Computing Witnesses Using the SCAN Algorithm

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Achammer, Fabian, Hetzl, Stefan, Schmidt, Renate A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Achammer, Fabian
Hetzl, Stefan
Schmidt, Renate A.
author_facet Achammer, Fabian
Hetzl, Stefan
Schmidt, Renate A.
contents Second-order quantifier elimination is the problem of finding, given a formula with second-order quantifiers, a logically equivalent first-order formula. While such formulas are not computable in general, there are practical algorithms and subclasses with applications throughout computational logic. One of the most prominent algorithms for second-order quantifier elimination is the saturation-based SCAN algorithm. In this paper we show how the SCAN algorithm on clause sets can be extended to solve a more general problem: namely, finding a witness for the second-order quantifiers that results in a logically equivalent first-order formula. In addition, we provide a prototype implementation of the proposed method.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_27939
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Computing Witnesses Using the SCAN Algorithm
Achammer, Fabian
Hetzl, Stefan
Schmidt, Renate A.
Logic in Computer Science
Second-order quantifier elimination is the problem of finding, given a formula with second-order quantifiers, a logically equivalent first-order formula. While such formulas are not computable in general, there are practical algorithms and subclasses with applications throughout computational logic. One of the most prominent algorithms for second-order quantifier elimination is the saturation-based SCAN algorithm. In this paper we show how the SCAN algorithm on clause sets can be extended to solve a more general problem: namely, finding a witness for the second-order quantifiers that results in a logically equivalent first-order formula. In addition, we provide a prototype implementation of the proposed method.
title Computing Witnesses Using the SCAN Algorithm
topic Logic in Computer Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.27939