Selected Papers of the 1st International Conference on Formal Structures and Deduction (FSCD 2016)

Editors: Delia Kesner and Brigitte Pientka


1. Focusing in Orthologic

Olivier Laurent.
We propose new sequent calculus systems for orthologic (also known as minimal quantum logic) which satisfy the cut elimination property. The first one is a simple system relying on the involutive status of negation. The second one incorporates the notion of focusing (coming from linear logic) to add constraints on proofs and to optimise proof search. We demonstrate how to take benefits from the new systems in automatic proof search for orthologic.

2. Complexity Hierarchies and Higher-order Cons-free Term Rewriting

Cynthia Kop ; Jakob Grue Simonsen.
Constructor rewriting systems are said to be cons-free if, roughly, constructor terms in the right-hand sides of rules are subterms of the left-hand sides; the computational intuition is that rules cannot build new data structures. In programming language research, cons-free languages have been used to characterize hierarchies of computational complexity classes; in term rewriting, cons-free first-order TRSs have been used to characterize the class PTIME. We investigate cons-free higher-order term rewriting systems, the complexity classes they characterize, and how these depend on the type order of the systems. We prove that, for every K $\geq$ 1, left-linear cons-free systems with type order K characterize E$^K$TIME if unrestricted evaluation is used (i.e., the system does not have a fixed reduction strategy). The main difference with prior work in implicit complexity is that (i) our results hold for non-orthogonal term rewriting systems with no assumptions on reduction strategy, (ii) we consequently obtain much larger classes for each type order (E$^K$TIME versus EXP$^{K-1}$TIME), and (iii) results for cons-free term rewriting systems have previously only been obtained for K = 1, and with additional syntactic restrictions besides cons-freeness and left-linearity. Our results are among the first implicit characterizations of the hierarchy E = E$^1$TIME $\subsetneq$ E$^2$TIME $\subsetneq$ ... Our work confirms prior results that having full non-determinism (via […]

3. The Algebraic Intersection Type Unification Problem

Andrej Dudenhefner ; Moritz Martens ; Jakob Rehof.
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.

4. The Independence of Markov's Principle in Type Theory

Thierry Coquand ; Bassel Mannaa.
In this paper, we show that Markov's principle is not derivable in dependent type theory with natural numbers and one universe. One way to prove this would be to remark that Markov's principle does not hold in a sheaf model of type theory over Cantor space, since Markov's principle does not hold for the generic point of this model. Instead we design an extension of type theory, which intuitively extends type theory by the addition of a generic point of Cantor space. We then show the consistency of this extension by a normalization argument. Markov's principle does not hold in this extension, and it follows that it cannot be proved in type theory.

5. Environmental Bisimulations for Delimited-Control Operators with Dynamic Prompt Generation

Andrés Aristizábal ; Dariusz Biernacki ; Sergueï Lenglet ; Piotr Polesiuk.
We present sound and complete environmental bisimilarities for a variant of Dybvig et al.'s calculus of multi-prompted delimited-control operators with dynamic prompt generation. The reasoning principles that we obtain generalize and advance the existing techniques for establishing program equivalence in calculi with single-prompted delimited control. The basic theory that we develop is presented using Madiot et al.'s framework that allows for smooth integration and composition of up-to techniques facilitating bisimulation proofs. We also generalize the framework in order to express environmental bisimulations that support equivalence proofs of evaluation contexts representing continuations. This change leads to a novel and powerful up-to technique enhancing bisimulation proofs in the presence of control operators.

6. Formal Languages, Formally and Coinductively

Dmitriy Traytel.
Traditionally, formal languages are defined as sets of words. More recently, the alternative coalgebraic or coinductive representation as infinite tries, i.e., prefix trees branching over the alphabet, has been used to obtain compact and elegant proofs of classic results in language theory. In this article, we study this representation in the Isabelle proof assistant. We define regular operations on infinite tries and prove the axioms of Kleene algebra for those operations. Thereby, we exercise corecursion and coinduction and confirm the coinductive view being profitable in formalizations, as it improves over the set-of-words view with respect to proof automation.

7. Normalisation by Evaluation for Type Theory, in Type Theory

Thorsten Altenkirch ; Ambrus Kaposi.
We develop normalisation by evaluation (NBE) for dependent types based on presheaf categories. Our construction is formulated in the metalanguage of type theory using quotient inductive types. We use a typed presentation hence there are no preterms or realizers in our construction, and every construction respects the conversion relation. NBE for simple types uses a logical relation between the syntax and the presheaf interpretation. In our construction, we merge the presheaf interpretation and the logical relation into a proof-relevant logical predicate. We prove normalisation, completeness, stability and decidability of definitional equality. Most of the constructions were formalized in Agda.

8. Globular: an online proof assistant for higher-dimensional rewriting

Krzysztof Bar ; Aleks Kissinger ; Jamie Vicary.
This article introduces Globular, an online proof assistant for the formalization and verification of proofs in higher-dimensional category theory. The tool produces graphical visualizations of higher-dimensional proofs, assists in their construction with a point-and- click interface, and performs type checking to prevent incorrect rewrites. Hosted on the web, it has a low barrier to use, and allows hyperlinking of formalized proofs directly from research papers. It allows the formalization of proofs from logic, topology and algebra which are not formalizable by other methods, and we give several examples.