University of Cambridge

Logic
&
Semantics

A Unifying Theory and its Mechanisation

By Andrew Stevens (13th February 1998)

Recent work by C.A.R.Hoare and J.He has confirmed a widely held conjecture that all paradigms can be embedded in the single mathematical theory of relations. A general "unifying theory" has been found which projects into more particular instances corresponding a wide variety of computational paradigms. The key goal of this work has been to provide a framework to integrate the diverse formalisms and tools needed to extend formal methods to economically significant fractions of the design trajectory of critical systems.

In this talk I will present an introduction to the unifying theory and some of its projections and outline proposals for its realisation within conventional theorem provers based on higher-order-logic.

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