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  1. Finkbeiner, Bernd ; Kovacs, Laura (Ed.)
    With the growing use of deep neural networks(DNN) in mis- sion and safety-critical applications, there is an increasing interest in DNN verification. Unfortunately, increasingly complex network struc- tures, non-linear behavior, and high-dimensional input spaces combine to make DNN verification computationally challenging. Despite tremen- dous advances, DNN verifiers are still challenged to scale to large ver- ification problems. In this work, we explore how the number of stable neurons under the precondition of a specification gives rise to verifica- tion complexity. We examine prior work on the problem, adapt it, and develop several novel approaches to increase stability. We demonstrate that neuron stability can be increased substantially without compromis- ing model accuracy and this yields a multi-fold improvement in DNN verifier performance. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 6, 2025
  2. Blanchette, Jasmin ; Kovacs, Laura ; Pattinson, Dirk (Ed.)
    Definition packages in theorem provers provide users with means of defining and organizing concepts of interest. This system description presents a new definition package for the hybrid systems theorem prover KeYmaera X based on differential dynamic logic (dL). The package adds KeYmaera X support for user-defined smooth functions whose graphs can be implicitly characterized by dL formulas. Notably, this makes it possible to implicitly characterize functions, such as the exponential and trigonometric functions, as solutions of differential equations and then prove properties of those functions using dL's differential equation reasoning principles. Trustworthiness of the package is achieved by minimally extending KeYmaera X's soundness-critical kernel with a single axiom scheme that expands function occurrences with their implicit characterization. Users are provided with a high-level interface for defining functions and non-soundness-critical tactics that automate low-level reasoning over implicit characterizations in hybrid system proofs. 
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  3. Blanchette, Jasmin ; Kovacs, Laura ; Pattinson, Dirk (Ed.)
    The propagation redundant (PR) proof system generalizes the resolution and resolution asymmetric tautology proof systems used by conflict-driven clause learning (CDCL) solvers. PR allows short proofs of unsatisfiability for some problems that are difficult for CDCL solvers. Previous attempts to automate PR clause learning used hand-crafted heuristics that work well on some highly-structured problems. For example, the solver SaDiCaL incorporates PR clause learning into the CDCL loop, but it cannot compete with modern CDCL solvers due to its fragile heuristics. We present prExtract, a preprocessing technique that learns short PR clauses. Adding these clauses to a formula reduces the search space that the solver must explore. By performing PR clause learning as a preprocessing stage, PR clauses can be found efficiently without sacrificing the robustness of modern CDCL solvers. On a large portion of SAT competition benchmarks we found that preprocessing with prExtract improves solver performance. In addition, there were several satisfiable and unsatisfiable formulas that could only be solved after preprocessing with prExtract. prExtract supports proof logging, giving a high level of confidence in the results. 
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  4. Blanchette, Jasmin ; Kovacs, Laura ; Pattinson, Dirk (Ed.)
    Dynamic arrays, also referred to as vectors, are fundamental data structures used in many programs. Modeling their semantics efficiently is crucial when reasoning about such programs. The theory of arrays is widely supported but is not ideal, because the number of elements is fixed (determined by its index sort) and cannot be adjusted, which is a problem, given that the length of vectors often plays an important role when reasoning about vector programs. In this paper, we propose reasoning about vectors using a theory of sequences. We introduce the theory, propose a basic calculus adapted from one for the theory of strings, and extend it to efficiently handle common vector operations. We prove that our calculus is sound and show how to construct a model when it terminates with a saturated configuration. Finally, we describe an implementation of the calculus in cvc5 and demonstrate its efficacy by evaluating it on verification conditions for smart contracts and benchmarks derived from existing array benchmarks. 
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  5. Blanchette, Jasmin ; Kovacs, Laura ; Pattinson, Dirk (Ed.)
    Proof production for SMT solvers is paramount to ensure their correctness independently from implementations, which are often prohibitively difficult to verify. Historically, however, SMT proof production has struggled with performance and coverage issues, resulting in the disabling of many crucial solving techniques and in coarse-grained (and thus hard to check) proofs. We present a flexible proof-production architecture designed to handle the complexity of versatile, industrial-strength SMT solvers and show how we leverage it to produce detailed proofs, including for components previously unsupported by any solver. The architecture allows proofs to be produced modularly, lazily, and with numerous safeguards for correctness. This architecture has been implemented in the state-of-the-art SMT solver cvc5. We evaluate its proofs for SMT-LIB benchmarks and show that the new architecture produces better coverage than previous approaches, has acceptable performance overhead, and supports detailed proofs for most solving components. 
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