A herbrandized functional interpretation of classical first-order logic

We introduce a new typed combinatory calculus with a type constructor that, to each type σ, associates the star type σ^∗ of the nonempty finite subsets of elements of type σ. We prove that this calculus enjoys the properties of strong normalization and confluence. With the aid of this star combinatory calculus, we define a functional interpretation of first-order predicate logic and prove a corresponding soundness theorem. It is seen that each theorem of classical first-order logic is connected with certain formulas which are tautological in character. As a corollary, we reprove Herbrand’s theorem on the extraction of terms from classically provable existential statements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Partial Applicative Theories and Explicit Substitutions

Systems based on theories with partial self-application are relevant to the formalization of constructive mathematics and as a logical basis for functional programming languages. In the literature they are either presented in the form of partial combinatory logic or the partial A calculus, and sometimes these two approaches are erroneously considered to be equivalent. In this paper we address some defects of the partial λ calculus as a constructive framework for partial functions. In particular, the partial λ calculus is not embeddable into partial combinatory logic and it lacks the standard recursion-theoretic model. The main reason is a concept of substitution, which is not consistent with a strongly intensional point of view. We design a weakening of the partial λ calculus, which can be embedded into partial combinatory logic. As a consequence, the natural numbers with partial recursive function application are a model of our system. The novel point will be the use of explicit substitutions, which have previously been studied in the literature in connection with the implementation of functional programming language

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

A Finite Model Property for Intersection Types

We show that the relational theory of intersection types known as BCD has the finite model property; that is, BCD is complete for its finite models. Our proof uses rewriting techniques which have as an immediate by-product the polynomial time decidability of the preorder <= (although this also follows from the so called beta soundness of BCD).Comment: In Proceedings ITRS 2014, arXiv:1503.0437

A Semantic Approach to Illative Combinatory Logic

This work introduces the theory of illative combinatory algebras, which is closely related to systems of illative combinatory logic. We thus provide a semantic interpretation for a formal framework in which both logic and computation may be expressed in a unified manner. Systems of illative combinatory logic consist of combinatory logic extended with constants and rules of inference intended to capture logical notions. Our theory does not correspond strictly to any traditional system, but draws inspiration from many. It differs from them in that it couples the notion of truth with the notion of equality between terms, which enables the use of logical formulas in conditional expressions. We give a consistency proof for first-order illative combinatory algebras. A complete embedding of classical predicate logic into our theory is also provided. The translation is very direct and natural

Term rewriting systems from Church-Rosser to Knuth-Bendix and beyond

Term rewriting systems are important for computability theory of abstract data types, for automatic theorem proving, and for the foundations of functional programming. In this short survey we present, starting from first principles, several of the basic notions and facts in the area of term rewriting. Our treatment, which often will be informal, covers abstract rewriting, Combinatory Logic, orthogonal systems, strategies, critical pair completion, and some extended rewriting formats

Unique normal forms for lambda calculus with surjective pairing

AbstractWe consider the equational theory λπ of λ-calculus extended with constants π, π0, π1 and axioms for surjective pairing: π0(πXY) = X, π1(πXY) = Y, π(π0X)(π1X) = X. Two reduction systems yielding the equality of λπ are introduced; the first is not confluent and, for the second, confluence is an open problem. It is shown, however, that in both systems each term possessing a normal form has a unique normal form. Some additional properties and problems in the syntactical analysis of λπ and the corresponding reduction systems are discussed

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