A Type-Based HFL Model Checking Algorithm

Abstract: Higher-order modal fixpoint logic (HFL) is a higher-order extension of the modal mu-calculus, and strictly more expressive than the modal mu-calculus. It has recently been shown that various program verification problems can naturally be reduced to HFL model checking: the problem of whether a given finite state system satisfies a given HFL formula. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for HFL model checking: it is the first practical algorithm in that it runs fast for typical inputs, despite the hyper-exponential worst-case complexity of the HFL model checking problem. Our algorithm is based on Kobayashi et al.'s type-based characterization of HFL model checking, and was inspired by a saturation-based algorithm for HORS model checking, another higher-order extension of model checking. We prove the correctness of the algorithm and report on an implementation and experimental results.