On coherence in computer algebra | SpringerLink
Skip to main content

On coherence in computer algebra

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Design and Implementation of Symbolic Computation Systems (DISCO 1993)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 722))

  • 223 Accesses

Abstract

Modern computer algebra systems (e. g. AXIOM) support a rich type system including parameterized data types and the possibility of implicit coercions between types. In such a type system it will be frequently the case that there are different ways of building coercions between types. An important requirement is that all coercions between two types coincide, a property which is called coherence.

We will prove a coherence theorem for a formal type system having several possibilities of coercions covering many important examples. Moreover, we will give some informal reasoning why the formally defined restrictions can be satisfied by an actual system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Association for Computing Machinery. Proceedings of the 1992 ACM Conference on Lisp and Functional Programming, San Francisco, CA, June 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  2. H. P. Barendregt. The Lambda Calculus — Its Syntax and Semantics, volume 103 of Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics. North-Holland, Amsterdam, second edition, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  3. V. Breazu-Tannen, T. Coquand, C. A. Gunter, and A. Scedrov. Inheritance as implicit coercion. Information and Computation, 93(1):172–222, July 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. R. Bündgen. Reduce the redex → ReDuX. In C. Kirchner, editor, Fifth International Conference on Rewriting Techniques and Applications (RTA '93), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Montréal, Canada, June 1993. Springer-Verlag. To appear.

    Google Scholar 

  5. L. Cardelli. A semantics of multiple inheritance. Information and Computation, 76:138–164, 1988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. K. Chen, P. Hudak, and M. Odersky. Parametric type classes. In LFP '92 [1], pages 170–181.

    Google Scholar 

  7. H. Comon, D. Lugiez, and P. Schnoebelen. A rewrite-based type discipline for a subset of computer algebra. Journal of Symbolic Computation, 11:349–368, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  8. A. Fortenbacher. Efficient type inference and coercion in computer algebra. In A. Miola, editor, Design and Implementation of Symbolic Computation Systems (DISCO '90), volume 429 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 56–60, Capri, Italy, Apr. 1990. Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Y.-C. Fuh and P. Mishra. Type inference with subtypes. Theoretical Computer Science, 73:155–175, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. J. A. Goguen and J. Meseguer. Order-sorted algebra I: Equational deduction for multiple inheritance, polymorphism, and partial operations. Theoretical Computer Science, 105(2):217–273, Nov. 1992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. P. Hudak, S. Peyton Jones, P. Wadler, et al. Report on the programming language Haskell — a non-strict, purely functional language, version 1.2. ACM SIGPLAN Notices, 27(5), May 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  12. R. D. Jenks and R. S. Sutor. AXIOM: The Scientific Computation System. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  13. S. Kaes. Type inference in the presence of overloading, subtyping, and recursive types. In LFP '92 [1], pages 193–205.

    Google Scholar 

  14. S. Mac Lane. Categories for the Working Mathematician, volume 5 of Graduate Texts in Mathematics. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  15. J. C. Mitchell. Type inference with simple subtypes. Journal of Functional Programming, 1(3):245–285, July 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  16. D. L. Rector. Semantics in algebraic computation. In E. Kaltofen and S. M. Watt, editors, Computers and Mathematics, pages 299–307, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 1989. Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  17. J. C. Reynolds. Using category theory to design implicit conversions and generic operators. In N. D. Jones, editor, Semantics-Directed Compiler Generation, Workshop, volume 94 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 211–258, Aarhus, Denmark, Jan. 1980. Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  18. J. C. Reynolds. The coherence of languages with intersection types. In T. Ito and A. R. Meyer, editors, Theoretical Aspects of Computer Software — International Conference TACS '91, volume 526 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 675–700, Sendai, Japan, Sept. 1991. Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  19. G. Smolka, W. Nutt, J. A. Goguen, and J. Meseguer. Order-sorted equational computation. In H. AÏt-Kaci and M. Nivat, editors, Resolution of Equations in Algebraic Structures, Volume 2, chapter 10, pages 297–367. Academic Press, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  20. U. Waldmann. Semantics of order-sorted specifications. Theoretical Computer Science, 94(1):1–35, Mar. 1992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Alfonso Miola

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Weber, A. (1993). On coherence in computer algebra. In: Miola, A. (eds) Design and Implementation of Symbolic Computation Systems. DISCO 1993. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 722. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0013171

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0013171

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-57235-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47985-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics