# Verification of Hierarchical Artifact Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.00967 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1604.00967/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 4 Apr 2016.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Decidable Fragments of LTLf Modulo Theories (Extended Version)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16840/) (2023)
- [SMT-Based Safety Verification of Data-Aware Processes under Ontologies (Extended Version)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.12330/) (2021)
- [Relational Action Bases: Formalization, Effective Safety Verification, and Invariants (Extended Version)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.06377/) (2022)
- [Monitoring Data-aware Temporal Properties (Extended Version)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.14666/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Data-driven workflows, of which IBM's Business Artifacts are a prime exponent, have been successfully deployed in practice, adopted in industrial standards, and have spawned a rich body of research in academia, focused primarily on static analysis. The present work represents a significant advance on the problem of artifact verification, by considering a much richer and more realistic model than in previous work, incorporating core elements of IBM's successful Guard-Stage-Milestone model. In particular, the model features task hierarchy, concurrency, and richer artifact data. It also allows database key and foreign key dependencies, as well as arithmetic constraints. The results show decidability of verification and establish its complexity, making use of novel techniques including a hierarchy of Vector Addition Systems and a variant of quantifier elimination tailored to our context.