A Machine Checked Model of Idempotent MGU Axioms For Lists of Equational Constraints

Sunil Kothari
(University of Wyoming)
James Caldwell
(University of Wyoming)

We present formalized proofs verifying that the first-order unification algorithm defined over lists of satisfiable constraints generates a most general unifier (MGU), which also happens to be idempotent. All of our proofs have been formalized in the Coq theorem prover. Our proofs show that finite maps produced by the unification algorithm provide a model of the axioms characterizing idempotent MGUs of lists of constraints. The axioms that serve as the basis for our verification are derived from a standard set by extending them to lists of constraints. For us, constraints are equalities between terms in the language of simple types. Substitutions are formally modeled as finite maps using the Coq library Coq.FSets.FMapInterface. Coq's method of functional induction is the main proof technique used in proving many of the axioms.

In Maribel Fernandez: Proceedings 24th International Workshop on Unification (UNIF 2010), Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 14th July 2010, Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science 42, pp. 24–38.
Published: 21st December 2010.

ArXived at: https://dx.doi.org/10.4204/EPTCS.42.3 bibtex PDF

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