Least fixpoints as meanings of recursive definitions.

New tools are presented for reasoning about properties of recursively defined domains. We work within a general, category-theoretic framework for various notions of `relation' on domains and for actions of domain constructors on relations. Freyd's analysis of recursive types in terms of a property of mixed initiality/finality is transferred to a corresponding property of invariant relations. The existence of invariant relations is proved under completeness assumptions about the notion of relation. We show how this leads to simpler proofs of the computational adequacy of denotational semantics for functional programming languages with user-declared datatypes. We show how the initiality/finality property of invariant relations can be specialized to yield an induction principle for admissible subsets of recursively defined domains, generalizing the principle of structural induction for inductively defined sets. We also show how the initiality /finality property gives rise to the co-induct...

Intuitionistic linear logic regains the expressive power of intuitionistic logic through the ! (`of course') modality. Benton, Bierman, Hyland and de Paiva have given a term assignment system for ILL and an associated notion of categorical model in which the ! modality is modelled by a comonad satisfying certain extra conditions. Ordinary intuitionistic logic is then modelled in a cartesian closed category which arises as a full subcategory of the category of coalgebras for the comonad. This paper attempts to explain the connection between ILL and IL more directly and symmetrically by giving a logic, term calculus and categorical model for a system in which the linear and non-linear worlds exist on an equal footing, with operations allowing one to pass in both directions. We start from the categorical model of ILL given by Benton, Bierman, Hyland and de Paiva and show that this is equivalent to having a symmetric monoidal adjunction between a symmetric monoidal closed category and a cartesian closed category. We then derive both a sequent calculus and a natural deduction presentation of the logic corresponding to the new notion of model.

A new typed, higher-order logic is described which appears particularly well fitted to reasoning about forms of computation whose operational behaviour can be specified using the Natural Semantics style of structural operational semantics [5]. The logic's underlying type system is Moggi's computational metalanguage [11], which enforces a distinction between computations and values via the categorical structure of a strong monad. This is extended to a (constructive) predicate logic with modal formulas about evaluation of computations to values, called evaluation modalities. The categorical structure corresponding to this kind of logic is explained and a couple of examples of categorical models given. As a first example of the naturalness and applicability of this new logic to program semantics, we investigate the translation of a (tiny) fragment of Standard ML into a theory over the logic, which is proved computationally adequate for ML's Natural Semantics [10]. Whilst it is tiny, the M...

To my parents A general abstract theory for computation involving shared resources is presented. We develop the models of sharing graphs, also known as term graphs, in terms of both syntax and semantics. According to the complexity of the permitted form of sharing, we consider four situations of sharing graphs. The simplest is first-order acyclic sharing graphs represented by let-syntax, and others are extensions with higher-order constructs (lambda calculi) and/or cyclic sharing (recursive letrec binding). For each of four settings, we provide the equational theory for representing the sharing graphs, and identify the class of categorical models which are shown to be sound and complete for the theory. The emphasis is put on the algebraic nature of sharing graphs, which leads us to the semantic account of them. We describe the models in terms of the notions of symmetric monoidal categories and functors, additionally with symmetric monoidal adjunctions and traced

. We present a categorical logic formulation of induction and coinduction principles for reasoning about inductively and coinductively defined types. Our main results provide sufficient criteria for the validity of such principles: in the presence of comprehension, the induction principle for initial algebras is admissible, and dually, in the presence of quotient types, the coinduction principle for terminal coalgebras is admissible. After giving an alternative formulation of induction in terms of binary relations, we combine both principles and obtain a mixed induction/coinduction principle which allows us to reason about minimal solutions X = oe(X) where X may occur both positively and negatively in the type constructor oe. We further strengthen these logical principles to deal with contexts and prove that such strengthening is valid when the (abstract) logic we consider is contextually/functionally complete. All the main results follow from a basic result about adjunc...

. Cyclic sharing (cyclic graph rewriting) has been used as a practical technique for implementing recursive computation efficiently. To capture its semantic nature, we introduce categorical models for lambda calculi with cyclic sharing (cyclic lambda graphs), using notions of computation by Moggi / Power and Robinson and traced monoidal categories by Joyal, Street and Verity. The former is used for representing the notion of sharing, whereas the latter for cyclic data structures. Our new models provide a semantic framework for understanding recursion created from cyclic sharing, which includes traditional models for recursion created from fixed points as special cases. Our cyclic lambda calculus serves as a uniform language for this wider range of models of recursive computation. 1 Introduction One of the traditional methods of interpreting a recursive program in a semantic domain is to use the least fixed-point of continuous functions. However, in the real implementations of program...

We give an axiomatic treatment of fixed-point operators in categories. A notion of iteration operator is defined, embodying the equational properties of iteration theories. We prove a general completeness theorem for iteration operators, relying on a new, purely syntactic characterisation of the free iteration theory. We then show how iteration operators arise in axiomatic domain theory. One result derives them from the existence of sufficiently many bifree algebras (exploiting the universal property Freyd introduced in his notion of algebraic compactness) . Another result shows that, in the presence of a parameterized natural numbers object and an equational lifting monad, any uniform fixed-point operator is necessarily an iteration operator. 1. Introduction Fixed points play a central role in domain theory. Traditionally, one works with a category such as Cppo, the category of !-continuous functions between !-complete pointed partial orders. This possesses a least-fixed-point oper...

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This paper describes a semantics of typed lambda calculi based on relations. The main mathematical tool is a category-theoretic method of sconing, also called glueing or Freyd covers. Its correspondence to logical relations is also examined. 1 Introduction Many modern programming languages feature rather sophisticated typing mechanisms. In particular, languages such as ML include polymorphic data types, which allow considerable programming flexibility. Several notions of polymorphism were introduced into computer science by Strachey [Str67], among them the important notion of parametric polymorphism. Strachey's intuitive definition is that a polymorphic function is parametric if it has a uniformly given algorithm in all types, that is, if the function's behavior is independent of the type at which the function is instantiated. Reynolds [Rey83] proposed a mathematical definition of parametric polymorphic functions by means of invariance with respect to certain relations induced by typ...