Nivat-Theorem and Logic for Weighted Pushdown Automata on Infinite Words

Abstract

Recently, weighted ω-pushdown automata have been introduced by Droste, Ésik, Kuich. This new type of automaton has access to a stack and models quantitative aspects of infinite words. Here, we consider a simple version of those automata. The simple ω-pushdown automata do not use ε-transitions and have a very restricted stack access. In previous work, we could show this automaton model to be expressively equivalent to context-free ω-languages in the unweighted case. Furthermore, semiring-weighted simple ω-pushdown automata recognize all ω-algebraic series. Here, we consider ω-valuation monoids as weight structures. As a first result, we prove that for this weight structure and for simple ω-pushdown automata, Büchi-acceptance and Muller-acceptance are expressively equivalent. In our second result, we derive a Nivat theorem for these automata stating that the behaviors of weighted ω-pushdown automata are precisely the projections of very simple ω-series restricted to ω-context-free languages. The third result is a weighted logic with the same expressive power as the new automaton model. To prove the equivalence, we use a similar result for weighted nested ω-word automata and apply our present result of expressive equivalence of Muller and Büchi acceptance.