Options For Proofs: New Perspectives on Propositional Logic. Philosophers and logicians recognise that proof is important, but they do not agree on what proofs are. Recent research in logic has greatly expanded our notion of proof, but this research is not unified. We need a coherent, general and applicable concept of proof. This project will unify the literature on proof and bring these insights to bear in the philosophy of language. It will show how proof can help analyse many features of ....Options For Proofs: New Perspectives on Propositional Logic. Philosophers and logicians recognise that proof is important, but they do not agree on what proofs are. Recent research in logic has greatly expanded our notion of proof, but this research is not unified. We need a coherent, general and applicable concept of proof. This project will unify the literature on proof and bring these insights to bear in the philosophy of language. It will show how proof can help analyse many features of language (more than just logical constants) but that the role of inference does not justify one kind of proof in preference to others.Read moreRead less
Complexity in Algebra and Algebra in Complexity: the role of finite semigroups and general algebra. Algebra and logic form the mathematical framework for expressing and analysing algorithms and their difficulty. We can then scientifically analyse what makes some tasks more difficult than others. This project unifies parallel areas of algebra to focus on two key topics at this interface between algebra and computational complexity. As a flow on, our work can uncover new algorithms for solving ....Complexity in Algebra and Algebra in Complexity: the role of finite semigroups and general algebra. Algebra and logic form the mathematical framework for expressing and analysing algorithms and their difficulty. We can then scientifically analyse what makes some tasks more difficult than others. This project unifies parallel areas of algebra to focus on two key topics at this interface between algebra and computational complexity. As a flow on, our work can uncover new algorithms for solving constraint problems and for the study of formal languages.
With a team of top international researchers developing new interactions between mathematics and the study of algorithms, the project will foster a culture of innovation and bring Australia into the play in this internationally competitive area.Read moreRead less
Specifications, Proofs and Animations for Cryptographic Protocols. Cryptographic protocols are fundamental security tools for electronic communications. Despite years of intensive research it remains difficult to obtain high confidence in the security of almost any new protocol. Research in the computer security community has emphasised formal specifications and state based searching, while the cryptographic community has concentrated instead on complexity theoretic proofs. This project will un ....Specifications, Proofs and Animations for Cryptographic Protocols. Cryptographic protocols are fundamental security tools for electronic communications. Despite years of intensive research it remains difficult to obtain high confidence in the security of almost any new protocol. Research in the computer security community has emphasised formal specifications and state based searching, while the cryptographic community has concentrated instead on complexity theoretic proofs. This project will unify these two approaches for the first time by formally specifying and animating the very models used in cryptographic proofs. The result will be proofs that are uniquely accessible to practioners combined with increased confidence that the proofs are both correct and relevant.Read moreRead less
RichProlog, a System for Deducing, Inducing and Learning in the Declarative Programming Paradigm. The aim of the project is to contribute to bridge the gap between learning and logic, theoretically and practically. Our purpose is to extend considerably the scope of the declarative programming paradigm, and build a system that can be used to solve learning or discovery problems as encountered in Artificial Intelligence. The system will enable rapid prototyping when applied to problems involving d ....RichProlog, a System for Deducing, Inducing and Learning in the Declarative Programming Paradigm. The aim of the project is to contribute to bridge the gap between learning and logic, theoretically and practically. Our purpose is to extend considerably the scope of the declarative programming paradigm, and build a system that can be used to solve learning or discovery problems as encountered in Artificial Intelligence. The system will enable rapid prototyping when applied to problems involving deduction, induction, and nonmonotonic reasoning. We intend the system to become a standard tool for tackling a broad range of applications, and the underlying theory to provide new insights on the logical foundations of Artificial Intelligence.
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Early detection of component incompatibility in time-dependent computer architectures. Complex real-time systems are increasingly being built by integrating off-the-shelf components. There are obvious benefits to this approach, but the hidden costs associated with integration are still a major problem. Our proposed approach will enable early detection of integration problems, and thus provide potential for large cost savings. This brings with it clear benefits to industry. One industry that woul ....Early detection of component incompatibility in time-dependent computer architectures. Complex real-time systems are increasingly being built by integrating off-the-shelf components. There are obvious benefits to this approach, but the hidden costs associated with integration are still a major problem. Our proposed approach will enable early detection of integration problems, and thus provide potential for large cost savings. This brings with it clear benefits to industry. One industry that would benefit by such technology is the Australian Navy, which is increasingly being confronted with the challenge of integrating off-the-shelf components in large Naval Combat Systems. Read moreRead less
Reflection groups. The study of symmetry in geometrical and abstract contexts is a central issue in such diverse areas as mathematical physics, singularity theory, algebraic geometry, quantum groups and the study of knots and braids. Group theory provides the mathematical framework for the analysis of symmetry. Reflection groups, simple examples of which are the symmetry groups of the five platonic solids, play a key role in all of the areas mentioned above. Thus an improved understanding of ref ....Reflection groups. The study of symmetry in geometrical and abstract contexts is a central issue in such diverse areas as mathematical physics, singularity theory, algebraic geometry, quantum groups and the study of knots and braids. Group theory provides the mathematical framework for the analysis of symmetry. Reflection groups, simple examples of which are the symmetry groups of the five platonic solids, play a key role in all of the areas mentioned above. Thus an improved understanding of reflection groups will significantly enhance the development of several important theories.
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Increasing the effectiveness of quantitative verification. The ability to analyse the performance of complex systems and protocols is a vital part of the development of large-scale computer applications. Methods that improve the effectiveness of the analysis task would increase the competitiveness of the software industry, and would attract future development work (in complex systems) to Australia. The results of this project will have a direct influence on currently available design tools; the ....Increasing the effectiveness of quantitative verification. The ability to analyse the performance of complex systems and protocols is a vital part of the development of large-scale computer applications. Methods that improve the effectiveness of the analysis task would increase the competitiveness of the software industry, and would attract future development work (in complex systems) to Australia. The results of this project will have a direct influence on currently available design tools; the fact that Australian institutions will be (in part) responsible for key theoretical results in this growing field will strengthen Australia's position worldwide as an international centre for computer science.Read moreRead less
Simulation and verification of system-level specifications of requirements and constraints using Rosetta. Modern computer-based systems comprise a mixture of electronic hardware and embedded computer software that interacts with mechanical and other non-electrical subsystems. Future design capability will depend on being able to model the requirements and constraints of heterogeneous systems, so that they can be simulated and formally verified before being manufactured and deployed. This project ....Simulation and verification of system-level specifications of requirements and constraints using Rosetta. Modern computer-based systems comprise a mixture of electronic hardware and embedded computer software that interacts with mechanical and other non-electrical subsystems. Future design capability will depend on being able to model the requirements and constraints of heterogeneous systems, so that they can be simulated and formally verified before being manufactured and deployed. This project will develop techniques and software tools for simulation and verification based on the new Rosetta system-level design language. These tools will make the design of complex computer-based systems faster, more reliable and less costly by minimizing design errors early in the design flow.Read moreRead less
Security for Web Services. Web services, an emerging distributed computing paradigm, poses challenging problems in security, due to their dynamic decentralised scalable nature, operating over an untrusted Internet, for which no adequate solutions exist today. This research addresses the model, architecture and design of secure authorisation for web services. It achieves conceptual advances in terms of a flexible authorisation model, proposes a new XML based policy language, develops a comprehens ....Security for Web Services. Web services, an emerging distributed computing paradigm, poses challenging problems in security, due to their dynamic decentralised scalable nature, operating over an untrusted Internet, for which no adequate solutions exist today. This research addresses the model, architecture and design of secure authorisation for web services. It achieves conceptual advances in terms of a flexible authorisation model, proposes a new XML based policy language, develops a comprehensive security policy management framework, designs a distributed authorisation service and demonstrates a practical secure web service system in .NET.It presents a new approach to formally reasoning about conflict resolution policies with dynamic delegation.Read moreRead less
Integrating Model Checking and Knowledge Dynamics for System Verification. The task of system verification is to ensure the correctness of system design and specification in some automatic way. The aim of this project is to develop a new methodology and technology for computer software system verification by integrating traditional model checking approach and knowledge dynamics modeling. By deriving the results of this project, we will understand how model checking and knowledge dynamics modelin ....Integrating Model Checking and Knowledge Dynamics for System Verification. The task of system verification is to ensure the correctness of system design and specification in some automatic way. The aim of this project is to develop a new methodology and technology for computer software system verification by integrating traditional model checking approach and knowledge dynamics modeling. By deriving the results of this project, we will understand how model checking and knowledge dynamics modeling can be integrated for more effective software verification and modification, which will significantly improve current software design and development procedures, increase the correctness and stability of software systems, and provide high security for e-Commerce transaction systems.Read moreRead less