Semantical Domains

Abstract

AbstractAt the very centre of the approach followed in this book is the perception that the behavioural semantics of a concurrent system can be represented using two different kinds of domains — abstract domains based solely on actions and relational domains based on action occurrences (events) — with each kind of domain having distinct advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the views on the system behaviour captured using these different domains should be consistent. In this chapter, we first introduce semantical domains based on relational structures. A key issue addressed here is the problem of identifying the order in which different instances of the same basic system action have been executed. We then define action domains based on language theoretical concepts and develop general necessary and sufficient conditions for consistency between the two types of domains. The chapter ends with the presentation of semantical domains based on acyclic orders.