2019-02-01: James Wood (MSP)

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 16:51:42 +0000

James Wood (MSP)

Linear logic: how hard can it be?

Abstract

In the linear world, we are no longer allowed to freely discard or duplicate hypotheses and conclusions. This should mean that there are fewer possible strategies for proving a given proposition, making the task of proving things easier. However, we find that linear logic proof search is a surprisingly powerful model of computation. In this talk, I'll give an introduction to linear logic sequent calculus. I'll then go through a neat construction of [0] embedding quantified boolean formulae into linear logic without bangs, and sketch the proof from the same paper that linear logic with bangs is Turing-complete. Some content from CS106 may come in handy.

[0]: Lincoln, Mitchell, Scedrov, Shankar, 1992, "Decision problems for propositional linear logic"

2019-02-01 16:00:00 UTC
LT1310