Optimizing Epistemic Model Checking Using Conditional Independence (Extended Abstract)

Abstract: This paper shows that conditional independence reasoning can be applied to optimize epistemic model checking, in which one verifies that a model for a number of agents operating with imperfect information satisfies a formula expressed in a modal multi-agent logic of knowledge. The optimization has been implemented in the epistemic model checker MCK. The paper reports experimental results demonstrating that it can yield multiple orders of magnitude performance improvements.