We investigate the relation between the set-theoretical description of coinduction based on Tarski Fixpoint Theorem, and the categorical description of coinduction based on coalgebras. In particular, we examine set-theoretic generalizations of the coinduction proof principle, in the spirit of Milner's bisimulation "up-to", and we discuss categorical counterparts for these. Moreover, we investigate the connection between these and the equivalences induced by T -coiterative functions. These are morphisms into final coalgebras, satisfying the T -coiteration scheme, which is a generalization of both the coiteration and the corecursion scheme. We generalize Rutten's transformation from coalgebraic bisimulations to set-theoretic bisimulations, in order to cover also the case of bisimulations "up-to". A list of examples of set-theoretic coinductive specifications which appear not to be easily expressible in coalgebraic terms are discussed. Introduction Coinductive definitions and ...

C'era una volta un re seduto in canap`e, che disse alla regina raccontami una storia. La regina cominci`o: "C'era una volta un re seduto in canap`e

We discuss new ways of characterizing, as maximal fixed points of monotone operators, observational congruences on -terms and, more in general, equivalences on applicative structures. These characterizations naturally induce new forms of coinduction principles, for reasoning on program equivalences, which are not based on Abramsky's applicative bisimulation. We discuss in particular, what we call, the cartesian coinduction principle, which arises when we exploit the elementary observation that functional behaviours can be expressed as cartesian graphs. Using the paradigm of final semantics, the soundness of this principle over an applicative structure can be expressed easily by saying that the applicative structure can be construed as a strongly extensional coalgebra for the functor (P( \Theta )) \Phi (P( \Theta )). In this paper, we present two general methods for showing the soundenss of this principle. The first applies to approximable applicative structures. Many c.p.o. -models in...

Hyperuniverses are topological structures exhibiting strong closure properties under formation of subsets. They have been used both in Computer Science, for giving denotational semantics `a la Scott-de Bakker, and in Mathematical Logic, in order to show the consistency of set theories which do not abide by the "limitation of size" principle. We present correspondences between set-theoretic properties and topological properties of hyperuniverses. We give existence theorems and discuss applications and generalizations to the non -compact case. Work partially supported by 40% and 60% MURST grants, CNR grants, and EEC Science MASK, and BRA Types 6453 contracts. y Member of GNSAGA of CNR. z The main results of this paper have been communicated by this author at the "11 th Summer Conference on General Topology and Applications" August 1995, Portland, Maine. Introduction Natural frameworks for dicussing Selfreference and other circular phenomena are extremely useful in areas such ...

We introduce a coinductive logical system à la Gentzen for establishing bisimulation equivalences on circular non-wellfounded regular objects, inspired by work of Coquand, and of Brandt and Henglein. In order to describe circular objects, we utilize a typed language, whose coinductive types involve disjoint sum, cartesian product, and finite powerset constructors. Our system is shown to be complete with respect to a maximal fixed point semantics. It is shown to be complete also with respect to an equivalent final semantics. In this latter semantics, terms are viewed as points of a coalgebra for a suitable endofunctor on the category Set of non-wellfounded sets. Our system subsumes an axiomatization of regular processes, alternative to the classical one given by Milner.

We study two observational equivalences of Fickle programs. Fickle is a class-based object oriented imperative language...

Fickle is a class-based object oriented imperative language, which extends Java with object re-classification. In this paper, we introduce a natural observational equivalence over Fickle programs. This is a contextual equivalence over main methods with respect to a given sequence of class definitions, i.e. a program. In order to study it, we utilize the formal computational model for OO-programming based on coalgebras, which has recently emerged, whereby objects are taken to be equal when the actions of methods on them yield the same observations and equivalent next states. However, in order to deal with imperative features, we need to extend the original approach of H.Reichel and B.Jacobs in various ways. In particular, we introduce a coalgebraic description of objects (states of a class), which induces a coinductive behavioural equivalence on programs. For simplicity, we focus on Fickle objects whose methods do not take more than one object parameter as argument. Completeness results as well as problematic issues arising from binary methods are also discussed.

This paper is a contribution to the foundations of coinductive types and coiterative functions, in (Hyper)set-theoretical Categories, in terms of coalgebras. We consider atoms as first class citizens. First of all, we give a sharpening, in the way of cardinality, of Aczel's Special Final Coalgebra Theorem, which allows for good estimates of the cardinality of the final coalgebra. To these end, we introduce the notion of -Y -uniform functor, which subsumes Aczel's original notion. We give also an n-ary version of it, and we show that the resulting class of functors is closed under many interesting operations used in Final Semantics. We define also canonical wellfounded versions of the final coalgebras of functors uniform on maps. This leads to a reduction of coiteration to ordinal induction, giving a possible answer to a question raised by Moss and Danner. Finally, we introduce a generalization of the notion of F -bisimulation inspired by Aczel's notion of precongruence, and we show t...

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