Abstract graph transformation

Graphs may be used as representations of system states in operational semantics and model checking; in the latter context, they are being investigated as an alternative to bit vectors. The corresponding transitions are obtained as derivations from graph production rules. In this paper we propose an abstraction technique in this framework: the state graphs are contracted by collecting nodes that are sufficiently similar (resulting in smaller states and a finite state space) and the application of the graph production rules is lifted to this abstract level. Since graph abstractions and rule applications can all be computed completely automatically, we believe that this can be the core of a practically feasible technique for software model checking.