Functions-as-Constructors Higher-Order Unification

Unification is a central operation in the construction of a range of computational logic systems based on first-order and higher-order logics. First-order unification has a number of properties that dominates the way it is incorporated within such systems. In particular, first-order unification is decidable, unary, and can be performed on untyped term structures. None of these three properties hold for full higher-order unification: unification is undecidable, unifiers can be incomparable, and term-level typing can dominate the search for unifiers. The so-called pattern subset of higher-order unification was designed to be a small extension to first-order unification that respected the basic laws governing lambda-binding (the equalities of alpha, beta, and eta-conversion) but which also satisfied those three properties. While the pattern fragment of higher-order unification has been popular in various implemented systems and in various theoretical considerations, it is too weak for a number of applications. In this paper, we define an extension of pattern unification that is motivated by some existing applications and which satisfies these three properties. The main idea behind this extension is that the arguments to a higher-order, free variable can be more than just distinct bound variables: they can also be terms constructed from (sufficient numbers of) such variables using term constructors and where no argument is a subterm of any other argument. We show that this extension to pattern unification satisfies the three properties mentioned above

One or Nothing: Anti-unification over the Simply-Typed Lambda Calculus

Generalization techniques have many applications, such as template construction, argument generalization, and indexing. Modern interactive provers can exploit advancement in generalization methods over expressive-type theories to further develop proof generalization techniques and other transformations. So far, investigations concerned with anti-unification (AU) over lambda terms and similar type theories have focused on developing algorithms for well-studied variants. These variants forbid the nesting of generalization variables, restrict the structure of their arguments, and are unitary. Extending these methods to more expressive variants is important to applications. We consider the case of nested generalization variables and show that the AU problem is nullary (using capture-avoiding substitutions), even when the arguments to free variables are severely restricted.Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Journal (a revised version of the previous submission with more precise proofs

E-Unification for Second-Order Abstract Syntax

Higher-order unification (HOU) concerns unification of (extensions of) ?-calculus and can be seen as an instance of equational unification (E-unification) modulo ??-equivalence of ?-terms. We study equational unification of terms in languages with arbitrary variable binding constructions modulo arbitrary second-order equational theories. Abstract syntax with general variable binding and parametrised metavariables allows us to work with arbitrary binders without committing to ?-calculus or use inconvenient and error-prone term encodings, leading to a more flexible framework. In this paper, we introduce E-unification for second-order abstract syntax and describe a unification procedure for such problems, merging ideas from both full HOU and general E-unification. We prove that the procedure is sound and complete

A Generic Framework for Higher-Order Generalizations

We consider a generic framework for anti-unification of simply typed lambda terms. It helps to compute generalizations which contain maximally common top part of the input expressions, without nesting generalization variables. The rules of the corresponding anti-unification algorithm are formulated, and their soundness and termination are proved. The algorithm depends on a parameter which decides how to choose terms under generalization variables. Changing the particular values of the parameter, we obtained four new unitary variants of higher-order anti-unification and also showed how the already known pattern generalization fits into the schema

Nominal Unification with Atom and Context Variables

Automated deduction in higher-order program calculi, where properties of transformation rules are demanded, or confluence or other equational properties are requested, can often be done by syntactically computing overlaps (critical pairs) of reduction rules and transformation rules. Since higher-order calculi have alpha-equivalence as fundamental equivalence, the reasoning procedure must deal with it. We define ASD1-unification problems, which are higher-order equational unification problems employing variables for atoms, expressions and contexts, with additional distinct-variable constraints, and which have to be solved w.r.t. alpha-equivalence. Our proposal is to extend nominal unification to solve these unification problems. We succeeded in constructing the nominal unification algorithm NomUnifyASD. We show that NomUnifyASD is sound and complete for this problem class, and outputs a set of unifiers with constraints in nondeterministic polynomial time if the final constraints are satisfiable. We also show that solvability of the output constraints can be decided in NEXPTIME, and for a fixed number of context-variables in NP time. For terms without context-variables and atom-variables, NomUnifyASD runs in polynomial time, is unitary, and extends the classical problem by permitting distinct-variable constraints

The New Rewriting Engine of Dedukti

International audienceDedukti is a type-checker for the λΠ-calculus modulo rewriting, an extension of Edinburgh’s logicalframework LF where functions and type symbols can be defined by rewrite rules. It thereforecontains an engine for rewriting LF terms and types according to the rewrite rules given by the user.A key component of this engine is the matching algorithm to find which rules can be fired. In thispaper, we describe the class of rewrite rules supported by Dedukti and the new implementation ofthe matching algorithm. Dedukti supports non-linear rewrite rules on terms with binders usinghigher-order pattern-matching as in Combinatory Reduction Systems (CRS). The new matchingalgorithm extends the technique of decision trees introduced by Luc Maranget in the OCamlcompiler to this more general context

Implementing Type Theory in Higher Order Constraint Logic Programming

International audienceIn this paper we are interested in high-level programming languages to implement the core components of an interactive theorem prover for a dependently typed language: the kernel — responsible for type-checking closed terms — and the elaborator — that manipulates terms with holes or, equivalently, partial proof terms. In the first part of the paper we confirm that λProlog, the language developed by Miller and Nadathur since the 80s, is extremely suitable for implementing the kernel, even when efficient techniques like reduction machines are employed. In the second part of the paper we turn our attention to the elaborator and we observe that the eager generative semantics inherited by Prolog makes it impossible to reason by induction over terms containing metavariables. We also conclude that the minimal extension to λProlog that allows to do so is the possibility to delay inductive predicates over flexible terms, turning them into (set of) constraints to be propagated according to user provided constraint propagation rules. Therefore we propose extensions to λProlog to declare and manipulate higher order constraints, and we implement the proposed extensions in the ELPI system. Our test case is the implementation of an elaborator for a type theory as a CLP extension to a kernel written in plain λProlog

Efficient Full Higher-Order Unification

We developed a procedure to enumerate complete sets of higher-order unifiers based on work by Jensen and Pietrzykowski. Our procedure removes many redundant unifiers by carefully restricting the search space and tightly integrating decision procedures for fragments that admit a finite complete set of unifiers. We identify a new such fragment and describe a procedure for computing its unifiers. Our unification procedure, together with new higher-order term indexing data structures, is implemented in the Zipperposition theorem prover. Experimental evaluation shows a clear advantage over Jensen and Pietrzykowski's procedure

Functions-as-constructors higher-order unification: extended pattern unification

International audienceAbstract Unification is a central operation in constructing a range of computational logic systems based on first-order and higher-order logics. First-order unification has several properties that guide its incorporation into such systems. In particular, first-order unification is decidable, unary, and can be performed on untyped term structures. None of these three properties hold for full higher-order unification: unification is undecidable, unifiers can be incomparable, and term-level typing can dominate the search for unifiers. The so-called pattern subset of higher-order unification was designed to be a small extension to first-order unification that respects the laws governing λ-binding (i.e., the equalities for α, β, and η -conversion) but which also satisfied those three properties. While the pattern fragment of higher-order unification has been used in numerous implemented systems and in various theoretical settings, it is too weak for many applications. This paper defines an extension of pattern unification that should make it more generally applicable, especially in proof assistants that allow for higher-order functions. This extension’s main idea is that the arguments to a higher-order, free variable can be more than just distinct bound variables. In particular, such arguments can be terms constructed from (sufficient numbers of) such bound variables using term constructors and where no argument is a subterm of any other argument. We show that this extension to pattern unification satisfies the three properties mentioned above