A Calculus of Lambda Calculus Contexts

The calculus c serves as a general framework for representing contexts. Essential features are control over variable capturing and the freedom to manipulate contexts before or after hole filling, by a mechanism of delayed substitution. The context calculus c is given in the form of an extension of the lambda calculus. Many notions of context can be represented within the framework; a particular variation can be obtained by the choice of a pretyping, which we illustrate by three examples.     

Coquand's calculus of constructions: A mathematical foundation for a proof development system

The calculus of constructions of Coquand, which is a version of higher order typed-calculus based on the dependent function type, is considered from the perspective of its use as the mathematical foundation for a proof development system. The paper considers formulations of the calculus, the underlying consistency of the formalism (i.e., the strong normalisation theorem), and the proof theory of adding assumptions for notions from logic and set theory. Proofs are not given, but references to them are.A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Third Banff Higher Order Workshop, 23–28 September 1989.     

Unchecked Exceptions Can Be Strictly More Powerful Than Call/CC

We demonstrate that in the context of statically-typed purely-functional lambda calculi without recursion, unchecked exceptions (e.g., SML exceptions) can be strictly more powerful than call/cc. More precisely, we prove that a natural extension of the simply-typed lambda calculus with unchecked exceptions is strictly more powerful than all known sound extensions of Girard's F (a superset of the simply-typed lambda calculus) with call/cc.This result is established by showing that the first language is Turing complete while the later languages permit only a subset of the recursive functions to be written. We show that our natural extension of the simply-typed lambda calculus with unchecked exceptions is Turing complete by reducing the untyped lambda calculus to it by means of a novel method for simulating recursive types using unchecked-exception–returning functions. The result concerning extensions of F with call/cc stems from previous work of the author and Robert Harper.     

Proof Complexity of the Cut-free Calculus of Structures

We investigate the proof complexity of analytic subsystems ofthe deep inference proof system SKSg (the calculus of structures).Exploiting the fact that the cut rule (i) of SKSg correspondsto the ¬-left rule in the sequent calculus, we establishthat the ‘analytic'system KSg+c has essentially the samecomplexity as the monotone Gentzen calculus MLK. In particular,KSg+c quasipolynomially simulates SKSg, and admits polynomial-sizeproofs of some variants of the pigeonhole principle.     

Higher-Order Syntax and Saturation Algorithms for Hybrid Logic

We present modal logic on the basis of the simply typed lambda calculus with a system of equational deduction. Combining first-order quantification and higher-order syntax, we can maintain modal reasoning in terms of classical logic by remarkably simple means. Such an approach has been broadly uninvestigated, even though it has notable advantages, especially in the case of Hybrid Logic.We develop a tableau-like semi-decision procedure and subsequently a decision procedure for an alternative characterization of , a well-studied fragment of Hybrid Logic.With regards to deduction, our calculus simplifies in particular the treatment of identities. Moreover, labeling and access information are both internal and explicit, while in contrast traditional modal tableau calculi either rely on external labeling mechanisms or have to maintain an implicit accessibility relation by equivalent formulas.With regards to computational complexity, our saturation algorithm is optimal. In particular, this proves the satisfiability problem for to be in PSPACE, a result that was previously not achieved by the saturation approach.     

Retraction Approach to CPS Transform

We study the continuation passing style (CPS) transform and its generalization, the computational transform, in which the notion of computation is generalized from continuation passing to an arbitrary one. To establish a relation between direct style and continuation passing style interpretation of sequential call-by-value programs, we prove the Retraction Theorem which says that a lambda term can be recovered from its CPS form via a -definable retraction. The Retraction Theorem is proved in the logic of computational lambda calculus for the simply typable terms.     

On Reduction Systems Equivalent to the Non-associative Lambek Calculus with the Empty String

The article concludes a series of results on cut-rule axiomatizabilityof the Lambek calculus. It is proved that the non-associativeproduct-free Lambek calculus with the empty string (NL₀) isnot finitely axiomatizable if the only rule of inference admittedis Lambek's cut rule. The proof makes use of the (infinitely)cut-rule axiomatized calculus NC designed by the author exactlyfor that purpose.     

The liberalized δ-rule in free variable semantic tableaux

In this paper we have a closer look at one of the rules of the tableau calculus presented by Fitting [4], called the -rule. We prove that a modification of this rule, called the ⁺-rule, which uses fewer free variables, is also sound and complete. We examine the relationship between the ⁺-rule and variations of the -rule presented by Smullyan [9]. This leads to a second proof of the soundness of the ⁺-rule. An example shows the relevance of this modification for building tableau-based theorem provers.     

An O(nlog n)-SPACE Decision Procedure for the Propositional Dummett Logic

We present a tableau calculus for propositional Dummett logic, also known as LC (Linear Chain), where the depth of the deductions is linearly bounded by the length of the formulas to be proved. We then show that it is possible to decide propositional Dummett logic in O(nlogn)-SPACE.     

A Polymorphic Environment Calculus and its Type-Inference Algorithm

The polymorphic environment calculus is a polymorphic lambda calculus which enables us to treat environments as first-class citizens. In the calculus, environments are formalized as explicit substitutions, and the substitutions are included in the set of terms of the calculus. First, we introduce an untyped environment calculus, and we present a semantics of the calculus as a translation into the lambda calculus. Second, we propose a polymorphic type system for the environment calculus based on Damas-Milner's ML-polymorphic type system. In ML, polymorphism is allowed only in let-expressions; in the polymorphic environment calculus, polymorphism is provided with environment compositions. We prove a subject-reduction theorem for the type system. Third, a type-inference algorithm is given to the polymorphic environment calculus, and we establish its soundness, termination, and principal-typing theorem.     

Investigations on the Dual Calculus

The Dual Calculus, proposed recently by Wadler, is the outcome of two distinct lines of research in theoretical computer science:

(A) Efforts to extend the Curry–Howard isomorphism, established between the simply-typed lambda calculus and intuitionistic logic, to classical logic.

(B) Efforts to establish the tacit conjecture that call-by-value (CBV) reduction in lambda calculus is dual to call-by-name (CBN) reduction.

This paper initially investigates relations of the Dual Calculus to other calculi, namely the simply-typed lambda calculus and the Symmetric lambda calculus. Moreover, Church–Rosser and Strong Normalization properties are proven for the calculus’ CBV reduction relation. Finally, extensions of the calculus to second-order types are briefly introduced.

Conquering the Meredith Single Axiom

For more than three and one-half decades, beginning in the early 1960s, a heavy emphasis on proof finding has been a key component of the Argonne paradigm, whose use has directly led to significant advances in automated reasoning and important contributions to mathematics and logic. The theorems studied range from the trivial to the deep, even including some that corresponded to open questions. Often the paradigm asks for a theorem whose proof is in hand but that cannot be obtained in a fully automated manner by the program in use. The theorem whose hypothesis consists solely of the Meredith single axiom for two-valued sentential (or propositional) calculus and whose conclusion is the ukasiewicz three-axiom system for that area of formal logic was just such a theorem. Featured in this article is the methodology that enabled the program OTTER to find the first fully automated proof of the cited theorem, a proof with the intriguing property that none of its steps contains a term of the form n(n(t)) for any term t. As evidence of the power of the new methodology, the article also discusses OTTER's success in obtaining the first known proof of a theorem concerning a single axiom of ukasiewicz.     

An Algorithmic Toolbox for Network Calculus

Network calculus offers powerful tools to analyze the performances in communication networks, in particular to obtain deterministic bounds. This theory is based on a strong mathematical ground, notably by the use of (min,+) algebra. However, the algorithmic aspects of this theory have not been much addressed yet. This paper is an attempt to provide some efficient algorithms implementing network calculus operations for some classical functions. Some functions which are often used are the piecewise affine functions which ultimately have a constant growth. As a first step towards algorithmic design, we present a class containing these functions and closed under the main network calculus operations (min, max, +, −, convolution, subadditive closure, deconvolution): the piecewise affine functions which are ultimately pseudo-periodic. They can be finitely described, which enables us to propose some algorithms for each of the network calculus operations. We finally analyze their computational complexity.

The π-Calculus in Direct Style

We introduce a calculus which is a direct extension of both the and the calculi. We give a simple type system for it, that encompasses both Curry's type inference for the -calculus, and Milner's sorting for the -calculus as particular cases of typing. We observe that the various continuation passing style transformations for -terms, written in our calculus, actually correspond to encodings already given by Milner and others for evaluation strategies of -terms into the -calculus. Furthermore, the associated sortings correspond to well-known double negation translations on types. Finally we provide an adequate CPS transform from our calculus to the -calculus. This shows that the latter may be regarded as an assembly language, while our calculus seems to provide a better programming notation for higher-order concurrency. We conclude by discussing some alternative design decisions.     

‘KRISP’: A represnetation for the semantic interpretation of texts

KRISP is a representation system and set of interpretation protocols that is used in the Sparser natural language understanding system to embody the meaning of texts and their pragmatic contexts. It is based on a denotational notion of semantic interpretation, where the phrases of a text are directly projected onto a largely pre-existing set of individuals and categories in a model, rather than first going through a level of symbolic representation such as a logical form. It defines a small set of semantic object types, grounded in the lambda calculus, and it supports the principle of uniqueness and supplies first class objects to represent partially-saturated relationships.KRISP is being used to develop a core set of concepts for such things as names, amounts, time, and modality, which are part of a few larger models for domains including Who's News and joint ventures. It is targeted at the task of information extraction, emphasizing the need to relate entities mentioned in new texts to a large set of pre-defined entities and those read about in earlier articles or in the same article.     

Specifying active databases as non-Markovian theories of actions

Over the last 15 years, database management systems (DBMSs) have been enhanced by the addition of rule-based programming to obtain active DBMSs. One of the greatest challenges in this area is to formally account for all the aspects of active behavior using a uniform formalism. In this paper, we formalize active relational databases within the framework of the situation calculus by uniformly accounting for them using theories embodying non-Markovian control in the situation calculus. We call these theories active relational theories and use them to capture the dynamics of active databases. Transaction processing and rule execution is modelled as a theorem proving task using active relational theories as background axioms. We show that the major components of an ADBMS, namely the rule sets and the execution models, may be given a clear semantics using active relational theories. More precisely: we represent the rule set as a program written in a suitable version of the situation calculus based language ConGolog; then we extend an existing situation calculus based framework for modelling advanced transaction models to one for modelling the execution models of active behaviors.

Bisimilarity for the Region Calculus

A region calculus is a programming language calculus with explicit instrumentation for memory management. Every value is annotated with a region in which it is stored and regions are allocated and deallocated in a stack-like fashion. The annotations can be statically inferred by a type and effect system, making a region calculus suitable as an intermediate language for a compiler of statically typed programming languages.Although a lot of attention has been paid to type soundness properties of different flavors of region calculi, it seems that little effort has been made to develop a semantic framework. In this paper, we present a theory based on bisimulation, which serves as a coinductive proof principle for showing equivalences of polymorphically region-annotated terms. Our notion of bisimilarity is reminiscent of open bisimilarity for the -calculus and we prove it sound and complete with respect to Morris-style contextual equivalence.As an application, we formulate a syntactic equational theory, which is used elsewhere to prove the soundness of a specializer based on region inference. We use our bisimulation framework to show that the equational theory is sound with respect to contextual equivalence.     

Reference Constructions in the Single-conclusion Proof Logic

We propose an extension of the propositional proof logic languageby the second-order variables denoting the reference constructors(like ‘the formula which is proven by x’). The prooflogic in this weak second-order language is axiomatized viathe calculus _ref, the (Functional)Logic of Proofs with References. It is supplied with the formalarithmetical semantics: we prove that _ref is sound with respect to arithmetical interpretationsand is a conservative extension of propositional single-conclusionproof logic . Finally,we demonstrate how the language of _ref can be used as a scheme language for arithmetic and providethe corresponding proof conversion method.     

Axiomatizing the Skew Boolean Propositional Calculus

The skew Boolean propositional calculus () is a generalization of the classical propositional calculus that arises naturally in the study of certain well-known deductive systems. In this article, we consider a candidate presentation of and prove it constitutes a Hilbert-style axiomatization. The problem reduces to establishing that the logic presented by the candidate axiomatization is algebraizable in the sense of Blok and Pigozzi. In turn, this process is equivalent to verifying four particular formulas are derivable from the candidate presentation. Automated deduction methods played a central role in proving these four theorems. In particular, our approach relied heavily on the method of proof sketches.