Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

A Deductive Verifier for Probabilistic Programs

Objective

Program correctness is a central problem in computer science. Code inspection and testing can reveal many program bugs, but subtle errors need a rigorous analysis. A fully automated analysis is impossible: deciding whether a program terminates on a given input is undecidable. Thanks to unremitting developments in program verification and incredible advancements in satisfiability checking, program verification is nowadays supported by software tools in industrial practice. Meta and Amazon Web Services use program verification tools on a daily basis.

In the advent of AI, probabilistic programming emerged as a popular paradigm combining programming with learning from (big) data. Since 2018, the UN uses such probabilistic programs to predict the location and classify seismological activities on the earth. Other application areas include security, planning in AI, cognitive science, and neural network training.

Probabilistic programs are fundamentally different. Due to randomness, they sometimes terminate and sometimes not. Their outcome depends on coin flips. They may terminate with probability one, while having an infinite expected run time. Classical program verification techniques no longer apply.

The ERC project FRAPPANT has resulted in proof calculi for probabilistic programs, equipped with powerful proof rules, and identified a relative complete syntax for quantitative properties. This has led to a prototypical deductive verifier for an assembler programming language. A software tool for which no equivalent exists. Successful analyses of intricate programs showed its potential. The proposed project aims to explore the commercial and innovative aspects of our deductive verifier. It takes the necessary innovative steps to enable a commercialisation by including invariant synthesis and program slicing and supporting the popular probabilistic programming language STAN. Its potential will be investigated engaging potential users, and a market analysis.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2023-POC

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

RHEINISCH-WESTFAELISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE AACHEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 150 000,00
Address
TEMPLERGRABEN 55
52062 Aachen
Germany

See on map

Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Köln Städteregion Aachen
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0