Related papers: Universal Semantics for the Stochastic Lambda-Calc…
Probabilistic operational semantics for a nondeterministic extension of pure lambda calculus is studied. In this semantics, a term evaluates to a (finite or infinite) distribution of values. Small-step and big-step semantics are both…
We extend the {\lambda}-calculus with constructs suitable for relational and functional-logic programming: non-deterministic choice, fresh variable introduction, and unification of expressions. In order to be able to unify…
Finding a denotational semantics for higher order quantum computation is a long-standing problem in the semantics of quantum programming languages. Most past approaches to this problem fell short in one way or another, either limiting the…
We introduce a language for formally reasoning about programs that combine differential constructs with probabilistic ones. The language harbours, for example, such systems as adaptive cruise controllers, continuous-time random walks, and…
Operational semantics have been enormously successful, in large part due to its flexibility and simplicity, but they are not compositional. Denotational semantics, on the other hand, are compositional but the lattice-theoretic models are…
In the lambda calculus a term is solvable iff it is operationally relevant. Solvable terms are a superset of the terms that convert to a final result called normal form. Unsolvable terms are operationally irrelevant and can be equated…
The focus of these lecture notes is on abstract models and basic ideas and results that relate to the operational semantics of programming languages largely conceived. The approach is to start with an abstract description of the computation…
The Functional Machine Calculus (FMC), recently introduced by the authors, is a generalization of the lambda-calculus which may faithfully encode the effects of higher-order mutable store, I/O and probabilistic/non-deterministic input.…
Describing systems in terms of choices and their resulting costs and rewards offers the promise of freeing algorithm designers and programmers from specifying how those choices should be made; in implementations, the choices can be realized…
We study the semantic foundation of expressive probabilistic programming languages, that support higher-order functions, continuous distributions, and soft constraints (such as Anglican, Church, and Venture). We define a metalanguage (an…
In a recent paper, a realizability technique has been used to give a semantics of a quantum lambda calculus. Such a technique gives rise to an infinite number of valid typing rules, without giving preference to any subset of those. In this…
The $\lambda$-superposition calculus is a successful approach to proving higher-order formulas. However, some parts of the calculus are extremely explosive, notably due to the higher-order unifier enumeration and the functional…
Many different systems with explicit substitutions have been proposed to implement a large class of higher-order languages. Motivations and challenges that guided the development of such calculi in functional frameworks are surveyed in the…
This text gives a rough, but linear summary covering some key definitions, notations, and propositions from Lambda Calculus: Its Syntax and Semantics, the classical monograph by Barendregt. First, we define a theory of untyped extensional…
In Apt and Bezem [AB99] (see cs.LO/9811017) we provided a computational interpretation of first-order formulas over arbitrary interpretations. Here we complement this work by introducing a denotational semantics for first-order logic.…
We develop the operational semantics of an untyped probabilistic lambda-calculus with continuous distributions, as a foundation for universal probabilistic programming languages such as Church, Anglican, and Venture. Our first contribution…
The Functional Machine Calculus (FMC) was recently introduced as a generalization of the lambda-calculus to include higher-order global state, probabilistic and non-deterministic choice, and input and output, while retaining confluence. The…
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…
In compositional model-theoretic semantics, researchers assemble truth-conditions or other kinds of denotations using the lambda calculus. It was previously observed that the lambda terms and/or the denotations studied tend to follow the…
We show that lambda calculus is a computation model which can step by step simulate any sequential deterministic algorithm for any computable function over integers or words or any datatype. More formally, given an algorithm above a family…