A new coinductive confluence proof for infinitary lambda calculus

We present a new and formal coinductive proof of confluence and normalisation of B\"ohm reduction in infinitary lambda calculus. The proof is simpler than previous proofs of this result. The technique of the proof is new, i.e., it is not merely a coinductive reformulation of any earlier proofs. We formalised the proof in the Coq proof assistant.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1501.0435

Lecture notes on the lambda calculus

This is a set of lecture notes that developed out of courses on the lambda calculus that I taught at the University of Ottawa in 2001 and at Dalhousie University in 2007 and 2013. Topics covered in these notes include the untyped lambda calculus, the Church-Rosser theorem, combinatory algebras, the simply-typed lambda calculus, the Curry-Howard isomorphism, weak and strong normalization, polymorphism, type inference, denotational semantics, complete partial orders, and the language PCF.Comment: 120 pages. Added in v2: section on polymorphis

Infinitary λ\lambda-Calculi from a Linear Perspective (Long Version)

We introduce a linear infinitary $\lambda$-calculus, called $\ell\Lambda_{\infty}$, in which two exponential modalities are available, the first one being the usual, finitary one, the other being the only construct interpreted coinductively. The obtained calculus embeds the infinitary applicative $\lambda$-calculus and is universal for computations over infinite strings. What is particularly interesting about $\ell\Lambda_{\infty}$, is that the refinement induced by linear logic allows to restrict both modalities so as to get calculi which are terminating inductively and productive coinductively. We exemplify this idea by analysing a fragment of $\ell\Lambda$ built around the principles of $\mathsf{SLL}$ and $\mathsf{4LL}$. Interestingly, it enjoys confluence, contrarily to what happens in ordinary infinitary $\lambda$-calculi

Proving Looping and Non-Looping Non-Termination by Finite Automata

A new technique is presented to prove non-termination of term rewriting. The basic idea is to find a non-empty regular language of terms that is closed under rewriting and does not contain normal forms. It is automated by representing the language by a tree automaton with a fixed number of states, and expressing the mentioned requirements in a SAT formula. Satisfiability of this formula implies non-termination. Our approach succeeds for many examples where all earlier techniques fail, for instance for the S-rule from combinatory logic

Decreasing Diagrams for Confluence and Commutation

Like termination, confluence is a central property of rewrite systems. Unlike for termination, however, there exists no known complexity hierarchy for confluence. In this paper we investigate whether the decreasing diagrams technique can be used to obtain such a hierarchy. The decreasing diagrams technique is one of the strongest and most versatile methods for proving confluence of abstract rewrite systems. It is complete for countable systems, and it has many well-known confluence criteria as corollaries. So what makes decreasing diagrams so powerful? In contrast to other confluence techniques, decreasing diagrams employ a labelling of the steps with labels from a well-founded order in order to conclude confluence of the underlying unlabelled relation. Hence it is natural to ask how the size of the label set influences the strength of the technique. In particular, what class of abstract rewrite systems can be proven confluent using decreasing diagrams restricted to 1 label, 2 labels, 3 labels, and so on? Surprisingly, we find that two labels suffice for proving confluence for every abstract rewrite system having the cofinality property, thus in particular for every confluent, countable system. Secondly, we show that this result stands in sharp contrast to the situation for commutation of rewrite relations, where the hierarchy does not collapse. Thirdly, investigating the possibility of a confluence hierarchy, we determine the first-order (non-)definability of the notion of confluence and related properties, using techniques from finite model theory. We find that in particular Hanf's theorem is fruitful for elegant proofs of undefinability of properties of abstract rewrite systems

Categories with New Foundations

While the interaction between set theory and category theory has been studied extensively, the set theories considered have remained almost entirely within the Zermelo family. Quine’s New Foundations has received limited attention, despite being the one-sorted version of a theory mentioned as a possible foundation for Category Theory by Mac Lane and Eilenberg in their seminal paper on the subject. The lack of attention given to NF is not without justification. The category of NF sets is not cartesian closed and the failure of choice is a theorem of NF. But those results should not obscure the aspects of NF that have foundational appeal, nor the value of studying category theory in the context of a universal set. The present research is not intended to “advocate” for the use of NF as a practical foundation for category theory. Instead, the work presents a broad survey of the interaction between the set theory and category theory of NF, examining the relationship in both directions. The abstract structure, of which both type restriction (in the category of NF sets) and size restriction (in the category of all categories) are specific cases, appears to be the study of relative algebra. In a number of cases, the existence of relative algebraic structures in NF can be proven more generally for a class of relative adjoints, (pseudo)monads, etc. Thus, where it seems appropriate to do so, this thesis seeks to contribute to the broader study of relative algebra