Simulating and model checking membrane systems using strategies in Maude

Abstract

Membrane systems are a biologically-inspired computational model based on the structure of biological cells and the way chemicals interact and traverse their membranes. Although its dynamics is described by rules, encoding membrane systems into rewriting logic is not straightforward due to its complex control mechanisms, and multiple alternatives have been proposed in the literature and implemented in the Maude specification language. The recent release of the Maude strategy language and its associated strategy-aware model checker allow specifying these systems more easily, so that they become executable and verifiable for free. An interactive environment based on a previous prototype by Oana Andrei and Dorel Lucanu is available to operate with the membranes.