Finite model theory,as understoodhere, is an areaof mathematicallogic that has developed in close connection with applications to computer science, in particular the theory of computational complexity and database theory. One of the fundamental insights of mathematical logic is that our understanding of mathematical phenomena is enriched by elevating the languages we use to describe mathematical structures to objects of explicit study. If mathematics is the science of patterns, then the media through which we discern patterns, as well as the structures in which we discern them, command our attention. It isthis aspect oflogicwhichis mostprominentin model theory,"thebranchof mathematical logic which deals with the relation between a formal language and its interpretations". No wonder, then, that mathematical logic, and ?nite model theory in particular, should ?nd manifold applications in computer science: from specifying programs to querying databases, computer science is rife with phenomena whose understanding requires close attention to the interaction between language and structure. This volume gives a broadoverviewof some central themes of ?nite model theory: expressive power, descriptive complexity, and zero-one laws, together with selected applications to database theory and arti?cial intelligence, es- cially constraint databases and constraint satisfaction problems. The ?nal chapter provides a concise modern introduction to modal logic,which emp- sizes the continuity in spirit and technique with ?nite model theory.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 22nd IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference on Formal Techniques for Networked and Distributed Systems, FORTE 2002, held in Houston, Texas, USA in November 2002.The 22 revised full papers, 2 tool papers, and 2 posters presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 61 submissions. All current aspects of formal method for distributed systems and communication protocols are addressed, in particular formal specification, testing, and verification of such systems.

This book consitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Aided Verification, CAV'98, held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in June/July 1998. The 33 revised full papers and 10 tool papers presented were carefully selected from a total of 117 submissions. Also included are 11 invited contributions. Among the topics covered are modeling and specification formalisms; verification techniques like state-space exploration, model checking, synthesis, and automated deduction; various verification techniques; applications and case studies, and verification in practice.

This volume presents the proceedings of the 1995 International Conference on Database Theory, ICDT '95, held in Prague in January 1995.
Besides two full invited papers and the abstracts of two tutorials, the book includes the revised full versions of 29 technical contributions selected from a total of 116 submissions. The papers address all current aspects of database theory; they are organized in sections on optimization, nonmonotonic semantics, query languages, concurrency control, advanced models, probabilistic methods, constraints and dependencies, and Datalog analysis.