  This paper contributes to the general understanding of the geometrical model
of concurrency that was named higher dimensional automata (HDAs) by Pratt. In
particular we investigate modal logics for such models and their expressive
power in terms of the bisimulation that can be captured. The geometric model of
concurrency is interesting from two main reasons: its generality and
expressiveness, and the natural way in which autoconcurrency and action
refinement are captured. Logics for this model, though, are not well
investigated, where a simple, yet adequate, modal logic over HDAs was only
recently introduced. As this modal logic, with two existential modalities,
during and after, captures only split bisimulation, which is rather low in the
spectrum of van Glabbeek and Vaandrager, the immediate question was what small
extension of this logic could capture the more fine-grained hereditary history
preserving bisimulation (hh)? In response, the work in this paper provides
several insights. One is the fact that the geometrical aspect of HDAs makes it
possible to use for capturing the hh-bisimulation, a standard modal logic that
does not employ event variables, opposed to the two logics (over less
expressive models) that we compare with. The logic that we investigate here
uses standard past modalities and extends the previously introduced logic
(called HDML) that had only forward, action-labelled, modalities. Besides, we
try to understand better the above issues by introducing a related model that
we call ST-configuration structures, which extend the configuration structures
of van Glabbeek and Plotkin. We relate this model to HDAs, and redefine and
prove the earlier results in the light of this new model. These offer a
different view on why the past modalities and geometrical concurrency capture
the hereditary history preserving bisimulation. Additional correlating insights
are also gained.
