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We address the challenges of scaling verification efforts to match the increasing complexity and size of systems. We propose a research agenda aimed at building a performant proof engine by studying the asymptotic performance of proof engines and redesigning their building blocks. As a case study, we explore equational rewriting and introduce a novel prototype proof engine building block for rewriting in Coq, utilizing proof by reflection for enhanced performance. Our prototype implementation can significantly improve the development of verified compilers, as demonstrated in a case study with the Fiat Cryptography toolchain. The resulting extracted command-line compiler is about 1000 × faster while featuring simpler compiler-specific proofs. This work lays some foundation for scaling verification efforts and contributes to the broader goal of developing a proof engine with good asymptotic performance, ultimately aimed at enabling the verification of larger and more complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The logico-pluralist LogiKEy knowledge engineering methodology and framework is applied to the modelling of a theory of legal balancing, in which legal knowledge (cases and laws) is encoded by utilising context-dependent value preferences. The theory obtained is then used to formalise, automatically evaluate, and reconstruct illustrative property law cases (involving the appropriation of wild animals) within the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant system, illustrating how LogiKEy can harness interactive and automated theorem-proving technology to provide a testbed for the development and formal verification of legal domain-specific languages and theories. Modelling value-oriented legal reasoning in that framework, we establish novel bridges between the latest research in knowledge representation and reasoning in non-classical logics, automated theorem proving, and applications in legal reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a formalization of several fundamental notions and results from Quantum Information theory in the proof assistant Isabelle/HOL, including density matrices and projective measurements, along with the proof that the local hidden-variable hypothesis advocated by Einstein to model quantum mechanics cannot hold. The proof of the latter result is based on the so-called CHSH inequality, and it is the violation of this inequality that was experimentally evidenced by Aspect, who earned the Nobel Prize in 2022 for his work. We also formalize various results related to the violation of the CHSH inequality, such as Tsirelson’s bound, which quantifies the amount to which this inequality can be violated in a quantum setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an approach for representing abstract argumentation frameworks based on an encoding into classical higher-order logic. This provides a uniform framework for computer-assisted assessment of abstract argumentation frameworks using interactive and automated reasoning tools. This enables the formal analysis and verification of meta-theoretical properties as well as the flexible generation of extensions and labellings with respect to well-known argumentation semantics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We survey a collection of proofs towards equality, inequality, or independence of the relation of P to NP. Since the problem has attracted much attention from experts, amateurs, and in-betweens, this work is intended as a pointer into directions to enable a “self-assessment” of ideas laid out by people interested in the problem. To this end, we identify the most popular approaches to proving equality, inequality, or independence. Since the latter category appears to be without any attempts to follow the necessary proof strategies, we devote a Section to an intuitive outline of how independence proofs would work. In the other cases of proving equality or inequality, known barriers like (affine) relativization, algebrization, and others are to be avoided. The most important and powerful technique available in this regard is a formalization of arguments in automated proof assistants. This allows an objective self-check of a proof before presenting it to the scientific community.

We give a definition of finitary type theories that subsumes many examples of dependent type theories, such as variants of Martin–Löf type theory, simple type theories, first-order and higher-order logics, and homotopy type theory. We prove several general meta-theorems about finitary type theories: weakening, admissibility of substitution and instantiation of metavariables, derivability of presuppositions, uniqueness of typing, and inversion principles. We then give a second formulation of finitary type theories in which there are no explicit contexts. Instead, free variables are explicitly annotated with their types. We provide translations between finitary type theories with and without contexts, thereby showing that they have the same expressive power. The context-free type theory is implemented in the nucleus of the Andromeda 2 proof assistant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasoning modulo equivalences is natural for everyone, including mathematicians. Unfortunately, in proof assistants based on type theory, which are frequently used to mechanize mathematical results and carry out program verification efforts, equality is appallingly syntactic, and as a result, exploiting equivalences is cumbersome at best. Parametricity and univalence are two major concepts that have been explored in the literature to transport programs and proofs across type equivalences, but they fall short of achieving seamless, automatic transport. This work first clarifies the limitations of these two concepts when considered in isolation and then devises a fruitful marriage between both. The resulting concept, called univalent parametricity, is an extension of parametricity strengthened with univalence that fully realizes programming and proving modulo equivalences. Our approach handles both type and term dependency, as well as type-level computation. In addition to the theory of univalent parametricity, we present a lightweight framework implemented in the Coq proof assistant that allows the user to transparently transfer definitions and theorems for a type to an equivalent one, as if they were equal. For instance, this makes it possible to conveniently switch between an easy-to-reason-about representation and a computationally efficient representation as soon as they are proven equivalent. The combination of parametricity and univalence supports transport à la carte: basic univalent transport, which stems from a type equivalence, can be complemented with additional proofs of equivalences between functions over these types, in order to be able to transport more programs and proofs, as well as to yield more efficient terms. We illustrate the use of univalent parametricity on several examples, including a recent integration of native integers in Coq. This work paves the way to easier-to-use proof assistants by supporting seamless programming and proving modulo equivalences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formally verifying system properties is one of the most effective ways of improving system quality, but its high manual effort requirements often render it prohibitively expensive. Tools that automate formal verification by learning from proof corpora to synthesize proofs have just begun to show their promise. These tools are effective because of the richness of the data the proof corpora contain. This richness comes from the stylistic conventions followed by communities of proof developers, together with the powerful logical systems beneath proof assistants. However, this richness remains underexploited, with most work thus far focusing on architecture rather than on how to make the most of the proof data. This article systematically explores how to most effectively exploit one aspect of that proof data: identifiers. We develop the Passport approach, a method for enriching the predictive Coq model used by an existing proof-synthesis tool with three new encoding mechanisms for identifiers: category vocabulary indexing, subword sequence modeling, and path elaboration. We evaluate our approach’s enrichment effect on three existing base tools: ASTactic, Tac, and Tok. In head-to-head comparisons, Passport automatically proves 29% more theorems than the best-performing of these base tools. Combining the three tools enhanced by the Passport approach automatically proves 38% more theorems than combining the three base tools. Finally, together, these base tools and their enhanced versions prove 45% more theorems than the combined base tools. Overall, our findings suggest that modeling identifiers can play a significant role in improving proof synthesis, leading to higher-quality software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functorial structure of type constructors is the foundation for many definition and proof principles in higher-order logic (HOL). For example, inductive and coinductive datatypes can be built modularly from bounded natural functors (BNFs), a class of well-behaved type constructors. Composition, fixpoints, and—under certain conditions—subtypes are known to preserve the BNF structure. In this article, we tackle the preservation question for quotients, the last important principle for introducing new types in HOL. We identify sufficient conditions under which a quotient inherits the BNF structure from its underlying type. Surprisingly, lifting the structure in the obvious manner fails for some quotients, a problem that also affects the quotients of polynomial functors used in the Lean proof assistant. We provide a strictly more general lifting scheme that supports such problematic quotients. We extend the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant with a command that automates the registration of a quotient type as a BNF, reducing the proof burden on the user from the full set of BNF axioms to our inheritance conditions. We demonstrate the command’s usefulness through several case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the evolution of ideas on the role of proof in mathematics education from 1980 to 2020, examining in particular the contributions of both theoretical and empirical research to the teaching of mathematical proof. In so doing, it describes some of the major epistemological themes that emerged in the last forty years, primarily in the philosophy of mathematics and in mathematical education, and informed both the mathematics curriculum and research in mathematics education. The paper also discusses selected research studies that shed light on the opportunities and limitations students face when they engage in proof. Finally, it describes briefly a number of developments in proof technology and the potential of automated theorem provers for enhancing the teaching of proof.

We discuss some highlights of our computer-verified proof of the construction, given a countable transitive set-model M of ZFC , of generic extensions satisfying ZFC + ¬ CH and ZFC + CH. Moreover, let R be the set of instances of the Axiom of Replacement. We isolated a 21-element subset Ω ⊆ R and defined F : R → R such that for every Φ ⊆ R and M -generic G , M ⊨ ZC ∪ F " Φ ∪ Ω implies M [ G ] ⊨ ZC ∪ Φ ∪ { ¬ CH } , where ZC is Zermelo set theory with Choice. To achieve this, we worked in the proof assistant Isabelle , basing our development on the Isabelle/ZF library by L. Paulson and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstarct: We formalize in Constructive Type Theory the Lambda Calculus in its classical first-order syntax, employing only one sort of names for both bound and free variables, and with α-conversion based upon name swapping. As a fundamental part of the formalization, we introduce principles of induction and recursion on terms which provide a framework for reproducing the use of the Barendregt Variable Convention as in pen-and-paper proofs within the rigorous formal setting of a proof assistant. The principles in question are all formally derivable from the simple principle of structural induction/recursion on concrete terms. We work out applications to some fundamental meta-theoretical results, such as the Church–Rosser Theorem and Weak Normalization for the Simply Typed Lambda Calculus. The whole development has been machine checked using the system Agda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an Isabelle/HOL formalization of the first half of Bachmair and Ganzinger's chapter on resolution theorem proving, culminating with a refutationally complete first-order prover based on ordered resolution with literal selection. We developed general infrastructure and methodology that can form the basis of completeness proofs for related calculi, including superposition. Our work clarifies fine points in the chapter, emphasizing the value of formal proofs in the field of automated reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MetaCoq project aims to provide a certified meta-programming environment in Coq. It builds on Template-Coq, a plugin for Coq originally implemented by Malecha (Extensible proof engineering in intensional type theory, Harvard University, http://gmalecha.github.io/publication/2015/02/01/extensible-proof-engineering-in-intensional-type-theory.html, 2014), which provided a reifier for Coq terms and global declarations, as represented in the Coq kernel, as well as a denotation command. Recently, it was used in the CertiCoq certified compiler project (Anand et al., in: CoqPL, Paris, France, http://conf.researchr.org/event/CoqPL-2017/main-certicoq-a-verified-compiler-for-coq, 2017), as its front-end language, to derive parametricity properties (Anand and Morrisett, in: CoqPL'18, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2018). However, the syntax lacked semantics, be it typing semantics or operational semantics, which should reflect, as formal specifications in Coq, the semantics of Coq 's type theory itself. The tool was also rather bare bones, providing only rudimentary quoting and unquoting commands. We generalize it to handle the entire polymorphic calculus of cumulative inductive constructions, as implemented by Coq, including the kernel's declaration structures for definitions and inductives, and implement a monad for general manipulation of Coq 's logical environment. We demonstrate how this setup allows Coq users to define many kinds of general purpose plugins, whose correctness can be readily proved in the system itself, and that can be run efficiently after extraction. We give a few examples of implemented plugins, including a parametricity translation and a certified extraction to call-by-value λ -calculus. We also advocate the use of MetaCoq as a foundation for higher-level tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We formalize in the proof assistant Isabelle essential basic notions and results in financial mathematics. We provide generic formal definitions of concepts such as markets, portfolios, derivative products, arbitrages or fair prices, and we show that, under the usual no-arbitrage condition, the existence of a replicating portfolio for a derivative implies that the latter admits a unique fair price. Then, we provide a formalization of the Cox–Rubinstein model and we show that the market is complete in this model, i.e., that every derivative product admits a replicating portfolio. This entails that in this model, every derivative product admits a unique fair price. In addition, we provide Isabelle functions to compute the fair price of some derivative products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Full intuitionistic linear logic (FILL) was first introduced by Hyland and de Paiva, and went against current beliefs that it was not possible to incorporate all of the linear connectives, e.g. tensor, par and implication, into an intuitionistic linear logic. Bierman showed that their formalization of FILL did not enjoy cut elimination as such, but Bellin proposed a small change to the definition of FILL regaining cut elimination and using proof nets. In this note we adopt Bellin's proposed change and give a direct proof of cut elimination for the sequent calculus. Then we show that a categorical model of FILL in the basic dialectica category is also a linear/non-linear model of Benton and a full tensor model of Melliès' and Tabareau's tensorial logic. We give a double-negation translation of linear logic into FILL that explicitly uses par in addition to tensor. Lastly, we introduce a new library to be used in the proof assistant Agda for proving properties of dialectica categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paper on ordinal partitions by Erdős and Milner [7] has been formalised using the proof assistant Isabelle/HOL, augmented with a library for Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory. The work is part of a project on formalising the partition calculus. The chosen material is particularly appropriate in view of the substantial corrections [8] later published by its authors, illustrating the potential value of formal verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]