Iowa Type Theory Commute

Aaron Stump

Aaron Stump talks about type theory, computational logic, and related topics in Computer Science on his short commute.

  1. 7 de maig

    A Strange Deal, Explained

    I explain the story from last episode.

    8 min

  2. 1 de maig

    A Strange Deal

    The Curry-Howard isomorphism for the law of excluded middle, as a radio drama.  I first saw a version of this story performed by Phil Wadler and Frank Pfenning (wearing fake horns!) at RTA in Nara, Japan in 2005.  This is my take on it.  In a subsequent episode, I will explain how the story illustrates the computational interpretation of the law of excluded middle.

    3 min

  3. 20 d’abr.

    Great paper: The Calculated Typer

    I discuss a nice paper I quite enjoyed reading, called The Calculated Typer, by Garby, Bahr, and Hutton.  The authors take a very nice general look at the specification of a type checker, for a very simple expression language.  They then manually derive the actual code for the type checker by effectively trying to prove that this as yet unknown code satisfies its spec.  (This is what is meant by calculating the type checker.)

    24 min

  4. 2 d’abr.

    Double-negation translations and CPS conversion, part 2

    In this episode, I talk about the control operator callcc, and how it is implemented during compilation using continuation-passing style (CPS).  I sketch how CPS conversion (transforming a program with callcc into one in CPS that does not need callcc any more) corresponds to double-negation translation from classical to intuitionistic logic.  The paper I am referencing is here.

    14 min

  5. 31 de març

    Double-negation translations and CPS conversion, part 1

    In this episode, I talk about a somewhat more advanced case of the Curry-Howard isomorphism (the connection between logic and programming languages where formulas in logic are identified with types, and proofs with programs).  This is the identification of double-negation translations in logic, which go back to a paper of Kolmogorov's in 1925, with conversion to continuation-passing style (CPS), a compilation technique.  For this episode, we just discuss the idea of double-negation translation: classical theorems can be translated to intuitionistic ones, by adding some double negations.  As an example, we talk through the intuitionistic proof of the double negation of the law of excluded middle: not not (p or not p).

    14 min

  6. 3 de març

    What are commuting conversions in proof theory?

    Commuting conversions are transformations on proofs in natural deduction, that move certain stuck inferences out of the way, so that the normal detour reductions (which correspond to beta-reduction under Curry-Howard) are enabled.  The stuck inferences are uses of disjunction elimination.  In programming terms, if you have an if-then-else (a simple case of or-elimination) where the then- and else-branches are lambda abstractions, and you apply that if-then-else to an argument, you need commuting conversions to move the argument into the branches, so you can call the functions (in the then- and else-branches) with it. See Section 10.1 of Girard's Proofs and Types for more on the problem, and a nice paper by de Groote on strong normalization with commuting conversions.

    22 min

  7. 16 de gen.

    What is Control Flow Analysis for Lambda Calculus?

    I am currently on a frolic into the literature on Control Flow Analysis (CFA), and discuss what this is, for pure lambda calculus.  A wonderful reference for this is this paper by Palsberg.

    19 min

  8. 14/11/2025

    Measure Functions and Termination of STLC

    In this episode, I talk about what we should consider to be a measure function.  Such functions can be used to show termination of some process or program, by assigning a measure to each program, and showing that as the program computes, the measure decreases in some well-founded ordering.  But what should count as a measure function?  The context for this is RTA Open Problem 19, on showing termination for the simply typed lambda calculus using a measure function. Let's call this the start of season 7, because it seems about time for that.

    22 min
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Informació

Aaron Stump talks about type theory, computational logic, and related topics in Computer Science on his short commute.

Fitxa tècnica

  • Creació
    Aaron Stump
  • Anys en actiu
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodis
    186
  • Qualificació
    Apte
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Iowa Type Theory Commute
  • Lloc web del programa
    Iowa Type Theory Commute

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