On the computational complexity of decidable fragments of first-order linear temporal logics

Abstract

We study the complexity of some fragments of first-order temporal logic over natural numbers time. The one-variable fragment of linear first-order temporal logic even with sole temporal operator /spl square/ is EXPSPACE-complete (this solves an open problem of J. Halpern and M. Vardi (1989)). So are the one-variable, two-variable and monadic monodic fragments with Until and Since. If we add the operators O/sup n/, with n given in binary, the fragment becomes 2EXPSPACE-complete. The packed monodic fragment has the same complexity as its pure first-order part - 2EXPTIME-complete. Over any class of flows of time containing one with an infinite ascending sequence - e.g., rationals and real numbers time, and arbitrary strict linear orders - we obtain EXPSPACE lower bounds (which solves an open problem of M. Reynolds (1997)). Our results continue to hold if we restrict to models with finite first-order domains.