This is a set of lecture notes that developed out of courses on the lambda calculus that I taught at the University of Ottawa in 2001 and at Dalhousie University in 2007 and 2013. Topics covered in these notes include the untyped lambda calculus, the Church-Rosser theorem, combinatory algebras, the simply-typed lambda calculus, the Curry-Howard isomorphism, weak and strong normalization, polymorphism, type inference, denotational semantics, complete partial orders, and the language PCF.
We give a brief introduction to the clocked lambda calculus, an extension of the classical lambda calculus with a unary symbol tau used to witness the beta-steps. In contrast to the classical lambda calculus, this extension is infinitary strongly normalising and infinitary confluent. The infinitary normal forms are enriched Boehm Trees, which we call clocked Boehm Trees.
The lambda calculus with constructors is an extension of the lambda calculus with variadic constructors. It decomposes the pattern-matching a la ML into a case analysis on constants and a commutation rule between case and application constructs. Although this commutation rule does not match with the usual computing intuitions, it makes the calculus expressive and confluent, with a rather simple syntax. In this paper we define a sound notion of categorical model for the lambda calculus with constructors. We then prove that this definition is complete for the fragment of the calculus with no mat…
We study the semantics of a resource-sensitive extension of the lambda calculus in a canonical reflexive object of a category of sets and relations, a relational version of Scott's original model of the pure lambda calculus. This calculus is related to Boudol's resource calculus and is derived from Ehrhard and Regnier's differential extension of Linear Logic and of the lambda calculus. We extend it with new constructions, to be understood as implementing a very simple exception mechanism, and with a "must" parallel composition. These new operations allow to associate a context of this calculus…
In a paper entitled Binary lambda calculus and combinatory logic, John Tromp presents a simple way of encoding lambda calculus terms as binary sequences. In what follows, we study the numbers of binary strings of a given size that represent lambda terms and derive results from their generating functions, especially that the number of terms of size n grows roughly like 1.963447954. .. n. In a second part we use this approach to generate random lambda terms using Boltzmann samplers.
We present a Curry-style second-order type system with union and intersection types for the lambda-calculus with constructors of Arbiser, Miquel and Rios, an extension of lambda-calculus with a pattern matching mechanism for variadic constructors. We then prove the strong normalisation and the absence of match failure for a restriction of this system, by adapting the standard reducibility method.
A strong confluence result for Q*, a quantum lambda-calculus with measurements, is proved. More precisely, confluence is shown to hold both for finite and infinite computations. The technique used in the confluence proof is syntactical but innovative. This makes Q* different from similar quantum lambda calculi, which are either measurement-free or provided with a reduction strategy.
In this paper we briefly summarize the contents of Manzonetto's PhD thesis which concerns denotational semantics and equational/order theories of the pure untyped lambda-calculus. The main research achievements include: (i) a general construction of lambda-models from reflexive objects in (possibly non-well-pointed) categories; (ii) a Stone-style representation theorem for combinatory algebras; (iii) a proof that no effective lambda-model can have lambda-beta or lambda-beta-eta as its equational theory (this can be seen as a partial answer to an open problem introduced by Honsell-Ronchi Della …
This paper proposes new mathematical models of the untyped Lambda-mu calculus. One is called the stream model, which is an extension of the lambda model, in which each term is interpreted as a function from streams to individual data. The other is called the stream combinatory algebra, which is an extension of the combinatory algebra, and it is proved that the extensional equality of the Lambda-mu calculus is equivalent to equality in stream combinatory algebras. In order to define the stream combinatory algebra, we introduce a combinatory calculus SCL, which is an abstraction-free system corr…
Inspired by a recent graphical formalism for lambda-calculus based on linear logic technology, we introduce an untyped structural lambda-calculus, called lambda j, which combines actions at a distance with exponential rules decomposing the substitution by means of weakening, contraction and derelicition. First, we prove some fundamental properties of lambda j such as confluence and preservation of beta-strong normalisation. Second, we add a strong bisimulation to lambda j by means of an equational theory which captures in particular Regnier's sigma-equivalence. We then complete this bisimulati…
We study coupled logical bisimulation (CLB) to reason about contextual equivalence in the lambda-calculus. CLB originates in a work by Dal Lago, Sangiorgi and Alberti, as a tool to reason about a lambda-calculus with probabilistic constructs. We adapt the original definition to the pure lambda-calculus. We develop the metatheory of CLB in call-by-name and in call-by-value, and draw comparisons with applicative bisimulation (due to Abramsky) and logical bisimulation (due to Sangiorgi, Kobayashi and Sumii). We also study enhancements of the bisimulation method for CLB by developing a theory of u…
A fragment of second-order lambda calculus (System F) is defined that characterizes the elementary recursive functions. Type quantification is restricted to be non-interleaved and stratified, i.e., the types are assigned levels, and a quantified variable can only be instantiated by a type of smaller level, with a slightly liberalized treatment of the level zero.
Algebraic lambda-calculi have been studied in various ways, but their semantics remain mostly untouched. In this paper we propose a semantic analysis of a general simply-typed lambda-calculus endowed with a structure of vector space. We sketch the relation with two established vectorial lambda-calculi. Then we study the problems arising from the addition of a fixed point combinator and how to modify the equational theory to solve them. We sketch an algebraic vectorial PCF and its possible denotational interpretations.
We positively answer the question A.1.6 in J. Klop's "Ustica Notes": "Is there a recursive normalizing one-step reduction strategy for micro $λ$-calculus?" Micro $λ$-calculus refers to an implementation of the $λ$-calculus due to Revesz, implementing $β$-reduction by means of "micro steps" recursively distributing a $β$-redex $(λx.M)\ N$ over its body $M$.
The so-called light logics have been introduced as logical systems enjoying quite remarkable normalization properties. Designing a type assignment system for pure lambda calculus from these logics, however, is problematic. In this paper we show that shifting from usual call-by-name to call-by-value lambda calculus allows regaining strong connections with the underlying logic. This will be done in the context of Elementary Affine Logic (EAL), designing a type system in natural deduction style assigning EAL formulae to lambda terms.
This paper is about a categorical approach to model a very simple Semantically Linear lambda calculus, named Sll-calculus. This is a core calculus underlying the programming language SlPCF. In particular, in this work, we introduce the notion of Sll-Category, which is able to describe a very large class of sound models of Sll-calculus. Sll-Category extends in the natural way Benton, Bierman, Hyland and de Paiva's Linear Category, in order to soundly interpret all the constructs of Sll-calculus. This category is general enough to catch interesting models in Scott Domains and Coherence Spaces.
We investigate final coalgebras in nominal sets. This allows us to define types of infinite data with binding for which all constructions automatically respect alpha equivalence. We give applications to the infinitary lambda calculus.
We give a categorical semantics for a call-by-value linear lambda calculus. Such a lambda calculus was used by Selinger and Valiron as the backbone of a functional programming language for quantum computation. One feature of this lambda calculus is its linear type system, which includes a duplicability operator "!" as in linear logic. Another main feature is its call-by-value reduction strategy, together with a side-effect to model probabilistic measurements. The "!" operator gives rise to a comonad, as in the linear logic models of Seely, Bierman, and Benton. The side-effects give rise to a m…
The stack calculus is a functional language in which is in a Curry-Howard correspondence with classical logic. It enjoys confluence but, as well as Parigot's lambda-mu, does not admit the Bohm Theorem, typical of the lambda-calculus. We present a simple extension of stack calculus which is for the stack calculus what Saurin's Lambda-mu is for lambda-mu.
We revisit the Vectorial Lambda Calculus, a typed version of Lineal. Vectorial (as well as Lineal) has been originally designed for quantum computing, as an extension to System F where linear combinations of lambda terms are also terms and linear combinations of types are also types. In its first presentation, Vectorial only provides a weakened version of the Subject Reduction property. We prove that our revised Vectorial Lambda Calculus supports the standard version of said property, answering a long standing issue. In addition we also introduce the concept of weight of types and terms, and p…
Superdeduction is a method specially designed to ease the use of first-order theories in predicate logic. The theory is used to enrich the deduction system with new deduction rules in a systematic, correct and complete way. A proof-term language and a cut-elimination reduction already exist for superdeduction, both based on Christian Urban's work on classical sequent calculus. However the computational content of Christian Urban's calculus is not directly related to the (lambda-calculus based) Curry-Howard correspondence. In contrast the Lambda bar mu mu tilde calculus is a lambda-calculus for…
We define sound and adequate denotational and operational semantics for the stochastic lambda calculus. These two semantic approaches build on previous work that used similar techniques to reason about higher-order probabilistic programs, but for the first time admit an adequacy theorem relating the operational and denotational views. This resolves the main issue left open in (Bacci et al. 2018).
The lambda Pi calculus can be extended with rewrite rules to embed any functional pure type system. In this paper, we show that the embedding is conservative by proving a relative form of normalization, thus justifying the use of the lambda Pi calculus modulo rewriting as a logical framework for logics based on pure type systems. This result was previously only proved under the condition that the target system is normalizing. Our approach does not depend on this condition and therefore also works when the source system is not normalizing.
We study polymorphic type assignment systems for untyped lambda-calculi with effects, based on Moggi's monadic approach. Moving from the abstract definition of monads, we introduce a version of the call-by-value computational lambda-calculus based on Wadler's variant with unit and bind combinators, and without let. We define a notion of reduction for the calculus and prove it confluent, and also we relate our calculus to the original work by Moggi showing that his untyped metalanguage can be interpreted and simulated in our calculus. We then introduce an intersection type system inspired to Ba…
Filinski constructed a symmetric lambda-calculus consisting of expressions and continuations which are symmetric, and functions which have duality. In his calculus, functions can be encoded to expressions and continuations using primitive operators. That is, the duality of functions is not derived in the calculus but adopted as a principle of the calculus. In this paper, we propose a simple symmetric lambda-calculus corresponding to the negation-free natural deduction based bilateralism in proof-theoretic semantics. In our calculus, continuation types are represented as not negations of formul…
We describe a type system for the linear-algebraic lambda-calculus. The type system accounts for the part of the language emulating linear operators and vectors, i.e. it is able to statically describe the linear combinations of terms resulting from the reduction of programs. This gives rise to an original type theory where types, in the same way as terms, can be superposed into linear combinations. We show that the resulting typed lambda-calculus is strongly normalizing and features a weak subject-reduction.
We define the pattern fragment for higher-order unification problems in linear and affine type theory and give a deterministic unification algorithm that computes most general unifiers.
We study an extension of Plotkin's call-by-value lambda-calculus via two commutation rules (sigma-reductions). These commutation rules are sufficient to remove harmful call-by-value normal forms from the calculus, so that it enjoys elegant characterizations of many semantic properties. We prove that this extended calculus is a conservative refinement of Plotkin's one. In particular, the notions of solvability and potential valuability for this calculus coincide with those for Plotkin's call-by-value lambda-calculus. The proof rests on a standardization theorem proved by generalizing Takahashi'…
The linear-algebraic lambda-calculus and the algebraic lambda-calculus are untyped lambda-calculi extended with arbitrary linear combinations of terms. The former presents the axioms of linear algebra in the form of a rewrite system, while the latter uses equalities. When given by rewrites, algebraic lambda-calculi are not confluent unless further restrictions are added. We provide a type system for the linear-algebraic lambda-calculus enforcing strong normalisation, which gives back confluence. The type system allows an abstract interpretation in System F.
This paper is a concise and painless introduction to the $λ$-calculus. This formalism was developed by Alonzo Church as a tool for studying the mathematical properties of effectively computable functions. The formalism became popular and has provided a strong theoretical foundation for the family of functional programming languages. This tutorial shows how to perform arithmetical and logical computations using the $λ$-calculus and how to define recursive functions, even though $λ$-calculus functions are unnamed and thus cannot refer explicitly to themselves.
This paper introduces a new term rewriting system that is similar to the embedded read-back mechanism for interaction nets presented in our previous work, but is easier to follow than in the original setting and thus to analyze its properties. Namely, we verify that it correctly represents the lambda calculus. Further, we show that there is exactly one reduction sequence that starts with any term in our term rewriting system. Finally, we represent the leftmost strategy which is known to be normalizing.
In this paper we prove that any lambda-term that is strongly normalising for beta-reduction is also strongly normalising for beta,assoc-reduction. assoc is a call-by-value rule that has been used in works by Moggi, Joachimsky, Espirito Santo and others. The result has often been justified with incomplete or incorrect proofs. Here we give one in full details.
We propose a way to unify two approaches of non-cloning in quantum lambda-calculi: logical and algebraic linearities. The first approach is to forbid duplicating variables, while the second is to consider all lambda-terms as algebraic-linear functions. We illustrate this idea by defining a quantum extension of first-order simply-typed lambda-calculus, where the type is linear on superposition, while allows cloning base vectors. In addition, we provide an interpretation of the calculus where superposed types are interpreted as vector spaces and non-superposed types as their basis.
The resource calculus is an extension of the lambda-calculus allowing to model resource consumption. It is intrinsically non-deterministic and has two general notions of reduction - one parallel, preserving all the possible results as a formal sum, and one non-deterministic, performing an exclusive choice at every step. We prove that the non-deterministic reduction enjoys a notion of standardization, which is the natural extension with respect to the similar one in classical lambda-calculus. The full parallel reduction only enjoys a weaker notion of standardization instead. The result allows a…
The lambda-Pi-calculus Modulo is a variant of the lambda-calculus with dependent types where beta-conversion is extended with user-defined rewrite rules. It is an expressive logical framework and has been used to encode logics and type systems in a shallow way. Basic properties such as subject reduction or uniqueness of types do not hold in general in the lambda-Pi-calculus Modulo. However, they hold if the rewrite system generated by the rewrite rules together with beta-reduction is confluent. But this is too restrictive. To handle the case where non confluence comes from the interference bet…
We study superdevelopments in the weak lambda calculus of Cagman and Hindley, a confluent variant of the standard weak lambda calculus in which reduction below lambdas is forbidden. In contrast to developments, a superdevelopment from a term M allows not only residuals of redexes in M to be reduced but also some newly created ones. In the lambda calculus there are three ways new redexes may be created; in the weak lambda calculus a new form of redex creation is possible. We present labeled and simultaneous reduction formulations of superdevelopments for the weak lambda calculus and prove them …
In this short overview, we start with the basics of quantum computing, explaining the difference between the quantum and the classical control paradigms. We give an overview of the quantum control line of research within the lambda calculus, ranging from untyped calculi up to categorical and realisability models. This is a summary of the last 10+ years of research in this area, starting from Arrighi and Dowek's seminal work until today.
In our paper "Uniformity and the Taylor expansion of ordinary lambda-terms" (with Laurent Regnier), we studied a translation of lambda-terms as infinite linear combinations of resource lambda-terms, from a calculus similar to Boudol's lambda-calculus with resources and based on ideas coming from differential linear logic and differential lambda-calculus. The good properties of this translation wrt. beta-reduction were guaranteed by a coherence relation on resource terms: normalization is "linear and stable" (in the sense of the coherence space semantics of linear logic) wrt. this coherence rel…
We study the lambda-mu-calculus, extended with explicit substitution, and define a compositional output-based interpretation into a variant of the pi-calculus with pairing that preserves single-step explicit head reduction with respect to weak bisimilarity. We define four notions of weak equivalence for lambda-mu -- one based on weak reduction, two modelling weak head-reduction and weak explicit head reduction (all considering terms without weak head-normal form equivalent as well), and one based on weak approximation -- and show they all coincide. We will then show full abstraction results fo…
We introduce an intersection type system for the lambda-mu calculus that is invariant under subject reduction and expansion. The system is obtained by describing Streicher and Reus's denotational model of continuations in the category of omega-algebraic lattices via Abramsky's domain-logic approach. This provides at the same time an interpretation of the type system and a proof of the completeness of the system with respect to the continuation models by means of a filter model construction. We then define a restriction of our system, such that a lambda-mu term is typeable if and only if it is …
Calculi with control operators have been studied as extensions of simple type theory. Real programming languages contain datatypes, so to really understand control operators, one should also include these in the calculus. As a first step in that direction, we introduce lambda-mu-T, a combination of Parigot's lambda-mu-calculus and Gödel's T, to extend a calculus with control operators with a datatype of natural numbers with a primitive recursor. We consider the problem of confluence on raw terms, and that of strong normalization for the well-typed terms. Observing some problems with extending …
The primary goal of this paper is to present a unified way to transform the syntax of a logic system into certain initial algebraic structure so that it can be studied algebraically. The algebraic structures which one may choose for this purpose are various clones over a full subcategory of a category. We show that the syntax of equational logic, lambda calculus and first order logic can be represented as clones or right algebras of clones over the set of positive integers. The semantics is then represented by structures derived from left algebras of these clones.
Calculi with control operators have been studied to reason about control in programming languages and to interpret the computational content of classical proofs. To make these calculi into a real programming language, one should also include data types. As a step into that direction, this paper defines a simply typed call-by-value lambda calculus with the control operators catch and throw, a data type of lists, and an operator for primitive recursion (a la Goedel's T). We prove that our system satisfies subject reduction, progress, confluence for untyped terms, and strong normalization for wel…
A new, comprehensive approach to inhabitation problems in simply-typed lambda-calculus is shown, dealing with both decision and counting problems. This approach works by exploiting a representation of the search space generated by a given inhabitation problem, which is in terms of a lambda-calculus for proof search that the authors developed recently. The representation may be seen as extending the Curry-Howard representation of proofs by lambda-terms, staying within the methods of lambda-calculus and type systems. Our methodology reveals inductive descriptions of the decision problems, driven…
We introduce two extensions of the $λ$-calculus with a probabilistic choice operator, $Λ_\oplus^{cbv}$ and $Λ_\oplus^{cbn}$, modeling respectively call-by-value and call-by-name probabilistic computation. We prove that both enjoys confluence and standardization, in an extended way: we revisit these two fundamental notions to take into account the asymptotic behaviour of terms. The common root of the two calculi is a further calculus based on Linear Logic, $Λ_\oplus^!$, which allows for a fine control of the interaction between choice and copying, and which allows us to develop a unified, modul…
We define the syntax and reduction relation of a recursively typed lambda calculus with a parallel case-function (a parallel conditional). The reduction is shown to be confluent. We interpret the recursive types as information systems in a restricted form, which we call prime systems. A denotational semantics is defined with this interpretation. We define the syntactical normal form approximations of a term and prove the Approximation Theorem: The semantics of a term equals the limit of the semantics of its approximations. The proof uses inclusive predicates (logical relations). The semantics …
This paper brings together two lines of research: implicit characterization of complexity classes by Linear Logic (LL) on the one hand, and computation over an arbitrary ring in the Blum-Shub-Smale (BSS) model on the other. Given a fixed ring structure K we define an extension of Terui's light affine lambda-calculus typed in LAL (Light Affine Logic) with a basic type for K. We show that this calculus captures the polynomial time function class FP(K): every typed term can be evaluated in polynomial time and conversely every polynomial time BSS machine over K can be simulated in this calculus.
The goal of our Macro Lambda Calculus project (MLC) is to encode lambda terms into interaction nets. Its software implementation will accept input in the notation similar to lambda calculus allowing macro definitions. Output is similar to interaction calculus and is suitable for our Interaction Nets Compiler program (INC). In this paper, we describe the interaction system for call-by-need evaluation and the mechanism of encoding lambda terms into this system which MLC is based on.
The infinitary lambda calculi pioneered by Kennaway et al. extend the basic lambda calculus by metric completion to infinite terms and reductions. Depending on the chosen metric, the resulting infinitary calculi exhibit different notions of strictness. To obtain infinitary normalisation and infinitary confluence properties for these calculi, Kennaway et al. extend $β$-reduction with infinitely many `$\bot$-rules', which contract meaningless terms directly to $\bot$. Three of the resulting Böhm reduction calculi have unique infinitary normal forms corresponding to Böhm-like trees. In this paper…
The intrinsic treatment of binding in the lambda calculus makes it an ideal data structure for representing syntactic objects with binding such as formulas, proofs, types, and programs. Supporting such a data structure in an implementation is made difficult by the complexity of the substitution operation relative to lambda terms. In this paper we present the suspension calculus, an explicit treatment of meta level binding in the lambda calculus. We prove properties of this calculus which make it a suitable replacement for the lambda calculus in implementation. Finally, we compare the suspensio…
We propose a new type system for lambda-calculus ensuring that well-typed programs can be executed in polynomial time: Dual light affine logic (DLAL). DLAL has a simple type language with a linear and an intuitionistic type arrow, and one modality. It corresponds to a fragment of Light affine logic (LAL). We show that contrarily to LAL, DLAL ensures good properties on lambda-terms: subject reduction is satisfied and a well-typed term admits a polynomial bound on the reduction by any strategy. We establish that as LAL, DLAL allows to represent all polytime functions. Finally we give a type infe…
We present two rewriting systems that define labelled explicit substitution lambda-calculi. Our work is motivated by the close correspondence between Levy's labelled lambda-calculus and paths in proof-nets, which played an important role in the understanding of the Geometry of Interaction. The structure of the labels in Levy's labelled lambda-calculus relates to the multiplicative information of paths; the novelty of our work is that we design labelled explicit substitution calculi that also keep track of exponential information present in call-by-value and call-by-name translations of the lam…
