Symbol Elimination for Parametric Second-Order Entailment Problems (with Applications to Problems in Wireless Network Theory)

Abstract: We analyze possibilities of second-order quantifier elimination for formulae containing parameters -- constants or functions. For this, we use a constraint resolution calculus obtained from specializing the hierarchical superposition calculus. If saturation terminates, we analyze possibilities of obtaining weakest constraints on parameters which guarantee satisfiability. If the saturation does not terminate, we identify situations in which finite representations of infinite saturated sets exist. We identify situations in which entailment between formulae expressed using second-order quantification can be effectively checked. We illustrate the ideas on a series of examples from wireless network research.