A Case Study on Logical Relations using Contextual Types

Proofs by logical relations play a key role to establish rich properties such as normalization or contextual equivalence. They are also challenging to mechanize. In this paper, we describe the completeness proof of algorithmic equality for simply typed lambda-terms by Crary where we reason about logically equivalent terms in the proof environment Beluga. There are three key aspects we rely upon: 1) we encode lambda-terms together with their operational semantics and algorithmic equality using higher-order abstract syntax 2) we directly encode the corresponding logical equivalence of well-typed lambda-terms using recursive types and higher-order functions 3) we exploit Beluga's support for contexts and the equational theory of simultaneous substitutions. This leads to a direct and compact mechanization, demonstrating Beluga's strength at formalizing logical relations proofs.Comment: In Proceedings LFMTP 2015, arXiv:1507.0759

Extending the Extensional Lambda Calculus with Surjective Pairing is Conservative

We answer Klop and de Vrijer's question whether adding surjective-pairing axioms to the extensional lambda calculus yields a conservative extension. The answer is positive. As a byproduct we obtain a "syntactic" proof that the extensional lambda calculus with surjective pairing is consistent.Comment: To appear in Logical Methods in Computer Scienc

Explicit Substitutions for Contextual Type Theory

In this paper, we present an explicit substitution calculus which distinguishes between ordinary bound variables and meta-variables. Its typing discipline is derived from contextual modal type theory. We first present a dependently typed lambda calculus with explicit substitutions for ordinary variables and explicit meta-substitutions for meta-variables. We then present a weak head normalization procedure which performs both substitutions lazily and in a single pass thereby combining substitution walks for the two different classes of variables. Finally, we describe a bidirectional type checking algorithm which uses weak head normalization and prove soundness.Comment: In Proceedings LFMTP 2010, arXiv:1009.218

Semi-Automation of Meta-Theoretic Proofs in Beluga

We present a sound and complete focusing calculus for the core of the logic behind the proof assistant Beluga as well as an overview of its implementation as a tactic in Beluga's interactive proof environment Harpoon. The focusing calculus is designed to construct uniform proofs over contextual LF and its meta-logic in Beluga: a dependently-typed first-order logic with recursive definitions. The implemented tactic is intended to complete straightforward sub-cases in proofs allowing users to focus only on the interesting aspects of their proofs, leaving tedious simple cases to Beluga's theorem prover. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our work by using the tactic to simplify proving weak-head normalization for the simply-typed lambda-calculus.Comment: In Proceedings LFMTP 2023, arXiv:2311.0991

A Lambda Term Representation Inspired by Linear Ordered Logic

We introduce a new nameless representation of lambda terms inspired by ordered logic. At a lambda abstraction, number and relative position of all occurrences of the bound variable are stored, and application carries the additional information where to cut the variable context into function and argument part. This way, complete information about free variable occurrence is available at each subterm without requiring a traversal, and environments can be kept exact such that they only assign values to variables that actually occur in the associated term. Our approach avoids space leaks in interpreters that build function closures. In this article, we prove correctness of the new representation and present an experimental evaluation of its performance in a proof checker for the Edinburgh Logical Framework. Keywords: representation of binders, explicit substitutions, ordered contexts, space leaks, Logical Framework.Comment: In Proceedings LFMTP 2011, arXiv:1110.668

Translating HOL to Dedukti

Dedukti is a logical framework based on the lambda-Pi-calculus modulo rewriting, which extends the lambda-Pi-calculus with rewrite rules. In this paper, we show how to translate the proofs of a family of HOL proof assistants to Dedukti. The translation preserves binding, typing, and reduction. We implemented this translation in an automated tool and used it to successfully translate the OpenTheory standard library.Comment: In Proceedings PxTP 2015, arXiv:1507.0837

LeoPARD --- A Generic Platform for the Implementation of Higher-Order Reasoners

LeoPARD supports the implementation of knowledge representation and reasoning tools for higher-order logic(s). It combines a sophisticated data structure layer (polymorphically typed {\lambda}-calculus with nameless spine notation, explicit substitutions, and perfect term sharing) with an ambitious multi-agent blackboard architecture (supporting prover parallelism at the term, clause, and search level). Further features of LeoPARD include a parser for all TPTP dialects, a command line interpreter, and generic means for the integration of external reasoners.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in the proceedings of CICM'2015 conferenc