10,937 research outputs found
Nominal Logic Programming
Nominal logic is an extension of first-order logic which provides a simple
foundation for formalizing and reasoning about abstract syntax modulo
consistent renaming of bound names (that is, alpha-equivalence). This article
investigates logic programming based on nominal logic. We describe some typical
nominal logic programs, and develop the model-theoretic, proof-theoretic, and
operational semantics of such programs. Besides being of interest for ensuring
the correct behavior of implementations, these results provide a rigorous
foundation for techniques for analysis and reasoning about nominal logic
programs, as we illustrate via examples.Comment: 46 pages; 19 page appendix; 13 figures. Revised journal submission as
of July 23, 200
An Improved Implementation and Abstract Interface for Hybrid
Hybrid is a formal theory implemented in Isabelle/HOL that provides an
interface for representing and reasoning about object languages using
higher-order abstract syntax (HOAS). This interface is built around an HOAS
variable-binding operator that is constructed definitionally from a de Bruijn
index representation. In this paper we make a variety of improvements to
Hybrid, culminating in an abstract interface that on one hand makes Hybrid a
more mathematically satisfactory theory, and on the other hand has important
practical benefits. We start with a modification of Hybrid's type of terms that
better hides its implementation in terms of de Bruijn indices, by excluding at
the type level terms with dangling indices. We present an improved set of
definitions, and a series of new lemmas that provide a complete
characterization of Hybrid's primitives in terms of properties stated at the
HOAS level. Benefits of this new package include a new proof of adequacy and
improvements to reasoning about object logics. Such proofs are carried out at
the higher level with no involvement of the lower level de Bruijn syntax.Comment: In Proceedings LFMTP 2011, arXiv:1110.668
Second-Order Algebraic Theories
Fiore and Hur recently introduced a conservative extension of universal
algebra and equational logic from first to second order. Second-order universal
algebra and second-order equational logic respectively provide a model theory
and a formal deductive system for languages with variable binding and
parameterised metavariables. This work completes the foundations of the subject
from the viewpoint of categorical algebra. Specifically, the paper introduces
the notion of second-order algebraic theory and develops its basic theory. Two
categorical equivalences are established: at the syntactic level, that of
second-order equational presentations and second-order algebraic theories; at
the semantic level, that of second-order algebras and second-order functorial
models. Our development includes a mathematical definition of syntactic
translation between second-order equational presentations. This gives the first
formalisation of notions such as encodings and transforms in the context of
languages with variable binding
From nominal sets binding to functions and lambda-abstraction: connecting the logic of permutation models with the logic of functions
Permissive-Nominal Logic (PNL) extends first-order predicate logic with
term-formers that can bind names in their arguments. It takes a semantics in
(permissive-)nominal sets. In PNL, the forall-quantifier or lambda-binder are
just term-formers satisfying axioms, and their denotation is functions on
nominal atoms-abstraction.
Then we have higher-order logic (HOL) and its models in ordinary (i.e.
Zermelo-Fraenkel) sets; the denotation of forall or lambda is functions on full
or partial function spaces.
This raises the following question: how are these two models of binding
connected? What translation is possible between PNL and HOL, and between
nominal sets and functions?
We exhibit a translation of PNL into HOL, and from models of PNL to certain
models of HOL. It is natural, but also partial: we translate a restricted
subsystem of full PNL to HOL. The extra part which does not translate is the
symmetry properties of nominal sets with respect to permutations. To use a
little nominal jargon: we can translate names and binding, but not their
nominal equivariance properties. This seems reasonable since HOL---and ordinary
sets---are not equivariant.
Thus viewed through this translation, PNL and HOL and their models do
different things, but they enjoy non-trivial and rich subsystems which are
isomorphic
Modeling Nonintersective Adjectives Using Operator Logics
Our topic is one that involves the interface between natural language and mathematical logic. First-order predicate language/logic does a good job approximating many parts of (English) speech, i.e., nouns, verbs and prepositions, but fails decidedly when it comes to, say, adjectives. In particular, it cannot account for the quite different ways in which the adjectives green and big modify a noun such as chair. In the former case, we can easily view a world in which the class of green chairs is the intersection of the class of green things with the class of chair-things. By contrast, the way big modifies a noun depends on the noun itself: a big chair is microscopic when compared to the smallest of galaxies. We investigate logical languages inspired by this phenomenon; particularly those with variables ranging over individuals and with variable-binding operators akin to generalized quantifiers
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