the liveness and, respectively, safety properties of the systems. The ``core'' concept introduced here is the so-called bent algebra (and, in fact, also the bent logic). The criticism of other existing time-dependent formalisms for analysing concurrent systems is ``tough'': ``As a conclusion, bent algebra is more general, more expressive and much easier to handle than temporal logics''; only by ``extending time to infinity we can construct a bridge from temporal logic to bent logic''.