Model Checking
Model checking is a technique that systematically explores all possible states of a system to ensure that it satisfies certain requirements. For a smart contract, this involves creating a simplified model of the contract's logic and then using algorithms to verify that it does not enter any invalid states.
It is particularly useful for identifying race conditions and concurrency issues that are difficult to find through testing. Model checking can automatically exhaust the state space to find even the most obscure bugs.
In financial applications, this helps ensure that state transitions, such as margin updates or collateral liquidations, always occur in the correct order and under the correct conditions. It provides a structured way to verify complex, stateful systems.