Resumptions, Weak Bisimilarity and Big-Step Semantics for While with Interactive I/O: An Exercise in Mixed Induction-Coinduction

We look at the operational semantics of languages with interactive I/O through the glasses of constructive type theory. Following on from our earlier work on coinductive trace-based semantics for While, we define several big-step semantics for While with interactive I/O, based on resumptions and termination-sensitive weak bisimilarity. These require nesting inductive definitions in coinductive definitions, which is interesting both mathematically and from the point-of-view of implementation in a proof assistant. After first defining a basic semantics of statements in terms of resumptions with explicit internal actions (delays), we introduce a semantics in terms of delay-free resumptions that essentially removes finite sequences of delays on the fly from those resumptions that are responsive. Finally, we also look at a semantics in terms of delay-free resumptions supplemented with a silent divergence option. This semantics hinges on decisions between convergence and divergence and is only equivalent to the basic one classically. We have fully formalized our development in Coq.Comment: In Proceedings SOS 2010, arXiv:1008.190

A Direct Version of Veldman's Proof of Open Induction on Cantor Space via Delimited Control Operators

First, we reconstruct Wim Veldman's result that Open Induction on Cantor space can be derived from Double-negation Shift and Markov's Principle. In doing this, we notice that one has to use a countable choice axiom in the proof and that Markov's Principle is replaceable by slightly strengthening the Double-negation Shift schema. We show that this strengthened version of Double-negation Shift can nonetheless be derived in a constructive intermediate logic based on delimited control operators, extended with axioms for higher-type Heyting Arithmetic. We formalize the argument and thus obtain a proof term that directly derives Open Induction on Cantor space by the shift and reset delimited control operators of Danvy and Filinski

Constructive set theory and Brouwerian principles

The paper furnishes realizability models of constructive Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, CZF, which also validate Brouwerian principles such as the axiom of continuous choice (CC), the fan theorem (FT), and monotone bar induction (BIM), and thereby determines the proof-theoretic strength of CZF augmented by these principles. The upshot is that CZF+CC+FT possesses the same strength as CZF, or more precisely, that CZF+CC+FTis conservative over CZF for 02 statements of arithmetic, whereas the addition of a restricted version of bar induction to CZF (called decidable bar induction, BID) leads to greater proof-theoretic strength in that CZF+BID proves the consistency of CZF

Normalization of IZF with Replacement

ZF is a well investigated impredicative constructive version of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. Using set terms, we axiomatize IZF with Replacement, which we call \izfr, along with its intensional counterpart \iizfr. We define a typed lambda calculus \li corresponding to proofs in \iizfr according to the Curry-Howard isomorphism principle. Using realizability for \iizfr, we show weak normalization of \li. We use normalization to prove the disjunction, numerical existence and term existence properties. An inner extensional model is used to show these properties, along with the set existence property, for full, extensional \izfr

An interpretation of the Sigma-2 fragment of classical Analysis in System T

We show that it is possible to define a realizability interpretation for the $\Sigma_2$-fragment of classical Analysis using G\"odel's System T only. This supplements a previous result of Schwichtenberg regarding bar recursion at types 0 and 1 by showing how to avoid using bar recursion altogether. Our result is proved via a conservative extension of System T with an operator for composable continuations from the theory of programming languages due to Danvy and Filinski. The fragment of Analysis is therefore essentially constructive, even in presence of the full Axiom of Choice schema: Weak Church's Rule holds of it in spite of the fact that it is strong enough to refute the formal arithmetical version of Church's Thesis