Comparing logics for rewriting: rewriting logic, action calculi and tile logic

The large diffusion of concurrent and distributed systems has spawned in recent years a variety of new formalisms, equipped with features for supporting an easy specification of such systems. The aim of our paper is to analyze three proposals, namely rewriting logic, action calculi and tile logic, chosen among those formalisms designed for the description of rule-based systems. For each of these logics we first try to understand their foundations, then we briefly sketch some applications. The overall goal of our work is to find out a common layout where these logics can be recast, thus allowing for a comparison and an evaluation of their specific features.