7,907 research outputs found
Lambda Dependency-Based Compositional Semantics
This short note presents a new formal language, lambda dependency-based
compositional semantics (lambda DCS) for representing logical forms in semantic
parsing. By eliminating variables and making existential quantification
implicit, lambda DCS logical forms are generally more compact than those in
lambda calculus
First Class Call Stacks: Exploring Head Reduction
Weak-head normalization is inconsistent with functional extensionality in the
call-by-name -calculus. We explore this problem from a new angle via
the conflict between extensionality and effects. Leveraging ideas from work on
the -calculus with control, we derive and justify alternative
operational semantics and a sequence of abstract machines for performing head
reduction. Head reduction avoids the problems with weak-head reduction and
extensionality, while our operational semantics and associated abstract
machines show us how to retain weak-head reduction's ease of implementation.Comment: In Proceedings WoC 2015, arXiv:1606.0583
On equivalences and standardization in a non-deterministic call-by-need lambda calculus
The goal of this report is to prove correctness of a considerable subset of transformations w.r.t. contextual equivalence in a an extended lambda-calculus with case, constructors, seq, let, and choice, with a simple set of reduction rules. Unfortunately, a direct proof appears to be impossible. The correctness proof is by defining another calculus comprising the complex variants of copy, case-reduction and seq-reductions that use variablebinding chains. This complex calculus has well-behaved diagrams and allows a proof that of correctness of transformations, and also that the simple calculus defines an equivalent contextual order
On Uniquely Closable and Uniquely Typable Skeletons of Lambda Terms
Uniquely closable skeletons of lambda terms are Motzkin-trees that
predetermine the unique closed lambda term that can be obtained by labeling
their leaves with de Bruijn indices. Likewise, uniquely typable skeletons of
closed lambda terms predetermine the unique simply-typed lambda term that can
be obtained by labeling their leaves with de Bruijn indices.
We derive, through a sequence of logic program transformations, efficient
code for their combinatorial generation and study their statistical properties.
As a result, we obtain context-free grammars describing closable and uniquely
closable skeletons of lambda terms, opening the door for their in-depth study
with tools from analytic combinatorics.
Our empirical study of the more difficult case of (uniquely) typable terms
reveals some interesting open problems about their density and asymptotic
behavior.
As a connection between the two classes of terms, we also show that uniquely
typable closed lambda term skeletons of size are in a bijection with
binary trees of size .Comment: Pre-proceedings paper presented at the 27th International Symposium
on Logic-Based Program Synthesis and Transformation (LOPSTR 2017), Namur,
Belgium, 10-12 October 2017 (arXiv:1708.07854
Reconciling positional and nominal binding
We define an extension of the simply-typed lambda calculus where two
different binding mechanisms, by position and by name, nicely coexist. In the
former, as in standard lambda calculus, the matching between parameter and
argument is done on a positional basis, hence alpha-equivalence holds, whereas
in the latter it is done on a nominal basis. The two mechanisms also
respectively correspond to static binding, where the existence and type
compatibility of the argument are checked at compile-time, and dynamic binding,
where they are checked at run-time.Comment: In Proceedings ITRS 2012, arXiv:1307.784
Distilling Abstract Machines (Long Version)
It is well-known that many environment-based abstract machines can be seen as
strategies in lambda calculi with explicit substitutions (ES). Recently,
graphical syntaxes and linear logic led to the linear substitution calculus
(LSC), a new approach to ES that is halfway between big-step calculi and
traditional calculi with ES. This paper studies the relationship between the
LSC and environment-based abstract machines. While traditional calculi with ES
simulate abstract machines, the LSC rather distills them: some transitions are
simulated while others vanish, as they map to a notion of structural
congruence. The distillation process unveils that abstract machines in fact
implement weak linear head reduction, a notion of evaluation having a central
role in the theory of linear logic. We show that such a pattern applies
uniformly in call-by-name, call-by-value, and call-by-need, catching many
machines in the literature. We start by distilling the KAM, the CEK, and the
ZINC, and then provide simplified versions of the SECD, the lazy KAM, and
Sestoft's machine. Along the way we also introduce some new machines with
global environments. Moreover, we show that distillation preserves the time
complexity of the executions, i.e. the LSC is a complexity-preserving
abstraction of abstract machines.Comment: 63 page
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