Logics for Actor Networks: A two-stage constrained-hybridisation approach

Abstract Actor Networks are a modelling framework for cyber-physical-system protocols based on Latour's actor-network theory that addresses the way we now create and exploit the power of networks whose components are no longer limited to programs, but can also include humans and physical artefacts as actors. The main contribution of this paper is a logic for modelling and reasoning about such actor networks that results from a two-stage constrained-hybridisation process: the first stage corresponds to a logic that captures the structure of actor networks and the way knowledge or data flows across them; the second addresses their dynamic aspects, i.e., the way actor networks can evolve as a result of the interactions that occur within them. For each of these stages, we develop a sound and complete proof system, and we illustrate how the framework can be used for modelling and analysing properties of cyber-physical-system protocols. This two-stage constrained-hybridisation process advances the theoretical and practical aspects of hybrid logics by providing new insights and results that go beyond the specific domain of actor networks. On the other hand, and in line with Milner's bigraph paradigm, the paper also makes a novel contribution to the development of formal methods for systems where connectivity and locality play a fundamental role.