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A Proof of Courcelle’s Conjecture on Recognisable Graph Classes

Mikolaj Bojańczyk ( University of Warsaw )

Courcelle’s conjecture says that for classes of bounded treewidth, definability in MSO is the same as recognisability. More precisely, consider the following notions:

(D) a class of graphs is called MSO definable if it can be defined in monadic second-order logic (with counting quantifiers).

(R) a class of graphs is called recognisable if for each k there is a tree automaton which recognises width k tree decompositions of graphs satisfying the property.

Many natural graph classes are easily seen to satisfy (D), e.g. graphs with Hamiltonian (or Euler) paths, or 3-colourable graphs. Courcelle’s Theorem says that (D) implies (R).  Courcelle’s Conjecture says that (R) implies (D) for classes of bounded tree width. In the talk, I will discuss a proof of this conjecture.

Joint work with Michał Pilipczuk.

 

 

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