Game semantics for a polymorphic programming language

This article presents a game semantics for higher-rank polymorphism, leading to a new model of the calculus System F, and a programming language which extends it with mutable variables. In contrast to previous game models of polymorphism, it is quite concrete, extending existing categories of games by a simple development of the notion of question/answer labelling and the associated bracketing condition to represent “copycat links” between positive and negative occurrences of type variables. Some well-known System F encodings of type constructors correspond in our model to simple constructions on games, such as the lifted sum. We characterize the generic types of our model (those for which instantiation reflects denotational equivalence), and show how to construct an interpretation in which all types are generic. We show how mutable variables (à la Scheme) may be interpreted in our model, allowing the definition of polymorphic objects with local state. By proving definability of finitary elements in this model using a decomposition argument, we establish a full abstraction result. </jats:p

Dinaturality Meets Genericity: A Game Semantics of Bounded Polymorphism

We study subtyping and parametric polymorphism, with the aim of providing direct and tractable semantic representations of type systems with these expressive features. The liveness order uses the Player-Opponent duality of game semantics to give a simple representation of subtyping: we generalize it to include graphs extracted directly from second-order intuitionistic types, and use the resulting complete lattice to interpret bounded polymorphic types in the style of System F_<:, but with a more tractable subtyping relation. To extend this to a semantics of terms, we use the type-derived graphs as arenas, on which strategies correspond to dinatural transformations with respect to the canonical coercions ("on the nose" copycats) induced by the liveness ordering. This relationship between the interpretation of generic and subtype polymorphism thus provides the basis of the semantics of our type system

Game semantics for bounded polymorphism

We describe a denotational, intensional semantics for programs with polymorphic types with bounded quantification, in which phenomena such as inheritance between stateful objects may be represented and studied. Our model is developed from a game semantics for unbounded polymorphism, by establishing dinaturality properties of generic strategies, and using them to give a new construction for interpreting subtyping constraints and bounded quantification. We use this construction to give a denotational semantics for a programming language with general references and an expressive polymorphic typing system. We show that full abstraction fails in general in this model, but that it holds for all terms at a rich collection of bounded types.</p

A Curry-style Semantics of Interaction:From Untyped to Second-Order Lazy λμ-Calculus

We propose a “Curry-style” semantics of programs in which a nominal labelled transition system of types, characterizing observable behaviour, is overlaid on a nominal LTS of untyped computation. This leads to a notion of program equivalence as typed bisimulation. Our semantics reflects the role of types as hiding operators, firstly via an axiomatic characterization of “parallel composition with hiding” which yields a general technique for establishing congruence results for typed bisimulation, and secondly via an example which captures the hiding of implementations in abstract data types: a typed bisimulation for the (Curry-style) lazy λμ-calculus with polymorphic types. This is built on an abstract machine for CPS evaluation of λμ-terms: we first give a basic typing system for this LTS which characterizes acyclicity of the environment and local control flow, and then refine this to a polymorphic typing system which uses equational constraints on instantiated type variables, inferred from observable interaction, to capture behaviour at polymorphic and abstract types.</p

Game Semantics for Interface Middleweight Java

We consider an object calculus in which open terms interact with the environment through interfaces. The calculus is intended to capture the essence of contextual interactions of Middleweight Java code. Using game semantics, we provide fully abstract models for the induced notions of contextual approximation and equivalence. These are the first denotational models of this kind

Foundations of Software Science and Computation Structures

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Foundations of Software Science and Computational Structures, FOSSACS 2020, which took place in Dublin, Ireland, in April 2020, and was held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2020. The 31 regular papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 98 submissions. The papers cover topics such as categorical models and logics; language theory, automata, and games; modal, spatial, and temporal logics; type theory and proof theory; concurrency theory and process calculi; rewriting theory; semantics of programming languages; program analysis, correctness, transformation, and verification; logics of programming; software specification and refinement; models of concurrent, reactive, stochastic, distributed, hybrid, and mobile systems; emerging models of computation; logical aspects of computational complexity; models of software security; and logical foundations of data bases.

Imperative Programs as Proofs via Game Semantics

Game semantics extends the Curry-Howard isomorphism to a three-way correspondence: proofs, programs, strategies. But the universe of strategies goes beyond intuitionistic logics and lambda calculus, to capture stateful programs. In this thesis we describe a logical counterpart to this extension, in which proofs denote such strategies. The system is expressive: it contains all of the connectives of Intuitionistic Linear Logic, and first-order quantification. Use of a novel sequoid operator allows proofs with imperative behaviour to be expressed. Thus, we can embed first-order Intuitionistic Linear Logic into this system, Polarized Linear Logic, and an expressive imperative total programming language. We can use the first-order structure to express properties on the imperative programs. The proof system has a tight connection with a simple game model, where games are forests of plays. Formulas are modelled as games, and proofs as history-sensitive winning strategies. We provide a strong full and faithful completeness result with respect to this model: each finitary strategy is the denotation of a unique analytic (cut-free) proof. Infinite strategies correspond to analytic proofs that are infinitely deep. Thus, we can normalise proofs, via the semantics. The proof system makes novel use of the fact that the sequoid operator allows the exponential modality of linear logic to be expressed as a final coalgebra.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Foundations of Software Science and Computation Structures

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Foundations of Software Science and Computational Structures, FOSSACS 2020, which took place in Dublin, Ireland, in April 2020, and was held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2020. The 31 regular papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 98 submissions. The papers cover topics such as categorical models and logics; language theory, automata, and games; modal, spatial, and temporal logics; type theory and proof theory; concurrency theory and process calculi; rewriting theory; semantics of programming languages; program analysis, correctness, transformation, and verification; logics of programming; software specification and refinement; models of concurrent, reactive, stochastic, distributed, hybrid, and mobile systems; emerging models of computation; logical aspects of computational complexity; models of software security; and logical foundations of data bases.