On Uniquely Closable and Uniquely Typable Skeletons of Lambda Terms

Uniquely closable skeletons of lambda terms are Motzkin-trees that predetermine the unique closed lambda term that can be obtained by labeling their leaves with de Bruijn indices. Likewise, uniquely typable skeletons of closed lambda terms predetermine the unique simply-typed lambda term that can be obtained by labeling their leaves with de Bruijn indices. We derive, through a sequence of logic program transformations, efficient code for their combinatorial generation and study their statistical properties. As a result, we obtain context-free grammars describing closable and uniquely closable skeletons of lambda terms, opening the door for their in-depth study with tools from analytic combinatorics. Our empirical study of the more difficult case of (uniquely) typable terms reveals some interesting open problems about their density and asymptotic behavior. As a connection between the two classes of terms, we also show that uniquely typable closed lambda term skeletons of size $3n+1$ are in a bijection with binary trees of size $n$.Comment: Pre-proceedings paper presented at the 27th International Symposium on Logic-Based Program Synthesis and Transformation (LOPSTR 2017), Namur, Belgium, 10-12 October 2017 (arXiv:1708.07854

GLC actors, artificial chemical connectomes, topological issues and knots

Based on graphic lambda calculus, we propose a program for a new model of asynchronous distributed computing, inspired from Hewitt Actor Model, as well as several investigation paths, concerning how one may graft lambda calculus and knot diagrammatics

Functions-as-Constructors Higher-Order Unification

Unification is a central operation in the construction of a range of computational logic systems based on first-order and higher-order logics. First-order unification has a number of properties that dominates the way it is incorporated within such systems. In particular, first-order unification is decidable, unary, and can be performed on untyped term structures. None of these three properties hold for full higher-order unification: unification is undecidable, unifiers can be incomparable, and term-level typing can dominate the search for unifiers. The so-called pattern subset of higher-order unification was designed to be a small extension to first-order unification that respected the basic laws governing lambda-binding (the equalities of alpha, beta, and eta-conversion) but which also satisfied those three properties. While the pattern fragment of higher-order unification has been popular in various implemented systems and in various theoretical considerations, it is too weak for a number of applications. In this paper, we define an extension of pattern unification that is motivated by some existing applications and which satisfies these three properties. The main idea behind this extension is that the arguments to a higher-order, free variable can be more than just distinct bound variables: they can also be terms constructed from (sufficient numbers of) such variables using term constructors and where no argument is a subterm of any other argument. We show that this extension to pattern unification satisfies the three properties mentioned above

Elaboration in Dependent Type Theory

To be usable in practice, interactive theorem provers need to provide convenient and efficient means of writing expressions, definitions, and proofs. This involves inferring information that is often left implicit in an ordinary mathematical text, and resolving ambiguities in mathematical expressions. We refer to the process of passing from a quasi-formal and partially-specified expression to a completely precise formal one as elaboration. We describe an elaboration algorithm for dependent type theory that has been implemented in the Lean theorem prover. Lean's elaborator supports higher-order unification, type class inference, ad hoc overloading, insertion of coercions, the use of tactics, and the computational reduction of terms. The interactions between these components are subtle and complex, and the elaboration algorithm has been carefully designed to balance efficiency and usability. We describe the central design goals, and the means by which they are achieved

Strictness and Totality Analysis

We define a novel inference system for strictness and totality analysis for the simply-typed lazy lambda-calculus with constants and fixpoints. Strictness information identifies those terms that definitely denote bottom (i.e. do not evaluate to WHNF) whereas totality information identifies those terms that definitely do not denote bottom (i.e. do evaluate to WHNF). The analysis is presented as an annotated type system allowing conjunctions only at ``top level´´. We give examples of its use and prove the correctness with respect to a natural-style operational semantics

Type Theory Unchained: Extending Agda with User-Defined Rewrite Rules

Dependently typed languages such as Coq and Agda can statically guarantee the correctness of our proofs and programs. To provide this guarantee, they restrict users to certain schemes - such as strictly positive datatypes, complete case analysis, and well-founded induction - that are known to be safe. However, these restrictions can be too strict, making programs and proofs harder to write than necessary. On a higher level, they also prevent us from imagining the different ways the language could be extended. In this paper I show how to extend a dependently typed language with user-defined higher-order non-linear rewrite rules. Rewrite rules are a form of equality reflection that is applied automatically by the typechecker. I have implemented rewrite rules as an extension to Agda, and I give six examples how to use them both to make proofs easier and to experiment with extensions of type theory. I also show how to make rewrite rules interact well with other features of Agda such as ?-equality, implicit arguments, data and record types, irrelevance, and universe level polymorphism. Thus rewrite rules break the chains on computation and put its power back into the hands of its rightful owner: yours