Causality in concurrent systems

TL;DR

This paper explores the concept of causality in concurrent systems, analyzing its philosophical foundations and the role of counterfactual reasoning in understanding action relations within such systems.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of causality in concurrent systems and connects it with philosophical theories, addressing a gap in the literature.

Findings

Clarifies the meaning of causality in concurrent systems

Links causality concepts with philosophical literature

Examines counterfactual reasoning in trace analysis

Abstract

Concurrent systems identify systems, either software, hardware or even biological systems, that are characterized by sets of independent actions that can be executed in any order or simultaneously. Computer scientists resort to a causal terminology to describe and analyse the relations between the actions in these systems. However, a thorough discussion about the meaning of causality in such a context has not been developed yet. This paper aims to fill the gap. First, the paper analyses the notion of causation in concurrent systems and attempts to build bridges with the existing philosophical literature, highlighting similarities and divergences between them. Second, the paper analyses the use of counterfactual reasoning in ex-post analysis in concurrent systems (i.e. execution trace analysis).