Rewriting Logic Specification of Membrane Systems with Promoters and Inhibitors

Membrane systems represent a new model of computation involving parallel application of rules, communication between membranes and dissolving. Since rewriting logic is a general framework for concurrent systems, we connect it with the operational semantics of membrane systems. We use a new representation given by register membranes which are able to express the evolution involving rules with promoters and inhibitors. The evolution is expressed in terms of both dynamic and static allocation of resources to rules. It is proved that these semantics are equivalent. Dynamic allocation allows translation of the maximal parallel application of membrane rules into sequential rewritings. An implementation in Maude is provided.