Formula size games for modal logic and $μ$-calculus

Abstract: We propose a new version of formula size game for modal logic. The game characterizes the equivalence of pointed Kripke-models up to formulas of given numbers of modal operators and binary connectives. Our game is similar to the well-known Adler-Immerman game. However, due to a crucial difference in the definition of positions of the game, its winning condition is simpler, and the second player does not have a trivial optimal strategy. Thus, unlike the Adler-Immerman game, our game is a genuine two-person game. We illustrate the use of the game by proving a non-elementary succinctness gap between bisimulation invariant first-order logic $\mathrm{FO}$ and (basic) modal logic $\mathrm{ML}$. We also present a version of the game for the modal $\mu$-calculus $\mathrm{L}\mu$ and show that $\mathrm{FO}$ is also non-elementarily more succinct than $\mathrm{L}\mu$.