Fixed Point Certificates for Reachability and Expected Rewards in MDPs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chatterjee, Krishnendu, Quatmann, Tim, Schäffeler, Maximilian, Weininger, Maximilian, Winkler, Tobias, Zilken, Daniel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chatterjee, Krishnendu
Quatmann, Tim
Schäffeler, Maximilian
Weininger, Maximilian
Winkler, Tobias
Zilken, Daniel
author_facet Chatterjee, Krishnendu
Quatmann, Tim
Schäffeler, Maximilian
Weininger, Maximilian
Winkler, Tobias
Zilken, Daniel
contents The possibility of errors in human-engineered formal verification software, such as model checkers, poses a serious threat to the purpose of these tools. An established approach to mitigate this problem are certificates -- lightweight, easy-to-check proofs of the verification results. In this paper, we develop novel certificates for model checking of Markov decision processes (MDPs) with quantitative reachability and expected reward properties. Our approach is conceptually simple and relies almost exclusively on elementary fixed point theory. Our certificates work for arbitrary finite MDPs and can be readily computed with little overhead using standard algorithms. We formalize the soundness of our certificates in Isabelle/HOL and provide a formally verified certificate checker. Moreover, we augment existing algorithms in the probabilistic model checker Storm with the ability to produce certificates and demonstrate practical applicability by conducting the first formal certification of the reference results in the Quantitative Verification Benchmark Set.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_11467
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fixed Point Certificates for Reachability and Expected Rewards in MDPs
Chatterjee, Krishnendu
Quatmann, Tim
Schäffeler, Maximilian
Weininger, Maximilian
Winkler, Tobias
Zilken, Daniel
Logic in Computer Science
Discrete Mathematics
Systems and Control
The possibility of errors in human-engineered formal verification software, such as model checkers, poses a serious threat to the purpose of these tools. An established approach to mitigate this problem are certificates -- lightweight, easy-to-check proofs of the verification results. In this paper, we develop novel certificates for model checking of Markov decision processes (MDPs) with quantitative reachability and expected reward properties. Our approach is conceptually simple and relies almost exclusively on elementary fixed point theory. Our certificates work for arbitrary finite MDPs and can be readily computed with little overhead using standard algorithms. We formalize the soundness of our certificates in Isabelle/HOL and provide a formally verified certificate checker. Moreover, we augment existing algorithms in the probabilistic model checker Storm with the ability to produce certificates and demonstrate practical applicability by conducting the first formal certification of the reference results in the Quantitative Verification Benchmark Set.
title Fixed Point Certificates for Reachability and Expected Rewards in MDPs
topic Logic in Computer Science
Discrete Mathematics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.11467