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A mechanisation of name-carrying syntax up to alpha-conversion

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Book cover Higher Order Logic Theorem Proving and Its Applications (HUG 1993)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 780))

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Abstract

We present a new strategy for representing syntax in a, mechanised logic. We define an underlying type of de Bruijn terms, define an operation of named lambda-abstraction, and hence inductively define a set of conventional name-carrying terms. The result is a mechanisation of the practice of most authors studying formal calculi: to work with conventional name-carrying notation and substitution, but to identify terms up to alpha-conversion. This strategy falls between most previous works, which either treat bound variable names literally or dispense with them altogether. The theory has been implemented in the Cambridge HOL system and used in an experimental application.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programming Methodology Group Department of Computing Science, Chalmers University of Technology/University of Gothenburg, 412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Andrew D. Gordon

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  1. Andrew D. Gordon
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Jeffrey J. Joyce Carl-Johan H. Seger

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Gordon, A.D. (1994). A mechanisation of name-carrying syntax up to alpha-conversion. In: Joyce, J.J., Seger, CJ.H. (eds) Higher Order Logic Theorem Proving and Its Applications. HUG 1993. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 780. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-57826-9_152

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-57826-9_152

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-57826-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48346-5

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