Abstract. The permutation model of set theory with atoms (FM-sets), devised by Fraenkel and Mostowski in the 1930s, supports notions of ‘name-abstraction ’ and ‘fresh name ’ that provide a new way to represent, compute with, and reason about the syntax of formal systems involving variable-binding operations. Inductively defined FM-sets involving the name-abstraction set former (together with Cartesian product and disjoint union) can correctly encode syntax modulo renaming of bound variables. In this way, the standard theory of algebraic data types can be extended to encompass signatures involving binding operators. In particular, there is an associated notion of structural recursion for defining syntax-manipulating functions (such as capture avoiding substitution, set of free variables, etc.) and a notion of proof by structural induction, both of which remain pleasingly close to informal practice in computer science. 1.

This paper formalises within first-order logic some common practices in computer science to do with representing and reasoning about syntactical structures involving named bound variables (as opposed to nameless terms, explicit substitutions, or higher order abstract syntax). It introduces Nominal Logic, a version of first-order many-sorted logic with equality containing primitives for renaming via name-swapping and for freshness of names, from which a notion of binding can be derived. Its axioms express...

Syntax Involving Binders Murdoch Gabbay Cambridge University DPMMS Cambridge CB2 1SB, UK M.J.Gabbay@cantab.com Andrew Pitts Cambridge University Computer Laboratory Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK ap@cl.cam.ac.uk Abstract The Fraenkel-Mostowski permutation model of set theory with atoms (FM-sets) can serve as the semantic basis of meta-logics for specifying and reasoning about formal systems involving name binding, ff-conversion, capture avoiding substitution, and so on. We show that in FM-set theory one can express statements quantifying over `fresh' names and we use this to give a novel set-theoretic interpretation of name abstraction. Inductively defined FM-sets involving this name-abstraction set former (together with cartesian product and disjoint union) can correctly encode object-level syntax modulo ff-conversion. In this way, the standard theory of algebraic data types can be extended to encompass signatures involving binding operators. In particular, there is an associated n...

This paper describes work in progress on the design of an ML-style metalanguage FreshML for programming with recursively defined functions on user-defined, concrete data types whose constructors may involve variable binding. Up to operational equivalence, values of such FreshML data types can faithfully encode terms modulo alpha-conversion for a wide range of object languages in a straightforward fashion. The design of FreshML is `semantically driven', in that it arises from the model of variable binding in set theory with atoms given by the authors in [7]. The language has a type constructor for abstractions over names ( = atoms) and facilities for declaring locally fresh names. Moreover, recursive definitions can use a form of pattern-matching on bound names in abstractions. The crucial point is that the FreshML type system ensures that these features can only be used in well-typed programs in ways that are insensitive to renaming of bound names.

. We present a denition of untyped -terms using a heterogeneous datatype, i.e. an inductively dened operator. This operator can be extended to a Kleisli triple, which is a concise way to verify the substitution laws for -calculus. We also observe that repetitions in the denition of the monad as well as in the proofs can be avoided by using well-founded recursion and induction instead of structural induction. We extend the construction to the simply typed -calculus using dependent types, and show that this is an instance of a generalization of Kleisli triples. The proofs for the untyped case have been checked using the LEGO system. Keywords. Type Theory, inductive types, -calculus, category theory. 1 Introduction The metatheory of substitution for -calculi is interesting maybe because it seems intuitively obvious but becomes quite intricate if we take a closer look. [Hue92] states seven formal properties of substitution which are then used to prove a general substitution theor...

We present a generalisation of first-order unification to the practically important case of equations between terms involving binding operations. A substitution of terms for variables solves such an equation if it makes the equated terms #-equivalent, i.e. equal up to renaming bound names. For the applications we have in mind, we must consider the simple, textual form of substitution in which names occurring in terms may be captured within the scope of binders upon substitution. We are able to take a `nominal' approach to binding in which bound entities are explicitly named (rather than using nameless, de Bruijn-style representations) and yet get a version of this form of substitution that respects #-equivalence and possesses good algorithmic properties. We achieve this by adapting an existing idea and introducing a key new idea. The existing idea is terms involving explicit substitutions of names for names, except that here we only use explicit permutations (bijective substitutions). The key new idea is that the unification algorithm should solve not only equational problems, but also problems about the freshness of names for terms. There is a simple generalisation of the classical first-order unification algorithm to this setting which retains the latter's pleasant properties: unification problems involving #-equivalence and freshness are decidable; and solvable problems possess most general solutions.

The nominal approach to abstract syntax deals with the issues of bound names and α-equivalence by considering constructions and properties that are invariant with respect to permuting names. The use of permutations gives rise to an attractively simple formalisation of common, but often technically incorrect uses of structural recursion and induction for abstract syntax modulo α-equivalence. At the heart of this approach is the notion of finitely supported mathematical objects. This paper explains the idea in as concrete a way as possible and gives a new derivation within higher-order logic of principles of α-structural recursion and induction for α-equivalence classes from the ordinary versions of these principles for abstract syntax trees.

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This document consists of a slightly revised and corrected version of a dissertation

There are two well-known approaches to programming with names, binding, and equivalence up to consistent renaming: representing names and bindings as concrete identifiers in a first-order language (such as Prolog), or encoding names and bindings as variables and abstractions in a higher-order language (such as Lambda-Prolog). However, both approaches have drawbacks: the former often involves stateful name-generation and requires manual definitions for alpha-equivalence and capture-avoiding substitution, and the latter is semantically very complicated, so reasoning about programs written using either approach can be very di#cult. Gabbay and Pitts have developed a new approach to encoding abstract syntax with binding based on primitive operations of name-swapping and freshness. This paper presents Alpha-Prolog, a logic programming language that uses this approach, along with several illustrative example programs and an operational semantics.