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16 votes
2 answers
3k views

Why is there no product type in simply typed lambda-calculus?

$\DeclareMathOperator\Pair{Pair}\DeclareMathOperator\First{First}\DeclareMathOperator\Second{Second}\DeclareMathOperator\Left{Left}\DeclareMathOperator\Right{Right}\DeclareMathOperator\Choice{Choice}$...
4 votes
0 answers
95 views

$\omega$ incompleteness of $\lambda$ calculus

In Plotkin's 'The $\lambda$-Calculus is $\omega$-Incomplete' (The Journal of Symbolic Logic Vol. 39, No. 2 (Jun., 1974), pp. 313-317), an example is given of two (untyped) $\lambda$-terms $M$ and $N$ ...
7 votes
0 answers
181 views

CCCs, computational calculi and point-surjectivity

The models of some computational calculi are in a correspondence with Cartesian Closed Categories with an object $U$ that has some relationship to its exponential object $U^U$ e.g. a retraction ...
20 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is Chemlambda? In which ways could it be interesting for a mathematician?

I${}^{*}$ have randomly come across a couple of websites (Chemlambda project, chorasimilarity) that seem to be about a certain "thing" (a computer program, I think) called Chemlambda that does "stuff" ...
3 votes
0 answers
264 views

Upward confluence in the interaction calculus

The lambda calculus is not upward confluent, counterexamples being known for a long time. Now, what about the interaction calculus? Specifically, I am looking for configurations $c_1$ and $c_2$ such ...
23 votes
1 answer
1k views

What, mathematically speaking, does it mean to say that the continuation monad can simulate all monads?

In various places it is stated that the continuation monad can simulate all monads in some sense (see for example http://lambda1.jimpryor.net/manipulating_trees_with_monads/)) In particular, in http://...
3 votes
1 answer
404 views

Is there an easy decision algorithm for the inhabitation problem for simple types?

Consider the basic system of simple types usually known as $TA_\lambda$. One can prove that (as a consequence of the Subject Reduction Property and the fact that any typable term is strongly $\beta$-...
1 vote
0 answers
137 views

Optimal reduction using token-passing nets

I am looking for implementation of optimal reduction for λ-calculus based on interaction nets (McCarthy's amb allowed) in the spirit of "Token-Passing Nets: Call-by-Need for Free" by François-Régis ...
17 votes
3 answers
3k views

What is the history of the Y-combinator?

Inspired by the comments to this question, I wonder if someone can explain the history of the fixed point combinator (often called the Y combinator) in lambda calculus. Where did it first appear? ...
2 votes
2 answers
181 views

Background for Kierstead terms

I was looking at some slides of John Longley's here, where he mentions "the Kierstead functional" $$\lambda f.f(\lambda x.f(\lambda y.x)) \ ,$$ (where $f$ should be of type $2$, and $x,y$ of ground ...
4 votes
1 answer
278 views

internal language for the 2-category of small categories

What is the internal language of the category Cat of small categories? I found an article by Glynn Winskel and his student Mario Jose Cáccamo about such calculus! However it is limited to a fragment ...
1 vote
1 answer
169 views

Interaction-based approximation for HP-complete λ-theory?

We are looking for a proof or counter-examples for the following hypothesis. Two combinators $M$ and $N$ are solvable and equivalent in the HP-complete sensible $\lambda$-theory iff either $$ \exists ...
1 vote
1 answer
223 views

Hypothesis: interaction-based model for λKβη

We are looking for a proof or counter-examples to the following Hypothesis. In interaction calculus $\langle \varnothing\ |\ \Gamma(M, x) \cup \Gamma(N, x)\rangle \downarrow \langle \varnothing\ |\ ...
1 vote
0 answers
111 views

Schönhage's SMM with only one instruction

It is possible to implement $\lambda$-calculus in Schönhage's storage modification machine using an infinite set of nodes and one single program consisted exclusively of (about hundred) instructions ...
3 votes
2 answers
790 views

Turing-complete primitive blind automata

Let $N$ be the set of natural numbers, $S$ be the set of finite binary sequences, and $Q = [N \rightarrow N] \times [N \rightarrow N],$ where $[N \rightarrow N]$ is the set of all computable ...
2 votes
1 answer
286 views

Universality of blind graph rewriting

Let us consider $S(M) = \{(f_0, f_1) | f_0, f_1: M \rightarrow M\}$, where $M$ is a finite set. Each element of $S(M)$ is equivalent to a finite directed graph with the set of nodes $M$, which has ...
3 votes
0 answers
266 views

Is it possible to implement η-reduction in interaction nets?

There are several ways to encode λ-terms in interaction nets; for instance, using the original optimal algorithm by Lamping, or compiling λ-calculus into interaction combinators. However, all the ...
4 votes
1 answer
967 views

Algebraic structure generated by primitive graph operations

Let $M$ be a finite set, and $S(M) = \{(f_0, f_1) | f_0, f_1: M → M\}$. Each element of $S(M)$ can be considered as a finite directed graph with the set of nodes $M$, which has exactly two arrows ...
7 votes
1 answer
531 views

Are innermost reductions perpetual in untyped $\lambda$-calculus?

Background In the untyped lambda calculus, a term may contain many redexes, and different choices about which one to reduce may produce wildly different results (e.g. $(\lambda x.y)((\lambda x.xx)\...