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Abstraction and refinement in probabilistic systems

Published: 01 March 2005 Publication History

Abstract

We summarise a verification method for probabilistic systems that is based on abstraction and refinement, and extends traditional assertional styles of verification.The approach makes extensive use of the expectation transformers of pGCL [17, 16, 13], a compact probabilistic programming language with an associated logic of real-valued functions. Analysis of large systems is made tractable by abstraction which, together with algebraic and logical reasoning, results in strong and general guarantees about probabilistic-system properties.Although our examples are specific (to pGCL), our overall goal in this note is to advocate the hierarchical development of probabilistic programs via levels of abstraction, connected by refinement, and to illustrate the proof obligations incurred by such an approach.

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review
ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review  Volume 32, Issue 4
March 2005
45 pages
ISSN:0163-5999
DOI:10.1145/1059816
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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 March 2005
Published in SIGMETRICS Volume 32, Issue 4

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