Formal Methods: Formal Techniques for Hybrid and Cyber Physical Systems.

These days, the world is increasingly being populated with systems that interact directly with the physical world. Of course such systems have existed for a long time in niche safety-critical areas, eg. avionics, train control, nuclear plant shutdown, etc. Now the physical world is described using continuous mathematics, while the systems in contact with it are digital, being described using discrete mathematics. These two spheres don’t mix terribly well, and the interface has typically been handled by ad hoc means. There is plenty of scope for applying formal techniques to the development of such systems, that are as rigorous in their treatment of the continuous/discrete transition, as techniques for the treatment of purely discrete systems can be. This strand of research is directed at developing such techniques, and bringing them to greater prominence in the development of hybrid and cyberphysical systems (to use the buzzwords in vogue today). Interested individuals should contact Dr. Richard Banach ([Email Address Removed]) in the first instance.