Presburger Vector Addition Systems

The reachability problem for Vector Addition Systems (VAS) is a central problem of net theory. The problem is known to be decidable by inductive invariants definable in the Presburger arithmetic. When the reachability set is definable in the Presburger arithmetic, the existence of such an inductive invariant is immediate. However, in this case, the computation of a Presburger formula denoting the reachability set is an open problem. In this paper we close this problem by proving that if the reachability set of a VAS is definable in the Presburger arithmetic, then the VAS is flatable, i.e. its reachability set can be obtained by runs labeled by words in a bounded language. As a direct consequence, classical algorithms based on acceleration techniques effectively compute a formula in the Presburger arithmetic denoting the reachability set.