733 research outputs found
Automation of Diagrammatic Proofs in Mathematics
Theorems in automated theorem proving are usually proved by logical formal proofs. However, there is a subset of problems which can also be proved in a more informal way by the use of geometric operations on diagrams, so called diagrammatic proofs. Insight is more clearly perceived in these than in the corresponding logical proofs: they capture an intuitive notion of truthfulness that humans find easy to see and understand. The proposed research project is to identify and ultimately automate this diagrammatic reasoning on mathematical theorems. The system that we are in the process of implementing will be given a theorem and will (initially) interactively prove it by the use of geometric manipulations on the diagram that the user chooses to be the appropriate ones. These operations will be the inference steps of the proof. The constructive !-rule will be used as a tool to capture the generality of diagrammatic proofs. In this way, we hope to verify and to show that the diagra..
From Euclidean Geometry to Knots and Nets
This document is the Accepted Manuscript of an article accepted for publication in Synthese. Under embargo until 19 September 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1558-x.This paper assumes the success of arguments against the view that informal mathematical proofs secure rational conviction in virtue of their relations with corresponding formal derivations. This assumption entails a need for an alternative account of the logic of informal mathematical proofs. Following examination of case studies by Manders, De Toffoli and Giardino, Leitgeb, Feferman and others, this paper proposes a framework for analysing those informal proofs that appeal to the perception or modification of diagrams or to the inspection or imaginative manipulation of mental models of mathematical phenomena. Proofs relying on diagrams can be rigorous if (a) it is easy to draw a diagram that shares or otherwise indicates the structure of the mathematical object, (b) the information thus displayed is not metrical and (c) it is possible to put the inferences into systematic mathematical relation with other mathematical inferential practices. Proofs that appeal to mental models can be rigorous if the mental models can be externalised as diagrammatic practice that satisfies these three conditions.Peer reviewe
Quantum Picturalism
The quantum mechanical formalism doesn't support our intuition, nor does it
elucidate the key concepts that govern the behaviour of the entities that are
subject to the laws of quantum physics. The arrays of complex numbers are kin
to the arrays of 0s and 1s of the early days of computer programming practice.
In this review we present steps towards a diagrammatic `high-level' alternative
for the Hilbert space formalism, one which appeals to our intuition. It allows
for intuitive reasoning about interacting quantum systems, and trivialises many
otherwise involved and tedious computations. It clearly exposes limitations
such as the no-cloning theorem, and phenomena such as quantum teleportation. As
a logic, it supports `automation'. It allows for a wider variety of underlying
theories, and can be easily modified, having the potential to provide the
required step-stone towards a deeper conceptual understanding of quantum
theory, as well as its unification with other physical theories. Specific
applications discussed here are purely diagrammatic proofs of several quantum
computational schemes, as well as an analysis of the structural origin of
quantum non-locality. The underlying mathematical foundation of this high-level
diagrammatic formalism relies on so-called monoidal categories, a product of a
fairly recent development in mathematics. These monoidal categories do not only
provide a natural foundation for physical theories, but also for proof theory,
logic, programming languages, biology, cooking, ... The challenge is to
discover the necessary additional pieces of structure that allow us to predict
genuine quantum phenomena.Comment: Commissioned paper for Contemporary Physics, 31 pages, 84 pictures,
some colo
Informal proof, formal proof, formalism
Increases in the use of automated theorem-provers have renewed focus on the relationship between the informal proofs normally found in mathematical research and fully formalised derivations. Whereas some claim that any correct proof will be underwritten by a fully formal proof, sceptics demur. In this paper I look at the relevance of these issues for formalism, construed as an anti-platonistic metaphysical doctrine. I argue that there are strong reasons to doubt that all proofs are fully formalisable, if formal proofs are required to be finitary, but that, on a proper view of the way in which formal proofs idealise actual practice, this restriction is unjustified and formalism is not threatened
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Automated verification of refinement laws
Demonic refinement algebras are variants of Kleene algebras. Introduced by von Wright as a light-weight variant of the refinement calculus, their intended semantics are positively disjunctive predicate transformers, and their calculus is entirely within first-order equational logic. So, for the first time, off-the-shelf automated theorem proving (ATP) becomes available for refinement proofs. We used ATP to verify a toolkit of basic refinement laws. Based on this toolkit, we then verified two classical complex refinement laws for action systems by ATP: a data refinement law and Back's atomicity refinement law. We also present a refinement law for infinite loops that has been discovered through automated analysis. Our proof experiments not only demonstrate that refinement can effectively be automated, they also compare eleven different ATP systems and suggest that program verification with variants of Kleene algebras yields interesting theorem proving benchmarks. Finally, we apply hypothesis learning techniques that seem indispensable for automating more complex proofs
The GHZ/W-calculus contains rational arithmetic
Graphical calculi for representing interacting quantum systems serve a number
of purposes: compositionally, intuitive graphical reasoning, and a logical
underpinning for automation. The power of these calculi stems from the fact
that they embody generalized symmetries of the structure of quantum operations,
which, for example, stretch well beyond the Choi-Jamiolkowski isomorphism. One
such calculus takes the GHZ and W states as its basic generators. Here we show
that this language allows one to encode standard rational calculus, with the
GHZ state as multiplication, the W state as addition, the Pauli X gate as
multiplicative inversion, and the Pauli Z gate as additive inversion.Comment: In Proceedings HPC 2010, arXiv:1103.226
Automated Mathematics and the Reconfiguration of Proof and Labor
This essay examines how automation has reconfigured mathematical proof and
labor, and what might happen in the future. It discusses practical standards of
proof, distinguishes between prominent forms of automation in research,
provides critiques of recurring assumptions, and asks how automation might
reshape economies of labor and credit.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure; to appear in the Bulletin of the American
Mathematical Societ
Mathematics and language
This essay considers the special character of mathematical reasoning, and
draws on observations from interactive theorem proving and the history of
mathematics to clarify the nature of formal and informal mathematical language.
It proposes that we view mathematics as a system of conventions and norms that
is designed to help us make sense of the world and reason efficiently. Like any
designed system, it can perform well or poorly, and the philosophy of
mathematics has a role to play in helping us understand the general principles
by which it serves its purposes well
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