Exponentially Handsome Proof Nets and Their Normalization

Handsome proof nets were introduced by Retoré as a syntax for multiplicative linear logic. These proof nets are defined by means of cographs (graphs representing formulas) equipped with a vertices partition satisfying simple topological conditions. In this paper we extend this syntax to multiplicative linear logic with units and exponentials. For this purpose we develop a new sound and complete sequent system for the logic, enforcing a stronger notion of proof equivalence with respect to the one usually considered in the literature. We then define combinatorial proofs, a graphical proof system able to capture syntactically the proof equivalence, for the cut-free fragment of the calculus. We conclude the paper by defining the exponentially handsome proof nets as combinatorial proofs with cuts and defining an internal normalization procedure for this syntax.