@inproceedings{17402, abstract = {We present version 2.0 of the Partial Exploration Tool (PET), a tool for verification of probabilistic systems. We extend the previous version by adding support for stochastic games, based on a recent unified framework for sound value iteration algorithms. Thereby, PET2 is the first tool implementing a sound and efficient approach for solving stochastic games with objectives of the type reachability/safety and mean payoff. We complement this approach by developing and implementing a partial-exploration based variant for all three objectives. Our experimental evaluation shows that PET2 offers the most efficient partial-exploration based algorithm and is the most viable tool on SGs, even outperforming unsound tools.}, author = {Meggendorfer, Tobias and Weininger, Maximilian}, booktitle = {36th International Conference on Computer Aided Verification}, isbn = {9783031656323}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Montreal, Canada}, pages = {359--372}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Playing games with your PET: Extending the Partial Exploration Tool to stochastic games}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-65633-0_16}, volume = {14683}, year = {2024}, } @article{17474, abstract = {Entropic risk (ERisk) is an established risk measure in finance, quantifying risk by an exponential re-weighting of rewards. We study ERisk for the first time in the context of turn-based stochastic games with the total reward objective. This gives rise to an objective function that demands the control of systems in a risk-averse manner. We show that the resulting games are determined and, in particular, admit optimal memoryless deterministic strategies. This contrasts risk measures that previously have been considered in the special case of Markov decision processes and that require randomization and/or memory. We provide several results on the decidability and the computational complexity of the threshold problem, i.e. whether the optimal value of ERisk exceeds a given threshold. Furthermore, an approximation algorithm for the optimal value of ERisk is provided.}, author = {Baier, Christel and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Meggendorfer, Tobias and Piribauer, Jakob}, issn = {1090-2651}, journal = {Information and Computation}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Entropic risk for turn-based stochastic games}}, doi = {10.1016/j.ic.2024.105214}, volume = {301}, year = {2024}, } @inproceedings{18155, abstract = {We study the classical problem of verifying programs with respect to formal specifications given in the linear temporal logic (LTL). We first present novel sound and complete witnesses for LTL verification over imperative programs. Our witnesses are applicable to both verification (proving) and refutation (finding bugs) settings. We then consider LTL formulas in which atomic propositions can be polynomial constraints and turn our focus to polynomial arithmetic programs, i.e. programs in which every assignment and guard consists only of polynomial expressions. For this setting, we provide an efficient algorithm to automatically synthesize such LTL witnesses. Our synthesis procedure is both sound and semi-complete. Finally, we present experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach and that it can handle programs which were beyond the reach of previous state-of-the-art tools.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Goharshady, Amir Kafshdar and Goharshady, Ehsan and Karrabi, Mehrdad and Zikelic, Dorde}, booktitle = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)}, isbn = {9783031711619}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Milan, Italy}, pages = {600--619}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Sound and complete witnesses for template-based verification of LTL properties on polynomial programs}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-71162-6_31}, volume = {14933}, year = {2024}, } @inproceedings{18159, abstract = {Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are a classical model for decision making in the presence of uncertainty. Often they are viewed as state transformers with planning objectives defned with respect to paths over MDP states. An increasingly popular alternative is to view them as distribution transformers, giving rise to a sequence of probability distributions over MDP states. For instance, reachability and safety properties in modeling robot swarms or chemical reaction networks are naturally defned in terms of probability distributions over states. Verifying such distributional properties is known to be hard and often beyond the reach of classical state-based verifcation techniques. In this work, we consider the problems of certifed policy (i.e. controller) verifcation and synthesis in MDPs under distributional reach-avoidance specifcations. By certifed we mean that, along with a policy, we also aim to synthesize a (checkable) certifcate ensuring that the MDP indeed satisfes the property. Thus, given the target set of distributions and an unsafe set of distributions over MDP states, our goal is to either synthesize a certifcate for a given policy or synthesize a policy along with a certifcate, proving that the target distribution can be reached while avoiding unsafe distributions. To solve this problem, we introduce the novel notion of distributional reach-avoid certifcates and present automated procedures for (1) synthesizing a certifcate for a given policy, and (2) synthesizing a policy together with the certifcate, both providing formal guarantees on certifcate correctness. Our experimental evaluation demonstrates the ability of our method to solve several non-trivial examples, including a multi-agent robot-swarm model, to synthesize certifed policies and to certify existing policies. }, author = {Akshay, S and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Meggendorfer, Tobias and Zikelic, Dorde}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Thirty-Third International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence}, isbn = {9781956792041}, issn = {1045-0823}, location = {Jeju, Korea}, pages = {3--12}, publisher = {International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence}, title = {{Certified policy verification and synthesis for MDPs under distributional reach-avoidance properties}}, doi = {10.24963/ijcai.2024/1}, year = {2024}, } @inproceedings{18160, abstract = {Markov decision processes (MDPs) provide a standard framework for sequential decision making under uncertainty. However, MDPs do not take uncertainty in transition probabilities into account. Robust Markov decision processes (RMDPs) address this shortcoming of MDPs by assigning to each transition an uncertainty set rather than a single probability value. In this work, we consider polytopic RMDPs in which all uncertainty sets are polytopes and study the problem of solving long-run average reward polytopic RMDPs. We present a novel perspective on this problem and show that it can be reduced to solving long-run average reward turn-based stochastic games with finite state and action spaces. This reduction allows us to derive several important consequences that were hitherto not known to hold for polytopic RMDPs. First, we derive new computational complexity bounds for solving long-run average reward polytopic RMDPs, showing for the first time that the threshold decision problem for them is in NP∩CONP and that they admit a randomized algorithm with sub-exponential expected runtime. Second, we present Robust Polytopic Policy Iteration (RPPI), a novel policy iteration algorithm for solving long-run average reward polytopic RMDPs. Our experimental evaluation shows that RPPI is much more efficient in solving long-run average reward polytopic RMDPs compared to state-of-the-art methods based on value iteration. }, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Kafshdar Goharshadi, Ehsan and Karrabi, Mehrdad and Novotný, Petr and Zikelic, Dorde}, booktitle = {33rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence}, isbn = {9781956792041}, issn = {1045-0823}, location = {Jeju, South Korea}, pages = {6707--6715}, publisher = {International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence}, title = {{Solving long-run average reward robust MDPs via stochastic games}}, doi = {10.24963/ijcai.2024/741}, year = {2024}, } @inproceedings{17328, abstract = {We study selfish mining attacks in longest-chain blockchains like Bitcoin, but where the proof of work is replaced with efficient proof systems - like proofs of stake or proofs of space - and consider the problem of computing an optimal selfish mining attack which maximizes expected relative revenue of the adversary, thus minimizing the chain quality. To this end, we propose a novel selfish mining attack that aims to maximize this objective and formally model the attack as a Markov decision process (MDP). We then present a formal analysis procedure which computes an ϵ-tight lower bound on the optimal expected relative revenue in the MDP and a strategy that achieves this ϵ-tight lower bound, where ϵ > 0 may be any specified precision. Our analysis is fully automated and provides formal guarantees on the correctness. We evaluate our selfish mining attack and observe that it achieves superior expected relative revenue compared to two considered baselines. In concurrent work [Sarenche FC'24] does an automated analysis on selfish mining in predictable longest-chain blockchains based on efficient proof systems. Predictable means the randomness for the challenges is fixed for many blocks (as used e.g., in Ouroboros), while we consider unpredictable (Bitcoin-like) chains where the challenge is derived from the previous block.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Ebrahimzadeh, Amirali and Karrabi, Mehrdad and Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z and Yeo, Michelle X and Zikelic, Dorde}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 43rd Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing}, isbn = {9798400706684}, location = {Nantes, France}, pages = {268--278}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, title = {{Fully automated selfish mining analysis in efficient proof systems blockchains}}, doi = {10.1145/3662158.3662769}, year = {2024}, } @article{15297, abstract = {Populations evolve by accumulating advantageous mutations. Every population has some spatial structure that can be modeled by an underlying network. The network then influences the probability that new advantageous mutations fixate. Amplifiers of selection are networks that increase the fixation probability of advantageous mutants, as compared to the unstructured fully-connected network. Whether or not a network is an amplifier depends on the choice of the random process that governs the evolutionary dynamics. Two popular choices are Moran process with Birth-death updating and Moran process with death-Birth updating. Interestingly, while some networks are amplifiers under Birth-death updating and other networks are amplifiers under death-Birth updating, so far no spatial structures have been found that function as an amplifier under both types of updating simultaneously. In this work, we identify networks that act as amplifiers of selection under both versions of the Moran process. The amplifiers are robust, modular, and increase fixation probability for any mutant fitness advantage in a range r ∈ (1, 1.2). To complement this positive result, we also prove that for certain quantities closely related to fixation probability, it is impossible to improve them simultaneously for both versions of the Moran process. Together, our results highlight how the two versions of the Moran process differ and what they have in common.}, author = {Svoboda, Jakub and Joshi, Soham Shrikant and Tkadlec, Josef and Chatterjee, Krishnendu}, issn = {1553-7358}, journal = {PLoS Computational Biology}, number = {3}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Amplifiers of selection for the Moran process with both Birth-death and death-Birth updating}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012008}, volume = {20}, year = {2024}, } @article{18703, abstract = {Spatial games provide a simple and elegant mathematical model to study the evolution of cooperation in networks. In spatial games, individuals reside in vertices, adopt simple strategies, and interact with neighbors to receive a payoff. Depending on their own and neighbors’ payoffs, individuals can change their strategy. The payoff is determined by the Prisoners’ Dilemma, a classical matrix game, where players cooperate or defect. While cooperation is the desired behavior, defection provides a higher payoff for a selfish individual. There are many theoretical and empirical studies related to the role of the network in the evolution of cooperation. However, the fundamental question of whether there exist networks that for low initial cooperation rate ensure a high chance of fixation, i.e., cooperation spreads across the whole population, has remained elusive for spatial games with strong selection. In this work, we answer this fundamental question in the affirmative by presenting network structures that ensure high fixation probability for cooperators in the strong selection regime. Besides, our structures have many desirable properties: (a) they ensure the spread of cooperation even for a low initial density of cooperation and high temptation of defection, (b) they have constant degrees, and (c) the number of steps, until cooperation spreads, is at most quadratic in the size of the network.}, author = {Svoboda, Jakub and Chatterjee, Krishnendu}, issn = {1091-6490}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {50}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{Density amplifiers of cooperation for spatial games}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2405605121}, volume = {121}, year = {2024}, } @article{18266, abstract = {Matrix games are the most basic model in game theory, and yet robustness with respect to small perturbations of the matrix entries is not fully understood. In this paper, we introduce value positivity and uniform value positivity, two properties that refine the notion of optimality in the context of polynomially perturbed matrix games. The first concept captures how the value depends on the perturbation parameter, and the second consists of the existence of a fixed strategy that guarantees the value of the unperturbed matrix game for every sufficiently small positive parameter. We provide polynomial-time algorithms to check whether a polynomially perturbed matrix game satisfies these properties. We further provide the functional form for a parameterized optimal strategy and the value function. Finally, we translate our results to linear programming and stochastic games, where value positivity is related to the existence of robust solutions.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Oliu-Barton, Miquel and Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J}, issn = {1526-5471}, journal = {Mathematics of Operations Research}, number = {4}, pages = {2433--3282}, publisher = {Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences}, title = {{Value-positivity for matrix games}}, doi = {10.1287/moor.2022.0332}, volume = {50}, year = {2024}, } @article{18630, abstract = {Markov chains are the de facto finite-state model for stochastic dynamical systems, and Markov decision processes (MDPs) extend Markov chains by incorporating non-deterministic behaviors. Given an MDP and rewards on states, a classical optimization criterion is the maximal expected total reward where the MDP stops after T steps, which can be computed by a simple dynamic programming algorithm. We consider a natural generalization of the problem where the stopping times can be chosen according to a probability distribution, such that the expected stopping time is T, to optimize the expected total reward. Quite surprisingly we establish inter-reducibility of the expected stopping-time problem for Markov chains with the Positivity problem (which is related to the well-known Skolem problem), for which establishing either decidability or undecidability would be a major breakthrough. Given the hardness of the exact problem, we consider the approximate version of the problem: we show that it can be solved in exponential time for Markov chains and in exponential space for MDPs.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Doyen, Laurent}, issn = {1860-5974}, journal = {Logical Methods in Computer Science}, number = {4}, pages = {11:1--11:34}, publisher = {EPI Sciences}, title = {{Stochastic processes with expected stopping time}}, doi = {10.46298/lmcs-20(4:11)2024}, volume = {20}, year = {2024}, } @inproceedings{12676, abstract = {Turn-based stochastic games (aka simple stochastic games) are two-player zero-sum games played on directed graphs with probabilistic transitions. The goal of player-max is to maximize the probability to reach a target state against the adversarial player-min. These games lie in NP ∩ coNP and are among the rare combinatorial problems that belong to this complexity class for which the existence of polynomial-time algorithm is a major open question. While randomized sub-exponential time algorithm exists, all known deterministic algorithms require exponential time in the worst-case. An important open question has been whether faster algorithms can be obtained parametrized by the treewidth of the game graph. Even deterministic sub-exponential time algorithm for constant treewidth turn-based stochastic games has remain elusive. In this work our main result is a deterministic algorithm to solve turn-based stochastic games that, given a game with n states, treewidth at most t, and the bit-complexity of the probabilistic transition function log D, has running time O ((tn2 log D)t log n). In particular, our algorithm is quasi-polynomial time for games with constant or poly-logarithmic treewidth.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Meggendorfer, Tobias and Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J and Svoboda, Jakub}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2023 Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms}, isbn = {9781611977554}, location = {Florence, Italy}, pages = {4590--4605}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Faster algorithm for turn-based stochastic games with bounded treewidth}}, doi = {10.1137/1.9781611977554.ch173}, year = {2023}, } @article{12706, abstract = {Allometric settings of population dynamics models are appealing due to their parsimonious nature and broad utility when studying system level effects. Here, we parameterise the size-scaled Rosenzweig-MacArthur differential equations to eliminate prey-mass dependency, facilitating an in depth analytic study of the equations which incorporates scaling parameters’ contributions to coexistence. We define the functional response term to match empirical findings, and examine situations where metabolic theory derivations and observation diverge. The dynamical properties of the Rosenzweig-MacArthur system, encompassing the distribution of size-abundance equilibria, the scaling of period and amplitude of population cycling, and relationships between predator and prey abundances, are consistent with empirical observation. Our parameterisation is an accurate minimal model across 15+ orders of mass magnitude.}, author = {Mckerral, Jody C. and Kleshnina, Maria and Ejov, Vladimir and Bartle, Louise and Mitchell, James G. and Filar, Jerzy A.}, issn = {1932-6203}, journal = {PLoS One}, number = {2}, pages = {e0279838}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Empirical parameterisation and dynamical analysis of the allometric Rosenzweig-MacArthur equations}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0279838}, volume = {18}, year = {2023}, } @article{12833, abstract = {The input to the token swapping problem is a graph with vertices v1, v2, . . . , vn, and n tokens with labels 1,2, . . . , n, one on each vertex. The goal is to get token i to vertex vi for all i= 1, . . . , n using a minimum number of swaps, where a swap exchanges the tokens on the endpoints of an edge.Token swapping on a tree, also known as “sorting with a transposition tree,” is not known to be in P nor NP-complete. We present some partial results: 1. An optimum swap sequence may need to perform a swap on a leaf vertex that has the correct token (a “happy leaf”), disproving a conjecture of Vaughan. 2. Any algorithm that fixes happy leaves—as all known approximation algorithms for the problem do—has approximation factor at least 4/3. Furthermore, the two best-known 2-approximation algorithms have approximation factor exactly 2. 3. A generalized problem—weighted coloured token swapping—is NP-complete on trees, but solvable in polynomial time on paths and stars. In this version, tokens and vertices have colours, and colours have weights. The goal is to get every token to a vertex of the same colour, and the cost of a swap is the sum of the weights of the two tokens involved.}, author = {Biniaz, Ahmad and Jain, Kshitij and Lubiw, Anna and Masárová, Zuzana and Miltzow, Tillmann and Mondal, Debajyoti and Naredla, Anurag Murty and Tkadlec, Josef and Turcotte, Alexi}, issn = {1365-8050}, journal = {Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science}, number = {2}, publisher = {EPI Sciences}, title = {{Token swapping on trees}}, doi = {10.46298/DMTCS.8383}, volume = {24}, year = {2023}, } @article{12861, abstract = {The field of indirect reciprocity investigates how social norms can foster cooperation when individuals continuously monitor and assess each other’s social interactions. By adhering to certain social norms, cooperating individuals can improve their reputation and, in turn, receive benefits from others. Eight social norms, known as the “leading eight," have been shown to effectively promote the evolution of cooperation as long as information is public and reliable. These norms categorize group members as either ’good’ or ’bad’. In this study, we examine a scenario where individuals instead assign nuanced reputation scores to each other, and only cooperate with those whose reputation exceeds a certain threshold. We find both analytically and through simulations that such quantitative assessments are error-correcting, thus facilitating cooperation in situations where information is private and unreliable. Moreover, our results identify four specific norms that are robust to such conditions, and may be relevant for helping to sustain cooperation in natural populations.}, author = {Schmid, Laura and Ekbatani, Farbod and Hilbe, Christian and Chatterjee, Krishnendu}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Quantitative assessment can stabilize indirect reciprocity under imperfect information}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-37817-x}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, } @inproceedings{13139, abstract = {A classical problem for Markov chains is determining their stationary (or steady-state) distribution. This problem has an equally classical solution based on eigenvectors and linear equation systems. However, this approach does not scale to large instances, and iterative solutions are desirable. It turns out that a naive approach, as used by current model checkers, may yield completely wrong results. We present a new approach, which utilizes recent advances in partial exploration and mean payoff computation to obtain a correct, converging approximation.}, author = {Meggendorfer, Tobias}, booktitle = {TACAS 2023: Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems}, isbn = {9783031308222}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Paris, France}, pages = {489--507}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Correct approximation of stationary distributions}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-30823-9_25}, volume = {13993}, year = {2023}, } @inproceedings{13142, abstract = {Reinforcement learning has received much attention for learning controllers of deterministic systems. We consider a learner-verifier framework for stochastic control systems and survey recent methods that formally guarantee a conjunction of reachability and safety properties. Given a property and a lower bound on the probability of the property being satisfied, our framework jointly learns a control policy and a formal certificate to ensure the satisfaction of the property with a desired probability threshold. Both the control policy and the formal certificate are continuous functions from states to reals, which are learned as parameterized neural networks. While in the deterministic case, the certificates are invariant and barrier functions for safety, or Lyapunov and ranking functions for liveness, in the stochastic case the certificates are supermartingales. For certificate verification, we use interval arithmetic abstract interpretation to bound the expected values of neural network functions.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Henzinger, Thomas A and Lechner, Mathias and Zikelic, Dorde}, booktitle = {Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems }, isbn = {9783031308222}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Paris, France}, pages = {3--25}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{A learner-verifier framework for neural network controllers and certificates of stochastic systems}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-30823-9_1}, volume = {13993}, year = {2023}, } @article{13258, abstract = {Many human interactions feature the characteristics of social dilemmas where individual actions have consequences for the group and the environment. The feedback between behavior and environment can be studied with the framework of stochastic games. In stochastic games, the state of the environment can change, depending on the choices made by group members. Past work suggests that such feedback can reinforce cooperative behaviors. In particular, cooperation can evolve in stochastic games even if it is infeasible in each separate repeated game. In stochastic games, participants have an interest in conditioning their strategies on the state of the environment. Yet in many applications, precise information about the state could be scarce. Here, we study how the availability of information (or lack thereof) shapes evolution of cooperation. Already for simple examples of two state games we find surprising effects. In some cases, cooperation is only possible if there is precise information about the state of the environment. In other cases, cooperation is most abundant when there is no information about the state of the environment. We systematically analyze all stochastic games of a given complexity class, to determine when receiving information about the environment is better, neutral, or worse for evolution of cooperation.}, author = {Kleshnina, Maria and Hilbe, Christian and Simsa, Stepan and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Nowak, Martin A.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{The effect of environmental information on evolution of cooperation in stochastic games}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-39625-9}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, } @misc{13336, author = {Kleshnina, Maria}, publisher = {Zenodo}, title = {{kleshnina/stochgames_info: The effect of environmental information on evolution of cooperation in stochastic games}}, doi = {10.5281/ZENODO.8059564}, year = {2023}, } @inproceedings{14242, abstract = {We study the problem of training and certifying adversarially robust quantized neural networks (QNNs). Quantization is a technique for making neural networks more efficient by running them using low-bit integer arithmetic and is therefore commonly adopted in industry. Recent work has shown that floating-point neural networks that have been verified to be robust can become vulnerable to adversarial attacks after quantization, and certification of the quantized representation is necessary to guarantee robustness. In this work, we present quantization-aware interval bound propagation (QA-IBP), a novel method for training robust QNNs. Inspired by advances in robust learning of non-quantized networks, our training algorithm computes the gradient of an abstract representation of the actual network. Unlike existing approaches, our method can handle the discrete semantics of QNNs. Based on QA-IBP, we also develop a complete verification procedure for verifying the adversarial robustness of QNNs, which is guaranteed to terminate and produce a correct answer. Compared to existing approaches, the key advantage of our verification procedure is that it runs entirely on GPU or other accelerator devices. We demonstrate experimentally that our approach significantly outperforms existing methods and establish the new state-of-the-art for training and certifying the robustness of QNNs.}, author = {Lechner, Mathias and Zikelic, Dorde and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Henzinger, Thomas A and Rus, Daniela}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 37th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence}, isbn = {9781577358800}, location = {Washington, DC, United States}, number = {12}, pages = {14964--14973}, publisher = {Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence}, title = {{Quantization-aware interval bound propagation for training certifiably robust quantized neural networks}}, doi = {10.1609/aaai.v37i12.26747}, volume = {37}, year = {2023}, } @inproceedings{14317, abstract = {Markov decision processes can be viewed as transformers of probability distributions. While this view is useful from a practical standpoint to reason about trajectories of distributions, basic reachability and safety problems are known to be computationally intractable (i.e., Skolem-hard) to solve in such models. Further, we show that even for simple examples of MDPs, strategies for safety objectives over distributions can require infinite memory and randomization. In light of this, we present a novel overapproximation approach to synthesize strategies in an MDP, such that a safety objective over the distributions is met. More precisely, we develop a new framework for template-based synthesis of certificates as affine distributional and inductive invariants for safety objectives in MDPs. We provide two algorithms within this framework. One can only synthesize memoryless strategies, but has relative completeness guarantees, while the other can synthesize general strategies. The runtime complexity of both algorithms is in PSPACE. We implement these algorithms and show that they can solve several non-trivial examples.}, author = {Akshay, S. and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Meggendorfer, Tobias and Zikelic, Dorde}, booktitle = {International Conference on Computer Aided Verification}, isbn = {9783031377082}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Paris, France}, pages = {86--112}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{MDPs as distribution transformers: Affine invariant synthesis for safety objectives}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-37709-9_5}, volume = {13966}, year = {2023}, }