4 research outputs found
The Intersection Type Unification Problem
The 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
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 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
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
A Type Checker for a Logical Framework with Union and Intersection Types
We present the syntax, semantics, and typing rules of Bull, a prototype
theorem prover based on the Delta-Framework, i.e. a fully-typed lambda-calculus
decorated with union and intersection types, as described in previous papers by
the authors. Bull also implements a subtyping algorithm for the Type Theory Xi
of Barbanera-Dezani-de'Liguoro. Bull has a command-line interface where the
user can declare axioms, terms, and perform computations and some basic
terminal-style features like error pretty-printing, subexpressions
highlighting, and file loading. Moreover, it can typecheck a proof or normalize
it. These terms can be incomplete, therefore the typechecking algorithm uses
unification to try to construct the missing subterms. Bull uses the syntax of
Berardi's Pure Type Systems to improve the compactness and the modularity of
the kernel. Abstract and concrete syntax are mostly aligned and similar to the
concrete syntax of Coq. Bull uses a higher-order unification algorithm for
terms, while typechecking and partial type inference are done by a
bidirectional refinement algorithm, similar to the one found in Matita and
Beluga. The refinement can be split into two parts: the essence refinement and
the typing refinement. Binders are implemented using commonly-used de Bruijn
indices. We have defined a concrete language syntax that will allow the user to
write Delta-terms. We have defined the reduction rules and an evaluator. We
have implemented from scratch a refiner which does partial typechecking and
type reconstruction. We have experimented Bull with classical examples of the
intersection and union literature, such as the ones formalized by Pfenning with
his Refinement Types in LF. We hope that this research vein could be useful to
experiment, in a proof theoretical setting, forms of polymorphism alternatives
to Girard's parametric one
A Type Checker for a Logical Framework with Union and Intersection Types
International audienceWe present the syntax, semantics, typing, subtyping, unification, refinement, and REPL of Bull, a prototype theorem prover based on the ∆-Framework, i.e. a fully-typed Logical Framework à la Edinburgh LF decorated with union and intersection types, as described in previous papers by the authors. Bull also implements a subtyping algorithm for the Type Theory Ξ of Barbanera-Dezani-de'Liguoro. Bull has a command-line interface where the user can declare axioms, terms, and perform computations and some basic terminal-style features like error pretty-printing, subexpressions highlighting, and file loading. Moreover, it can typecheck a proof or normalize it. These terms can be incomplete, therefore the typechecking algorithm uses unification to try to construct the missing subterms. Bull uses the syntax of Berardi's Pure Type Systems to improve the compactness and the modularity of the kernel. Abstract and concrete syntax are mostly aligned and similar to the concrete syntax of Coq. Bull uses a higher-order unification algorithm for terms, while typechecking and partial type inference are done by a bidirectional refinement algorithm, similar to the one found in Matita and Beluga. The refinement can be split into two parts: the essence refinement and the typing refinement. Binders are implemented using commonly-used de Bruijn indices. We have defined a concrete language syntax that will allow user to write ∆-terms. We have defined the reduction rules and an evaluator. We have implemented from scratch a refiner which does partial typechecking and type reconstruction. We have experimented Bull with classical examples of the intersection and union literature, such as the ones formalized by Pfenning with his Refinement Types in LF and by Pierce. We hope that this research vein could be useful to experiment, in a proof theoretical setting, forms of polymorphism alternatives to Girard's parametric one