A robust class of languages of 2-nested words

Abstract: Regular nested word languages (a.k.a. visibly pushdown languages) strictly extend regular word languages, while preserving their main closure and decidability properties. Previous works have shown that considering languages of 2-nested words, i.e. words enriched with two matchings (a.k.a. 2-visibly pushdown languages), is not as successful: the corresponding model of automata is not closed under determinization. In this work, inspired by homomorphic representations of indexed languages, we identify a subclass of 2-nested words, which we call 2-wave words. This class strictly extends the class of nested words, while preserving its main properties. More precisely, we prove closure under determinization of the corresponding automaton model, we provide a logical characterization of the recognized languages, and show that the corresponding graphs have bounded treewidth. As a consequence, we derive important closure and decidability properties. Last, we show that the word projections of the languages we define belong to the class of linear indexed languages.