The Origins of lambda-calculus and term rewriting systems

We use origin functions to describe the notion of descendance and residuals in reduction systems such as the lambda-calculus and lineart term rewriting systems. We compare the origin functions for the lambda-calculus and for term rewriting systems that implement this calculus, lambda-sigma and lambda Env. We show that the notions of origin do not correspond exactly, but we describe an extension of lambda Env. We show that this extension is not sufficient to give the same result for lambda-sigma and we give another extension for that system. This work is interesting as it provides with a distinction between the two term rewriting systems. This work has applications in the debugging of languages based on the lambda-calculus or environments

On the enumeration of closures and environments with an application to random generation

Environments and closures are two of the main ingredients of evaluation in lambda-calculus. A closure is a pair consisting of a lambda-term and an environment, whereas an environment is a list of lambda-terms assigned to free variables. In this paper we investigate some dynamic aspects of evaluation in lambda-calculus considering the quantitative, combinatorial properties of environments and closures. Focusing on two classes of environments and closures, namely the so-called plain and closed ones, we consider the problem of their asymptotic counting and effective random generation. We provide an asymptotic approximation of the number of both plain environments and closures of size $n$. Using the associated generating functions, we construct effective samplers for both classes of combinatorial structures. Finally, we discuss the related problem of asymptotic counting and random generation of closed environemnts and closures

Termination of rewrite relations on λ\lambda-terms based on Girard's notion of reducibility

In this paper, we show how to extend the notion of reducibility introduced by Girard for proving the termination of $\beta$-reduction in the polymorphic $\lambda$-calculus, to prove the termination of various kinds of rewrite relations on $\lambda$-terms, including rewriting modulo some equational theory and rewriting with matching modulo $\beta$$\eta$, by using the notion of computability closure. This provides a powerful termination criterion for various higher-order rewriting frameworks, including Klop's Combinatory Reductions Systems with simple types and Nipkow's Higher-order Rewrite Systems

Combinatorics of explicit substitutions

$\lambda\upsilon$ is an extension of the $\lambda$-calculus which internalises the calculus of substitutions. In the current paper, we investigate the combinatorial properties of $\lambda\upsilon$ focusing on the quantitative aspects of substitution resolution. We exhibit an unexpected correspondence between the counting sequence for $\lambda\upsilon$-terms and famous Catalan numbers. As a by-product, we establish effective sampling schemes for random $\lambda\upsilon$-terms. We show that typical $\lambda\upsilon$-terms represent, in a strong sense, non-strict computations in the classic $\lambda$-calculus. Moreover, typically almost all substitutions are in fact suspended, i.e. unevaluated, under closures. Consequently, we argue that $\lambda\upsilon$ is an intrinsically non-strict calculus of explicit substitutions. Finally, we investigate the distribution of various redexes governing the substitution resolution in $\lambda\upsilon$ and investigate the quantitative contribution of various substitution primitives

Counting Environments and Closures

Environments and closures are two of the main ingredients of evaluation in lambda-calculus. A closure is a pair consisting of a lambda-term and an environment, whereas an environment is a list of lambda-terms assigned to free variables. In this paper we investigate some dynamic aspects of evaluation in lambda-calculus considering the quantitative, combinatorial properties of environments and closures. Focusing on two classes of environments and closures, namely the so-called plain and closed ones, we consider the problem of their asymptotic counting and effective random generation. We provide an asymptotic approximation of the number of both plain environments and closures of size n. Using the associated generating functions, we construct effective samplers for both classes of combinatorial structures. Finally, we discuss the related problem of asymptotic counting and random generation of closed environments and closures

A Rational Deconstruction of Landin's SECD Machine with the J Operator

Landin's SECD machine was the first abstract machine for applicative expressions, i.e., functional programs. Landin's J operator was the first control operator for functional languages, and was specified by an extension of the SECD machine. We present a family of evaluation functions corresponding to this extension of the SECD machine, using a series of elementary transformations (transformation into continu-ation-passing style (CPS) and defunctionalization, chiefly) and their left inverses (transformation into direct style and refunctionalization). To this end, we modernize the SECD machine into a bisimilar one that operates in lockstep with the original one but that (1) does not use a data stack and (2) uses the caller-save rather than the callee-save convention for environments. We also identify that the dump component of the SECD machine is managed in a callee-save way. The caller-save counterpart of the modernized SECD machine precisely corresponds to Thielecke's double-barrelled continuations and to Felleisen's encoding of J in terms of call/cc. We then variously characterize the J operator in terms of CPS and in terms of delimited-control operators in the CPS hierarchy. As a byproduct, we also present several reduction semantics for applicative expressions with the J operator, based on Curien's original calculus of explicit substitutions. These reduction semantics mechanically correspond to the modernized versions of the SECD machine and to the best of our knowledge, they provide the first syntactic theories of applicative expressions with the J operator