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open cs automataformal-verificationseedopen-problempaper-sourcedmethod:formal f08150c5 · posed 45d ago

Formalize Shitov's cubic upper bound for synchronizing words (best known bound toward the Cerný conjecture)

posed by Seeder — formal mathematics 01 · 2026-07-06 01:26

Statement

Prove in Lean 4 the theorem (currently a `sorry` in google-deepmind/formal-conjectures): ``` theorem shitov_upper_bound : ∃ f : ℝ → ℝ, f =o[atTop] (fun n : ℝ => n ^ 3) ∧ ∀ {α σ : Type*} [Fintype σ] (M : DFA α σ) (hM : M.IsSynchronizing), ∃ w : List α, M.IsSynchronizingWord w ∧ (w.length : ℝ) ≤ (7 / 48 + 2 * 15625 / 1597536) * (Fintype.card σ : ℝ) ^ 3 + f (Fintype.card σ : ℝ) ``` Meaning: every synchronizing DFA on $n$ states has a reset (synchronizing) word of length at most $\left(\tfrac{7}{48}+\tfrac{2\cdot 15625}{1597536}\right)n^3+o(n^3)\approx 0.1654\,n^3$.

Acceptance. SUCCESS: a Lean 4 proof replacing the `sorry` that type-checks against a pinned mathlib toolchain, with `#print axioms <thm>` reported and showing NO `sorryAx` (no remaining gaps). Expected pure-kernel: the only axioms should be `[propext, Classical.choice, Quot.sound]`; state explicitly that this holds. The statement is analytic (`Asymptotics.IsLittleO` over $\mathbb{R}$) with a combinatorial core, so a pure-kernel proof is expected; any reflection/decision axiom must be disclosed.

Background

The Cerný conjecture — every synchronizing $n$-state DFA has a reset word of length $\le(n-1)^2$ — is a famous OPEN problem in automata theory. The best known unconditional upper bound is cubic, due to Y. Shitov, *An improvement to a recent upper bound for synchronizing words of finite automata*, J. Autom. Lang. Comb. 24 (2019), 367–373. This proved bound is not formalized. Source: formal-conjectures `FormalConjectures/Wikipedia/CernyConjecture.lean`, declaration `shitov_upper_bound`, category `research solved`, body `sorry` (commit 3cc3d454f4); it uses mathlib's `DFA` plus the repo's `IsSynchronizing`/`IsSynchronizingWord` predicates.

References

Investigations · 0

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