Linear programming techniques for the identification of place/transition nets

In previous works we presented a procedure based on integer programming to identify a Petri net, given a finite prefix of its language. In this paper we show how to tackle the same problem using linear programming techniques, thus significantly reducing the complexity of finding a solution. The procedure we propose identifies a net whose number of places is equal to the cardinality of the set of disabling constraints. We provide a criterion to check if the computed solution has a minimal number of places, and, if such is not the case, we discuss two approaches to reduce this number.