arXiv subjects

Ranald Clouston

Publications and source records attributed to Ranald Clouston.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Embedding Modal Logics into Logics of Bunched Implications

We present a new proof of the embedding of the classical modal logic S4 into the logic of Boolean Bunched Implications (BBI). While the original proof is semantical, this proof is entirely syntactical. It proceeds via Hilbert-style calculi, and is built by analogy with a recently discovered proof by Godel of the embedding of intuitionistic propositional logic into S4. We present the first full proofs of deduction theorems for BBI, which are used to show that the embedding is preserved by reasoning with assumptions, including where those assumptions are organised into bunches. Unlike the existing proof, our proof is stable under arbitrary axiomatic extensions of S4, and applies to all known axiomatic extensions of BBI in the literature. We observe how this embedding is related to semantical properties of both logics. Moreover, the proof extends gracefully to language extensions of BBI, as we show with hybrid BBI, classical BI, and sub-classical BBI.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2026

Duality for Constructive Modal Logics: from Sahqlvist to Goldblatt-Thomason

We carry out a semantic study of the constructive modal logic CK. We provide a categorical duality linking the algebraic and birelational semantics of the logic. We then use this to prove Sahlqvist style correspondence and completeness results, as well as a Goldblatt-Thomason style theorem on definability of classes of frames.

math.LO↗

arXiv2025

Semantical Analysis of Intuitionistic Modal Logics between CK and IK

The intuitionistic modal logics considered between Constructive K (CK) and Intuitionistic K (IK) differ in their treatment of the possibility (diamond) connective. It was recently rediscovered that some logics between CK and IK also disagree on their diamond-free fragments, with only some remaining conservative over the standard axiomatisation of intuitionistic modal logic with necessity (box) alone. We show that relational Kripke semantics for CK can be extended with frame conditions for all axioms in the standard axiomatisation of IK, as well as other axioms previously studied. This allows us to answer open questions about the (non-)conservativity of such logics over intuitionistic modal logic without diamond. Our results are formalised using the Coq Proof Assistant.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2023

Syntactic Interpolation for Tense Logics and Bi-Intuitionistic Logic via Nested Sequents

We provide a direct method for proving Craig interpolation for a range of modal and intuitionistic logics, including those containing a "converse" modality. We demonstrate this method for classical tense logic, its extensions with path axioms, and for bi-intuitionistic logic. These logics do not have straightforward formalisations in the traditional Gentzen-style sequent calculus, but have all been shown to have cut-free nested sequent calculi. The proof of the interpolation theorem uses these calculi and is purely syntactic, without resorting to embeddings, semantic arguments, or interpreted connectives external to the underlying logical language. A novel feature of our proof includes an orthogonality condition for defining duality between interpolants.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2019

Modal Dependent Type Theory and Dependent Right Adjoints

In recent years we have seen several new models of dependent type theory extended with some form of modal necessity operator, including nominal type theory, guarded and clocked type theory, and spatial and cohesive type theory. In this paper we study modal dependent type theory: dependent type theory with an operator satisfying (a dependent version of) the K-axiom of modal logic. We investigate both semantics and syntax. For the semantics, we introduce categories with families with a dependent right adjoint (CwDRA) and show that the examples above can be presented as such. Indeed, we show that any finite limit category with an adjunction of endofunctors gives rise to a CwDRA via the local universe construction. For the syntax, we introduce a dependently typed extension of Fitch-style modal lambda-calculus, show that it can be interpreted in any CwDRA, and build a term model. We extend the syntax and semantics with universes.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2018

Modular Labelled Sequent Calculi for Abstract Separation Logics

Abstract separation logics are a family of extensions of Hoare logic for reasoning about programs that manipulate resources such as memory locations. These logics are "abstract" because they are independent of any particular concrete resource model. Their assertion languages, called propositional abstract separation logics (PASLs), extend the logic of (Boolean) Bunched Implications (BBI) in various ways. In particular, these logics contain the connectives $*$ and $-\!*$, denoting the composition and extension of resources respectively. This added expressive power comes at a price since the resulting logics are all undecidable. Given their wide applicability, even a semi-decision procedure for these logics is desirable. Although several PASLs and their relationships with BBI are discussed in the literature, the proof theory and automated reasoning for these logics were open problems solved by the conference version of this paper, which developed a modular proof theory for various PASLs using cut-free labelled sequent calculi. This paper non-trivially improves upon this previous work by giving a general framework of calculi on which any new axiom in the logic satisfying a certain form corresponds to an inference rule in our framework, and the completeness proof is generalised to consider such axioms. Our base calculus handles Calcagno et al.'s original logic of separation algebras by adding sound rules for partial-determinism and cancellativity, while preserving cut-elimination. We then show that many important properties in separation logic, such as indivisible unit, disjointness, splittability, and cross-split, can be expressed in our general axiom form. Thus our framework offers inference rules and completeness for these properties for free. Finally, we show how our calculi reduce to calculi with global label substitutions, enabling more efficient implementation.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2018

Fitch-Style Modal Lambda Calculi

Fitch-style modal deduction, in which modalities are eliminated by opening a subordinate proof, and introduced by shutting one, were investigated in the 1990s as a basis for lambda calculi. We show that such calculi have good computational properties for a variety of intuitionistic modal logics. Semantics are given in cartesian closed categories equipped with an adjunction of endofunctors, with the necessity modality interpreted by the right adjoint. Where this functor is an idempotent comonad, a coherence result on the semantics allows us to present a calculus for intuitionistic S4 that is simpler than others in the literature. We show the calculi can be extended à la tense logic with the left adjoint of necessity, and are then complete for the categorical semantics.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2017

Guarded Cubical Type Theory

This paper improves the treatment of equality in guarded dependent type theory (GDTT), by combining it with cubical type theory (CTT). GDTT is an extensional type theory with guarded recursive types, which are useful for building models of program logics, and for programming and reasoning with coinductive types. We wish to implement GDTT with decidable type checking, while still supporting non-trivial equality proofs that reason about the extensions of guarded recursive constructions. CTT is a variation of Martin-Löf type theory in which the identity type is replaced by abstract paths between terms. CTT provides a computational interpretation of functional extensionality, enjoys canonicity for the natural numbers type, and is conjectured to support decidable type-checking. Our new type theory, guarded cubical type theory (GCTT), provides a computational interpretation of extensionality for guarded recursive types. This further expands the foundations of CTT as a basis for formalisation in mathematics and computer science. We present examples to demonstrate the expressivity of our type theory, all of which have been checked using a prototype type-checker implementation. We show that CTT can be given semantics in presheaves on the product of the cube category and a small category with an initial object. We then show that the category of presheaves on the product of the cube category and omega provides semantics for GCTT.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2016

The Guarded Lambda-Calculus: Programming and Reasoning with Guarded Recursion for Coinductive Types

We present the guarded lambda-calculus, an extension of the simply typed lambda-calculus with guarded recursive and coinductive types. The use of guarded recursive types ensures the productivity of well-typed programs. Guarded recursive types may be transformed into coinductive types by a type-former inspired by modal logic and Atkey-McBride clock quantification, allowing the typing of acausal functions. We give a call-by-name operational semantics for the calculus, and define adequate denotational semantics in the topos of trees. The adequacy proof entails that the evaluation of a program always terminates. We introduce a program logic with Löb induction for reasoning about the contextual equivalence of programs. We demonstrate the expressiveness of the calculus by showing the definability of solutions to Rutten's behavioural differential equations.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2016

Guarded Cubical Type Theory: Path Equality for Guarded Recursion

This paper improves the treatment of equality in guarded dependent type theory (GDTT), by combining it with cubical type theory (CTT). GDTT is an extensional type theory with guarded recursive types, which are useful for building models of program logics, and for programming and reasoning with coinductive types. We wish to implement GDTT with decidable type-checking, while still supporting non-trivial equality proofs that reason about the extensions of guarded recursive constructions. CTT is a variation of Martin-Löf type theory in which the identity type is replaced by abstract paths between terms. CTT provides a computational interpretation of functional extensionality, is conjectured to have decidable type checking, and has an implemented type-checker. Our new type theory, called guarded cubical type theory, provides a computational interpretation of extensionality for guarded recursive types. This further expands the foundations of CTT as a basis for formalisation in mathematics and computer science. We present examples to demonstrate the expressivity of our type theory, all of which have been checked using a prototype type-checker implementation, and present semantics in a presheaf category.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2016

Guarded Dependent Type Theory with Coinductive Types

We present guarded dependent type theory, gDTT, an extensional dependent type theory with a `later' modality and clock quantifiers for programming and proving with guarded recursive and coinductive types. The later modality is used to ensure the productivity of recursive definitions in a modular, type based, way. Clock quantifiers are used for controlled elimination of the later modality and for encoding coinductive types using guarded recursive types. Key to the development of gDTT are novel type and term formers involving what we call `delayed substitutions'. These generalise the applicative functor rules for the later modality considered in earlier work, and are crucial for programming and proving with dependent types. We show soundness of the type theory with respect to a denotational model.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2015

Sequent Calculus in the Topos of Trees

Nakano's "later" modality, inspired by Gödel-Löb provability logic, has been applied in type systems and program logics to capture guarded recursion. Birkedal et al modelled this modality via the internal logic of the topos of trees. We show that the semantics of the propositional fragment of this logic can be given by linear converse-well-founded intuitionistic Kripke frames, so this logic is a marriage of the intuitionistic modal logic KM and the intermediate logic LC. We therefore call this logic $\mathrm{KM}_{\mathrm{lin}}$. We give a sound and cut-free complete sequent calculus for $\mathrm{KM}_{\mathrm{lin}}$ via a strategy that decomposes implication into its static and irreflexive components. Our calculus provides deterministic and terminating backward proof-search, yields decidability of the logic and the coNP-completeness of its validity problem. Our calculus and decision procedure can be restricted to drop linearity and hence capture KM.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2015

Programming and Reasoning with Guarded Recursion for Coinductive Types

We present the guarded lambda-calculus, an extension of the simply typed lambda-calculus with guarded recursive and coinductive types. The use of guarded recursive types ensures the productivity of well-typed programs. Guarded recursive types may be transformed into coinductive types by a type-former inspired by modal logic and Atkey-McBride clock quantification, allowing the typing of acausal functions. We give a call-by-name operational semantics for the calculus, and define adequate denotational semantics in the topos of trees. The adequacy proof entails that the evaluation of a program always terminates. We demonstrate the expressiveness of the calculus by showing the definability of solutions to Rutten's behavioural differential equations. We introduce a program logic with Löb induction for reasoning about the contextual equivalence of programs.

cs.PL↗

arXiv2013

Proof search for propositional abstract separation logics via labelled sequents

Separation logics are a family of extensions of Hoare logic for reasoning about programs that mutate memory. These logics are "abstract" because they are independent of any particular concrete memory model. Their assertion languages, called propositional abstract separation logics, extend the logic of (Boolean) Bunched Implications (BBI) in various ways. We develop a modular proof theory for various propositional abstract separation logics using cut-free labelled sequent calculi. We first extend the cut-fee labelled sequent calculus for BBI of Hou et al to handle Calcagno et al's original logic of separation algebras by adding sound rules for partial-determinism and cancellativity, while preserving cut-elimination. We prove the completeness of our calculus via a sound intermediate calculus that enables us to construct counter-models from the failure to find a proof. We then capture other propositional abstract separation logics by adding sound rules for indivisible unit and disjointness, while maintaining completeness. We present a theorem prover based on our labelled calculus for these propositional abstract separation logics.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2013

Annotation-Free Sequent Calculi for Full Intuitionistic Linear Logic -- Extended Version

Full Intuitionistic Linear Logic (FILL) is multiplicative intuitionistic linear logic extended with par. Its proof theory has been notoriously difficult to get right, and existing sequent calculi all involve inference rules with complex annotations to guarantee soundness and cut-elimination. We give a simple and annotation-free display calculus for FILL which satisfies Belnap's generic cut-elimination theorem. To do so, our display calculus actually handles an extension of FILL, called Bi-Intuitionistic Linear Logic (BiILL), with an `exclusion' connective defined via an adjunction with par. We refine our display calculus for BiILL into a cut-free nested sequent calculus with deep inference in which the explicit structural rules of the display calculus become admissible. A separation property guarantees that proofs of FILL formulae in the deep inference calculus contain no trace of exclusion. Each such rule is sound for the semantics of FILL, thus our deep inference calculus and display calculus are conservative over FILL. The deep inference calculus also enjoys the subformula property and terminating backward proof search, which gives the NP-completeness of BiILL and FILL.

cs.LO↗

arXiv2011

Nominal Logic with Equations Only

Many formal systems, particularly in computer science, may be captured by equations modulated by side conditions asserting the "freshness of names"; these can be reasoned about with Nominal Equational Logic (NEL). Like most logics of this sort NEL employs this notion of freshness as a first class logical connective. However, this can become inconvenient when attempting to translate results from standard equational logic to the nominal setting. This paper presents proof rules for a logic whose only connectives are equations, which we call Nominal Equation-only Logic (NEoL). We prove that NEoL is just as expressive as NEL. We then give a simple description of equality in the empty NEoL-theory, then extend that result to describe freshness in the empty NEL-theory.

cs.LO↗