Inductive Proof Search Modulo

International audienceWe present an original narrowing-based proof search method for inductive theorems in equational rewrite theories given by a rewrite system R and a set E of equalities. It has the specificity to be grounded on deduction modulo and to rely on narrowing to provide both induction variables and instantiation schemas. Whenever the equational rewrite system R,E has good properties of termination, sufficient completeness, and when E is constructor and variable preserving, narrowing at defined-innermost positions leads to consider only unifiers which are constructor substitutions. This is especially interesting for associative and associative-commutative theories for which the general proof search system is refined. The method is shown to be sound and refutationaly complete

Narrowing Based Inductive Proof Search

Premiere version en 2005, en l'honneur de Harald GanzingerVersion finale envoyé a SpringerWe present in this paper a narrowing-based proof search method for inductive theorems. It has the specificity to be grounded on deduction modulo and to yield a direct translation from a successful proof search derivation to a proof in the sequent calculus. The method is shown to be sound and refutationally correct in a proof theoretical way

Strategic Issues, Problems and Challenges in Inductive Theorem Proving

Abstract(Automated) Inductive Theorem Proving (ITP) is a challenging field in automated reasoning and theorem proving. Typically, (Automated) Theorem Proving (TP) refers to methods, techniques and tools for automatically proving general (most often first-order) theorems. Nowadays, the field of TP has reached a certain degree of maturity and powerful TP systems are widely available and used. The situation with ITP is strikingly different, in the sense that proving inductive theorems in an essentially automatic way still is a very challenging task, even for the most advanced existing ITP systems. Both in general TP and in ITP, strategies for guiding the proof search process are of fundamental importance, in automated as well as in interactive or mixed settings. In the paper we will analyze and discuss the most important strategic and proof search issues in ITP, compare ITP with TP, and argue why ITP is in a sense much more challenging. More generally, we will systematically isolate, investigate and classify the main problems and challenges in ITP w.r.t. automation, on different levels and from different points of views. Finally, based on this analysis we will present some theses about the state of the art in the field, possible criteria for what could be considered as substantial progress, and promising lines of research for the future, towards (more) automated ITP

Equational logic and rewriting

International audienceIn this survey, we do not address higher order logics nor type theory, but rather restrict to first-order concepts. We focus on equational logic and its relation to rewriting logic and we consider their impact on automated deduction and programming languages

Inductive Proof Search Modulo

International audienceWe present an original narrowing-based proof search method for inductive theorems in equational rewrite theories given by a rewrite system R and a set E of equalities. It has the specificity to be grounded on deduction modulo and to rely on narrowing to provide both induction variables and instantiation schemas. Whenever the equational rewrite system (R, E) has good properties of termination, sufficient completeness, and when E is constructor and variable preserving, narrowing at defined- innermost positions leads to consider only unifiers which are constructor substitutions. This is especially interesting for associative and associative-commutative theories for which the general proof search system is refined. The method is shown to be sound and refutationaly correct and complete. A major feature of our approach is to provide a constructive proof in deduction modulo for each successful instance of the proof search procedure

Twenty years of rewriting logic

AbstractRewriting logic is a simple computational logic that can naturally express both concurrent computation and logical deduction with great generality. This paper provides a gentle, intuitive introduction to its main ideas, as well as a survey of the work that many researchers have carried out over the last twenty years in advancing: (i) its foundations; (ii) its semantic framework and logical framework uses; (iii) its language implementations and its formal tools; and (iv) its many applications to automated deduction, software and hardware specification and verification, security, real-time and cyber-physical systems, probabilistic systems, bioinformatics and chemical systems