Representations of stream processors using nested fixed points

We define representations of continuous functions on infinite streams of discrete values, both in the case of discrete-valued functions, and in the case of stream-valued functions. We define also an operation on the representations of two continuous functions between streams that yields a representation of their composite. In the case of discrete-valued functions, the representatives are well-founded (finite-path) trees of a certain kind. The underlying idea can be traced back to Brouwer's justification of bar-induction, or to Kreisel and Troelstra's elimination of choice-sequences. In the case of stream-valued functions, the representatives are non-wellfounded trees pieced together in a coinductive fashion from well-founded trees. The definition requires an alternating fixpoint construction of some ubiquity

Beating the Productivity Checker Using Embedded Languages

Some total languages, like Agda and Coq, allow the use of guarded corecursion to construct infinite values and proofs. Guarded corecursion is a form of recursion in which arbitrary recursive calls are allowed, as long as they are guarded by a coinductive constructor. Guardedness ensures that programs are productive, i.e. that every finite prefix of an infinite value can be computed in finite time. However, many productive programs are not guarded, and it can be nontrivial to put them in guarded form. This paper gives a method for turning a productive program into a guarded program. The method amounts to defining a problem-specific language as a data type, writing the program in the problem-specific language, and writing a guarded interpreter for this language.Comment: In Proceedings PAR 2010, arXiv:1012.455

Inductive and Coinductive Components of Corecursive Functions in Coq

In Constructive Type Theory, recursive and corecursive definitions are subject to syntactic restrictions which guarantee termination for recursive functions and productivity for corecursive functions. However, many terminating and productive functions do not pass the syntactic tests. Bove proposed in her thesis an elegant reformulation of the method of accessibility predicates that widens the range of terminative recursive functions formalisable in Constructive Type Theory. In this paper, we pursue the same goal for productive corecursive functions. Notably, our method of formalisation of coinductive definitions of productive functions in Coq requires not only the use of ad-hoc predicates, but also a systematic algorithm that separates the inductive and coinductive parts of functions.Comment: Dans Coalgebraic Methods in Computer Science (2008

Data-Oblivious Stream Productivity

We are concerned with demonstrating productivity of specifications of infinite streams of data, based on orthogonal rewrite rules. In general, this property is undecidable, but for restricted formats computable sufficient conditions can be obtained. The usual analysis disregards the identity of data, thus leading to approaches that we call data-oblivious. We present a method that is provably optimal among all such data-oblivious approaches. This means that in order to improve on the algorithm in this paper one has to proceed in a data-aware fashion