Nominal Algebra and the HSP Theorem

In informal mathematical discourse (such as the text of a paper on theoretical computer science), we often reason about equalities involving binding of object-variables. We find ourselves writing assertions involving meta-variables and captureavoidance constraints on where object-variables can and cannot occur free. Formalizing such assertions is problematic because the standard logical frameworks cannot express capture-avoidance constraints directly. In this article, we make the case for extending the logic of equality with meta-variables and capture-avoidance constraints, to obtain ‘nominal algebra’. We use nominal techniques that allow for a direct formalization of meta-level assertions, while remaining close to informal practice. We investigate proof-theoretical properties, we provide a sound and complete semantics in nominal sets and we compare and contrast our design decisions with other possibilities leading to similar systems.

The lambda calculus is fundamental in computer science. It resists an algebraic treatment because of capture-avoidance sideconditions. Nominal algebra is a logic of equality designed for specifications involving binding. We axiomatize the lambda calculus using nominal algebra, demonstrate how proofs with these axioms reflect the informal arguments on syntax and we prove the axioms to be sound and complete. We consider both non-extensional and extensional versions (alpha-beta and alpha-beta-eta equivalence). This connects the nominal approach to names and binding with the view of variables as a syntactic convenience for describing functions. The axiomatization is finite, close to informal practice and it fits into a context of other research such as nominal rewriting and nominal sets.

A logic family is a bunch of logics that belong together in some way. First-order logic is one of the examples. Logics organized into a structure occur in abstract model theory, institution theory and in algebraic logic. Logic families play a role in adopting methods for investigating sentential logics to first-order like logics. We thoroughly discuss the notion of logic families as defined in the recent Universal Algebraic Logic book.

This paper provides a coalgebraic approach to the language semantics of two types of non-deterministic automata over nominal sets: non-deterministic orbit-finite automata (NOFAs) and regular nominal non-deterministic automata (RNNAs), which were introduced in previous work. While NOFAs are a straightforward nominal version of non-deterministic automata, RNNAs feature ordinary as well as name binding transitions. Correspondingly, words accepted by RNNAs are strings formed by ordinary letters and name binding letters. Bar languages are sets of such words modulo \(\alpha \)-equivalence, and to every state of an RNNA one associates its accepted bar language. We show that the semantics of NOFAs and RNNAs, respectively, arise both as an instance of the Kleisli-style coalgebraic trace semantics as well as an instance of the coalgebraic language semantics obtained via generalized determinization. On the way we revisit coalgebraic trace semantics in general and give a new compact proof for the main result in that theory stating that an initial algebra for a functor yields the terminal coalgebra for the Kleisli extension of the functor. Our proof requires fewer assumptions on the functor than all previous ones.

The twentieth-century mathematician Thoralf Skolem is known principally for two achievements. The first is the statement and proof of the Löwenheim-Skolem theorem. The second is his construction of countable nonstandard models of Peano arithmetic and set theory when these theories are expressed in first-order (predicate) logic. The Löwenheim-Skolem theorem, for which Skolem gave several proofs, showed that no first-order axiom system can characterise a unique infinite model. Skolem regarded this theorem as casting doubt on the belief that mathematics can be reliably founded on formal axiomatic systems alone. He discovered that first-order logics are necessarily incomplete descriptions of their intended models. There is a vivid contrast between the comprehensive syntactic expressive power of first-order theories and their very limited power to constrain their models to a priori desired models. The startling conclusion he derived from his theorem is known as ‘Skolem’s paradox’. It asserts that concepts such as cardinality must be interpreted relative to a given model and thus have no absolute meaning. Anticipating modern model theory, in a later paper he gave a direct construction of a nonstandard model of first-order arithmetic based on plus and times by a method which anticipated the ultraproduct construction of models of first-order theories. He realised that it might be possible to construct new models for set theory which demonstrate the consistency or the independence of the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis. The first goal was realised in the early 1930s by Kurt Gödel’s introduction of the notion of constructability for consistency proofs. The second goal was realised in the early 1960s by Paul Cohen’s introduction of the notion of forcing for independence proofs, for which he was awarded the Field’s medal in 1966.

In this paper, we share our experiences concerning the introduction of the Android-based self-study app AXolotl within the first-semester logic course offered at our university. This course is mandatory for students majoring in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. AXolotl was used as part of an optional lab assignment bridging clausal reasoning and SAT solving with classical reasoning, proof construction, and first-order logic. The app provides an intuitive interface for proof construction in various logical calculi and aids the students through rule application. The goal of the lab assignment was to help students make a smoother transition from clausal and decompositional reasoning used earlier in the course to inferential and contextual reasoning required for proof construction and first-order logic. We observed that the lab had a positive influence on students' understanding and end the paper with a discussion of these results.

Formal models of communicating and concurrent systems are one of the most important topics in formal methods, and process calculus is one of the most successful formal models of communicating and concurrent systems. In the previous works, the author systematically studied topology in process calculus, probabilistic process calculus and pi-calculus with noisy channels in order to describe approximate behaviors of communicating and concurrent systems as well as randomness and noise in them. This article is a brief survey of these works.

The concepts of a locally presentable category and an accessible category have turned out to be useful in formulating connections between universal algebra, model theory, logic and computer science. The aim of this book is to provide an exposition of both the theory and the applications of these categories at a level accessible to graduate students. Firstly the properties of l-presentable objects, locally l-presentable categories, and l-accessible categories are discussed in detail, and the equivalence of accessible and sketchable categories is proved. The authors go on to study categories of algebras and prove that Freyd's essentially algebraic categories are precisely the locally presentable categories. In the final chapters they treat some topics in model theory and some set theoretical aspects. For researchers in category theory, algebra, computer science, and model theory, this book will be a necessary purchase.

Classical first-order logic is in many ways central to work in mathematics, linguistics, computer science and artificial intelligence, so it is worthwhile to define it in full detail. We present soundness and completeness proofs of a sequent calculus for first-order logic, formalized in the interactive proof assistant Isabelle/HOL. Our formalization is based on work by Stefan Berghofer, which we have since updated to use Isabelle's declarative proof style Isar (Archive of Formal Proofs, Entry FOL-Fitting, August 2007 / July 2018). We represent variables with de Bruijn indices; this makes substitution under quantifiers less intuitive for a human reader. However, the nature of natural numbers yields an elegant solution when compared to implementations of substitution using variables represented by strings. The sequent calculus considered has the special property of an always empty antecedent and a list of formulas in the succedent. We obtain the proofs of soundness and completeness for the sequent calculus as a derived result of the inverse duality of its tableau counterpart. We strive to not only present the results of the proofs of soundness and completeness, but also to provide a deep dive into a programming-like approach to the formalization of first-order logic syntax, semantics and the sequent calculus. We use the formalization in a bachelor course on logic for computer science and discuss our experiences.

We formalize in Isabelle/HOL soundness and completeness of a one-sided sequent calculus for first-order logic. The completeness is shown via a translation from a semantic tableau calculus, whose completeness proof we base on the theory entry ‘First-Order Logic According to Fitting’ by Berghofer in the Archive of Formal Proofs. The calculi and proof techniques are taken from Ben-Ari’s textbook Mathematical Logic for Computer Science (Springer, 2012). We thereby demonstrate that Berghofer’s approach works not only for natural deduction but also constitutes a framework for mechanically checked completeness proofs for a range of proof systems.

In this paper we will present a graph-transformation based method for the verification of heterogeneous first order logic (FOL) and Euler/Venn proofs. In previous work, it has been shown that a special collection of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) can be used interchangeably with Euler/Venn diagrams in reasoning processes. Thus, proofs which include Euler/Venn diagrams can be thought of as proofs with DAGs where steps involving only Euler/Venn diagrams can be treated as particular DAG transformations. Here we will show how the characterization of these manipulations can be used to verify Euler/Venn proofs. Also, a method for verifying the use of heterogeneous Euler/Venn and FOL reasoning rules will be presented that is also based upon DAG transformations .

This paper presents a visual environment, called SAVE, to model IoT systems with dynamic and static properties. Firstly, the dynamic properties, such as operational requirements, of the systems are specified with a process algebra, called δ-Calculus, and, secondly the static properties, such as safety requirements, of the systems are specified with a first-order logic, called GTS Logic. Once specifications are done, the static properties are verified on the dynamic properties by checking whether or not the static properties are valid for the simulation of the systems based on the dynamic properties. SAVE provides a set of visual tools to specify both dynamic and static properties of the systems, simulate the systems based on the dynamic properties, and to verify the static properties on the dynamic properties from the simulation. SAVE is developed on the ADOxx meta-modeling platform. It can be considered one of the most innovative visual tools to model IoT systems for both dynamic and static properties of the systems and to verify the validity of the static properties on the dynamic properties.

In this paper, we investigate an extended first-order Belnap-Dunn logic with classical negation. We introduce a Gentzen-type sequent calculus FBD+ for this logic and prove theorems for syntactically and semantically embedding FBD+ into a Gentzen-type sequent calculus for first-order classical logic. Moreover, we show the cut-elimination theorem for FBD+ and prove the completeness theorems with respect to both valuation and many-valued semantics for FBD+.

We now discuss the model theory of (classical) first-order logic together with partial interpretations. As in the propositional case, the syntax of partial firstorder logic is essentially the same as in the classical case. The main difference from classical first-order logic is the model theory, and the resulting formal axiomatics. The reader is referred e.g. to Smullyan [94] for a comprehensive discussion of classical first-order logic.

An Introduction to First-Order Logic