1,924 research outputs found
Set-Theoretic Types for Polymorphic Variants
Polymorphic variants are a useful feature of the OCaml language whose current
definition and implementation rely on kinding constraints to simulate a
subtyping relation via unification. This yields an awkward formalization and
results in a type system whose behaviour is in some cases unintuitive and/or
unduly restrictive. In this work, we present an alternative formalization of
poly-morphic variants, based on set-theoretic types and subtyping, that yields
a cleaner and more streamlined system. Our formalization is more expressive
than the current one (it types more programs while preserving type safety), it
can internalize some meta-theoretic properties, and it removes some
pathological cases of the current implementation resulting in a more intuitive
and, thus, predictable type system. More generally, this work shows how to add
full-fledged union types to functional languages of the ML family that usually
rely on the Hindley-Milner type system. As an aside, our system also improves
the theory of semantic subtyping, notably by proving completeness for the type
reconstruction algorithm.Comment: ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Functional Programming, Sep
2016, Nara, Japan. ICFP 16, 21st ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on
Functional Programming, 201
Relational Parametricity for Computational Effects
According to Strachey, a polymorphic program is parametric if it applies a
uniform algorithm independently of the type instantiations at which it is
applied. The notion of relational parametricity, introduced by Reynolds, is one
possible mathematical formulation of this idea. Relational parametricity
provides a powerful tool for establishing data abstraction properties, proving
equivalences of datatypes, and establishing equalities of programs. Such
properties have been well studied in a pure functional setting. Many programs,
however, exhibit computational effects, and are not accounted for by the
standard theory of relational parametricity. In this paper, we develop a
foundational framework for extending the notion of relational parametricity to
programming languages with effects.Comment: 31 pages, appears in Logical Methods in Computer Scienc
The Algebraic Intersection Type Unification Problem
The algebraic intersection type unification problem is an important component
in proof search related to several natural decision problems in intersection
type systems. It is unknown and remains open whether the algebraic intersection
type unification problem is decidable. We give the first nontrivial lower bound
for the problem by showing (our main result) that it is exponential time hard.
Furthermore, we show that this holds even under rank 1 solutions (substitutions
whose codomains are restricted to contain rank 1 types). In addition, we
provide a fixed-parameter intractability result for intersection type matching
(one-sided unification), which is known to be NP-complete.
We place the algebraic intersection type unification problem in the context
of unification theory. The equational theory of intersection types can be
presented as an algebraic theory with an ACI (associative, commutative, and
idempotent) operator (intersection type) combined with distributivity
properties with respect to a second operator (function type). Although the
problem is algebraically natural and interesting, it appears to occupy a
hitherto unstudied place in the theory of unification, and our investigation of
the problem suggests that new methods are required to understand the problem.
Thus, for the lower bound proof, we were not able to reduce from known results
in ACI-unification theory and use game-theoretic methods for two-player tiling
games
Denotational Semantics for Subtyping Between Recursive Types
Inheritance in the form of subtyping is considered in the framework of a polymorphic type discipline with records, variants, and recursive types. We give a denotational semantics based on the paradigm that interprets subtyping as explicit coercion. The main technical result gives a coherent interpretation for a strong rule for deriving inheritances between recursive types
Types and forgetfulness in categorical linguistics and quantum mechanics
The role of types in categorical models of meaning is investigated. A general
scheme for how typed models of meaning may be used to compare sentences,
regardless of their grammatical structure is described, and a toy example is
used as an illustration. Taking as a starting point the question of whether the
evaluation of such a type system 'loses information', we consider the
parametrized typing associated with connectives from this viewpoint.
The answer to this question implies that, within full categorical models of
meaning, the objects associated with types must exhibit a simple but subtle
categorical property known as self-similarity. We investigate the category
theory behind this, with explicit reference to typed systems, and their
monoidal closed structure. We then demonstrate close connections between such
self-similar structures and dagger Frobenius algebras. In particular, we
demonstrate that the categorical structures implied by the polymorphically
typed connectives give rise to a (lax unitless) form of the special forms of
Frobenius algebras known as classical structures, used heavily in abstract
categorical approaches to quantum mechanics.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figure
Syntax for free: representing syntax with binding using parametricity
We show that, in a parametric model of polymorphism, the type ∀ α. ((α → α) → α) → (α → α → α) → α is isomorphic to closed de Bruijn terms. That is, the type of closed higher-order abstract syntax terms is isomorphic to a concrete representation. To demonstrate the proof we have constructed a model of parametric polymorphism inside the Coq proof assistant. The proof of the theorem requires parametricity over Kripke relations. We also investigate some variants of this representation
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