The Theory of Traces for Systems with Nondeterminism, Probability, and Termination

Abstract

This paper studies trace-based equivalences for systems combining nondeterministic and probabilistic choices. We show how trace semantics for such processes can be recovered by instantiating a coalgebraic construction known as the generalised powerset construction. We characterise and compare the resulting semantics to known definitions of trace equivalences appearing in the literature. Most of our results are based on the exciting interplay between monads and their presentations via algebraic theories.