Non-wellfounded trees in Homotopy Type Theory

We prove a conjecture about the constructibility of coinductive types - in the principled form of indexed M-types - in Homotopy Type Theory. The conjecture says that in the presence of inductive types, coinductive types are derivable. Indeed, in this work, we construct coinductive types in a subsystem of Homotopy Type Theory; this subsystem is given by Intensional Martin-L\"of type theory with natural numbers and Voevodsky's Univalence Axiom. Our results are mechanized in the computer proof assistant Agda.Comment: 14 pages, to be published in proceedings of TLCA 2015; ancillary files contain Agda files with formalized proof

Non-Wellfounded Trees in Homotopy Type Theory

Coinductive data types are used in functional programming to represent infinite data struc-tures. Examples include the ubiquitous data type of streams over a given base type, but also more sophisticated types. From a categorical perspective, coinductive types are characterized by a universal property, which specifies the object with that property uniquely in a suitable sense. More precisely, a coinductive type is specified as the terminal coalgebra of a suitable endofunctor. In this category-theoretic viewpoint, coinductive types are dual to inductive types, which are defined as initial algebras. Inductive, resp. coinductive, types are usually considered in the principled form of the family of W-types, resp. M-types, parametrized by a type A and a dependent type family B over A, that is, a family of types (B(a))a:A. Intuitively, the elements of the coinductive type M(A,B) are trees with nodes labeled by elements of A such that a node labeled by a: A has B(a)-many subtrees, given by a map B(a) → M(A,B); see Figure 1 for an example. The inductive type W(A,B) contains only trees where any path within that tree eventually leads to a leaf, that is, to a node a: A such that B(a) is empty. a, b, c: A B(a) =

W-types in Homotopy Type Theory

We will give a detailed account of why the simplicial sets model of the univalence axiom due to Voevodsky also models W-types. In addition, we will discuss W-types in categories of simplicial presheaves and an application to models of set theory.Comment: We have corrected the statement of Theorem 3.4. We thank Christian Sattler for alerting us to the error in the original versio

Data types with symmetries and polynomial functors over groupoids

Polynomial functors are useful in the theory of data types, where they are often called containers. They are also useful in algebra, combinatorics, topology, and higher category theory, and in this broader perspective the polynomial aspect is often prominent and justifies the terminology. For example, Tambara's theorem states that the category of finite polynomial functors is the Lawvere theory for commutative semirings. In this talk I will explain how an upgrade of the theory from sets to groupoids is useful to deal with data types with symmetries, and provides a common generalisation of and a clean unifying framework for quotient containers (cf. Abbott et al.), species and analytic functors (Joyal 1985), as well as the stuff types of Baez-Dolan. The multi-variate setting also includes relations and spans, multispans, and stuff operators. An attractive feature of this theory is that with the correct homotopical approach - homotopy slices, homotopy pullbacks, homotopy colimits, etc. - the groupoid case looks exactly like the set case. After some standard examples, I will illustrate the notion of data-types-with-symmetries with examples from quantum field theory, where the symmetries of complicated tree structures of graphs play a crucial role, and can be handled elegantly using polynomial functors over groupoids. (These examples, although beyond species, are purely combinatorial and can be appreciated without background in quantum field theory.) Locally cartesian closed 2-categories provide semantics for 2-truncated intensional type theory. For a fullfledged type theory, locally cartesian closed \infty-categories seem to be needed. The theory of these is being developed by D.Gepner and the author as a setting for homotopical species, and several of the results exposed in this talk are just truncations of \infty-results obtained in joint work with Gepner. Details will appear elsewhere.Comment: This is the final version of my conference paper presented at the 28th Conference on the Mathematical Foundations of Programming Semantics (Bath, June 2012); to appear in the Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science. 16p

Connecting Constructive Notions of Ordinals in Homotopy Type Theory

In classical set theory, there are many equivalent ways to introduce ordinals. In a constructive setting, however, the different notions split apart, with different advantages and disadvantages for each. We consider three different notions of ordinals in homotopy type theory, and show how they relate to each other: A notation system based on Cantor normal forms, a refined notion of Brouwer trees (inductively generated by zero, successor and countable limits), and wellfounded extensional orders. For Cantor normal forms, most properties are decidable, whereas for wellfounded extensional transitive orders, most are undecidable. Formulations for Brouwer trees are usually partially decidable. We demonstrate that all three notions have properties expected of ordinals: their order relations, although defined differently in each case, are all extensional and wellfounded, and the usual arithmetic operations can be defined in each case. We connect these notions by constructing structure preserving embeddings of Cantor normal forms into Brouwer trees, and of these in turn into wellfounded extensional orders. We have formalised most of our results in cubical Agda

W-types in setoids

W-types and their categorical analogue, initial algebras for polynomial endofunctors, are an important tool in predicative systems to replace transfinite recursion on well-orderings. Current arguments to obtain W-types in quotient completions rely on assumptions, like Uniqueness of Identity Proofs, or on constructions that involve recursion into a universe, that limit their applicability to a specific setting. We present an argument, verified in Coq, that instead uses dependent W-types in the underlying type theory to construct W-types in the setoid model. The immediate advantage is to have a proof more type-theoretic in flavour, which directly uses recursion on the underlying W-type to prove initiality. Furthermore, taking place in intensional type theory and not requiring any recursion into a universe, it may be generalised to various categorical quotient completions, with the aim of finding a uniform construction of extensional W-types.Comment: 17 pages, formalised in Coq; v2: added reference to formalisatio

Quotienting the delay monad by weak bisimilarity

The delay datatype was introduced by Capretta as a means to deal with partial functions (as in computability theory) in Martin-Löf type theory. It is a monad and it constitutes a constructive alternative to the maybe monad. It is often desirable to consider two delayed computations equal, if they terminate with equal values, whenever one of them terminates. The equivalence relation underlying this identification is called weak bisimilarity. In type theory, one commonly replaces quotients with setoids. In this approach, the delay monad quotiented by weak bisimilarity is still a monad. In this paper, we consider Hofmann's alternative approach of extending type theory with inductive-like quotient types. In this setting, it is difficult to define the intended monad multiplication for the quotiented datatype. We give a solution where we postulate some principles, crucially proposition extensionality and the (semi-classical) axiom of countable choice. We have fully formalized our results in the Agda dependently typed programming language

Type-Theoretic Constructions of the Final Coalgebra of the Finite Powerset Functor

The finite powerset functor is a construct frequently employed for the specification of nondeterministic transition systems as coalgebras. The final coalgebra of the finite powerset functor, whose elements characterize the dynamical behavior of transition systems, is a well-understood object which enjoys many equivalent presentations in set-theoretic foundations based on classical logic. In this paper, we discuss various constructions of the final coalgebra of the finite powerset functor in constructive type theory, and we formalize our results in the Cubical Agda proof assistant. Using setoids, the final coalgebra of the finite powerset functor can be defined from the final coalgebra of the list functor. Using types instead of setoids, as it is common in homotopy type theory, one can specify the finite powerset datatype as a higher inductive type and define its final coalgebra as a coinductive type. Another construction is obtained by quotienting the final coalgebra of the list functor, but the proof of finality requires the assumption of the axiom of choice. We conclude the paper with an analysis of a classical construction by James Worrell, and show that its adaptation to our constructive setting requires the presence of classical axioms such as countable choice and the lesser limited principle of omniscience

Constructive Final Semantics of Finite Bags

Finitely-branching and unlabelled dynamical systems are typically modelled as coalgebras for the finite powerset functor. If states are reachable in multiple ways, coalgebras for the finite bag functor provide a more faithful representation. The final coalgebra of this functor is employed as a denotational domain for the evaluation of such systems. Elements of the final coalgebra are non-wellfounded trees with finite unordered branching, representing the evolution of systems starting from a given initial state. This paper is dedicated to the construction of the final coalgebra of the finite bag functor in homotopy type theory (HoTT). We first compare various equivalent definitions of finite bags employing higher inductive types, both as sets and as groupoids (in the sense of HoTT). We then analyze a few well-known, classical set-theoretic constructions of final coalgebras in our constructive setting. We show that, in the case of set-based definitions of finite bags, some constructions are intrinsically classical, in the sense that they are equivalent to some weak form of excluded middle. Nevertheless, a type satisfying the universal property of the final coalgebra can be constructed in HoTT employing the groupoid-based definition of finite bags. We conclude by discussing generalizations of our constructions to the wider class of analytic functors