215 research outputs found
Coalgebraic Semantics for Timed Processes
We give a coalgebraic formulation of timed processes and their operational semantics. We model time by a monoid called a “time domain”, and we model processes by “timed transition systems”, which amount to partial monoid actions of the time domain or, equivalently, coalgebras for an “evolution comonad ” generated by the time domain. All our examples of time domains satisfy a partial closure property, yielding a distributive law of a monad for total monoid actions over the evolution comonad, and hence a distributive law of the evolution comonad over a dual comonad for total monoid actions. We show that the induced coalgebras are exactly timed transition systems with delay operators. We then integrate our coalgebraic formulation of time qua timed transition systems into Turi and Plotkin’s formulation of structural operational semantics in terms of distributive laws. We combine timing with action via the more general study of the combination of two arbitrary sorts of behaviour whose operational semantics may interact. We give a modular account of the operational semantics for a combination induced by that of each of its components. Our study necessitates the investigation of products of comonads. In particular, we characterise when a monad lifts to the category of coalgebras for a product comonad, providing constructions with which one can readily calculate. Key words: time domains, timed transition systems, evolution comonads, delay operators, structural operational semantics, modularity, distributive laws
Enhanced 2-categories and limits for lax morphisms
We study limits in 2-categories whose objects are categories with extra
structure and whose morphisms are functors preserving the structure only up to
a coherent comparison map, which may or may not be required to be invertible.
This is done using the framework of 2-monads. In order to characterize the
limits which exist in this context, we need to consider also the functors which
do strictly preserve the extra structure. We show how such a 2-category of weak
morphisms which is "enhanced", by specifying which of these weak morphisms are
actually strict, can be thought of as category enriched over a particular base
cartesian closed category F. We give a complete characterization, in terms of
F-enriched category theory, of the limits which exist in such 2-categories of
categories with extra structure.Comment: 77 pages; v2 minor changes only, to appear in Advance
Distributive Laws for Monotone Specifications
Turi and Plotkin introduced an elegant approach to structural operational
semantics based on universal coalgebra, parametric in the type of syntax and
the type of behaviour. Their framework includes abstract GSOS, a categorical
generalisation of the classical GSOS rule format, as well as its categorical
dual, coGSOS. Both formats are well behaved, in the sense that each
specification has a unique model on which behavioural equivalence is a
congruence. Unfortunately, the combination of the two formats does not feature
these desirable properties. We show that monotone specifications - that
disallow negative premises - do induce a canonical distributive law of a monad
over a comonad, and therefore a unique, compositional interpretation.Comment: In Proceedings EXPRESS/SOS 2017, arXiv:1709.0004
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