Questions tagged [semantics]
The semantics tag has no usage guidance.
83 questions
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Validity of Derived Input Bounds for Composed Sigmoid Functions in Neural Networks
I'm working on inferring preconditions in neural networks. For simplicity, I'm using scalar variables (instead of vectors/matrices) to understand the core problem.
Problem:
Given a simple feed-forward ...
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Abstract domain monad
I was reading old lecture from a CS course at Cornel and I have some doubts about the following at 2.4
It defines how to transform domains between each other via a Galois Insertion, more formally:
...
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Is there such a thing as "transformational semantics"?
The Wikipedia article about programming language semantics distinguishes three major approaches to semantics: denotational, operational, and axiomatic.
What is the approach called when the meaning of ...
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Operational semantics and denotational semantics and describing the behaviour and structure of programs
I was under the impression that operational semantics describes the behaviour of a program (so it includes the implementation details / the implementation matters), whereas denotational semantics ...
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Do game semantics for logic have Curry-Howard-like correspondence with game semantics for programming languages?
Both for logic and PLs do have notion of game semantics. Both are defined by two-player dialogue game, but players are different. In first case it is game between Verifyer and Falsifyer and in second ...
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Formal semantics of a simple object oriented language without inheritance but with self-referential objects
Would you please point me to some papers or textbooks that describe rigorously a formal semantics/computational model of a simple object-oriented language? The language needs not accommodate ...
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Equivalence of finitary and infinitary semantics of concurrent programs
The following claim is stated on p. 155 of Manna and Pnueli's The Temporal Logic of Reactive and Concurrent Systems: Specification.
Let $P_1$ and $P_2$ be two finitely branching transition systems ...
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76
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Proper terminology for input, parameter or variable fixing. Refinement? Projection? Fixation? Partial valuation?
I contemplate writing a paper on automating fixing some inputs/parameters to specific values in a kind of workflow/pipeline definition language/system and looking for best terminology.
English is not ...
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Does ${\bf CPO}$ have $\omega$-colimits?
Does the category ${\bf CPO}$ have $\omega$-colimits? By ${\bf CPO}$ I mean the category that has as objects the $\omega$-complete pointed partial orders and as arrows $\omega$-continuous functions.
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Terminal object in the category of embeddings
Let ${\bf CPO}$ be the category of $\omega$-complete partial orders and $\omega$-continuous functions. Let ${\bf CPO}^{E}$ be the category of embeddings of ${\bf CPO}$. Does ${\bf CPO}^{E}$ have a ...
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"Operations" in category theory that are not defined for arrows
Functors in category theory are defined for both objects and arrows. Depending on how they treat arrows, functors are characterized as either covariant or contravariant. Some "operations" ...
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Are there logical devices similar to "existential variables" or "blank nodes" of Semantic Web?
In Semantic Web, alongside permanent names of things also "temporary names" named "existential variables" or "blank nodes" denoted as "_:label" are used. All ...
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273
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Semantics of logic/relational programming languages
I'm working on some vague ideas about a logic/relational programming language based on the linear lambda calculus and having trouble coming up with some appropriate semantics.
If anything the language ...
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Are the non-lazy / non-weak semantics of the $\lambda$-calculus related to weak evaluation?
Vague question
The most common semantics of the call-by-name $\lambda$-calculus (Hyland/Wadsworth’s observational equivalence $\approx_\text{HNF}$ and Morris’s observational equivalence $\approx_\text{...
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Halting problem for finitary PCF
Is the halting problem decidable for finitary PCF? By "halting problem" I mean the problem of deciding whether a closed PCF term evaluates to bottom under the denotational semantics of PCF. ...
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587
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What's the categorical semantics of definitional equality?
The categorical semantics of a dependent type theory is normally described as a CwA/CwF/CompCat/etc. and in these models, we can talk about propositional equality by interpreting an 'identity type'. ...
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syntax and semantics for transfinite algorithms
Let's say I wanted to informally describe a very simple algorithm for searching through an (undirected) finite connected graph $G = (V,E)$. I could define, for each natural number $n$, a set $S_n$ and ...
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Density of semantics in syntax
Let $L$ be a programming language, and $\cong$ a notion of equality of $L$-programs (in general $\cong$ will be undecidable). Let $syntax(n)$ be the number of $L$-programs of size $n$ (for some ...
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What relations and differences are between formal semantics for linguistics and for programming languages?
I browsed the table of content of Cann's Formal Semantics, which reminds me of the things that I saw in programming language books.
Cann's book is for linguistics, and am I right that it is helpful ...
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Al-Mubaid's Similarity Measure for Ontological Concepts
Al-Mubaid et al. proposed a semantic similarity measure in their research paper [1]. They see ontologies as connected graphs but refer to clusters within ontology graphs without ever defining what ...
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Origin of simulation relations for compiler correctness
Leroy uses simulation relations as a means of showing compiler correctness; the basic idea is that a simulation relation is an asymmetric binary relation between states in two different small step ...
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Is there an official/academic name for the "current value" in a loop? [closed]
This is a question about semantics/vocabulary. I don't like saying "the current value you are looping over/on". I'm wondering if there is a better term.
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Semantic read-back of sharing graphs
A "sharing graph" is a representation of a $\lambda$-term that modifies an abstract syntax tree by adding edges connecting each variable use to the place where that variable is bound. They are used ...
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Can Non-termination be considered an algebraic effect?
Non-termination is sometimes considered an effect. I have been reading about algebraic effect systems (What is algebraic about algebraic effects and handlers?), and I suspect non-termination (like ...
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Is there a notion of "inevitable reduction?"
I was just working on a semantics paper and realized I needed a notion of inevitable reduction. I came up with this definition:
Let $\rightarrow$ be a binary relation. We say that $a$ inevitably ...
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Formal semantics of tactics
Tactics are supposed to represent inference rules in a system, and it might seem unnecessary at first to formalize the semantics of tactics; nevertheless, modern theorem provers can have pretty ...
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What does the category of RDF models look like in Institution Theory?
The Question in short
Here is the question in its pure form. Details of my reasoning can be found below.
The RDF1.1 spec semantics defines a model to consist of a set IR of objects and IP of ...
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Difference between syntax and semantic error in programming languages
When compilers generate errors for a specific programming language, there's distinction between syntax & semantic errors. E.g. ) + f 3 has ill-formed syntax, ...
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What is a 'free model'?
I was reading this paper on effect handlers and got hung up on the phrase 'free model'.
In context:
[...] From an algebraic point of view, the $x_e$ provide a model for the theory of ...
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Has the semantics of TeX (as a programming language) ever been formalized?
It seems to me that the macro language employed by $\TeX$ can maybe be seen as some kind of term rewriting system or some kind of programming language with call-by-name scoping.
Even modern ...
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Which computational models support bigotous programs?
A bigotous program is a program which decides if its input is semantically equivalent to itself. Of course, this is impossible in a Turing complete language due to Rice's theorem.
In fact, its pretty ...
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Why is the multi-step reduction of semantics reflexive?
I was reading Programming Languages and Lambda Calculi, which defines the multi-step reduction to be the reflexive-transitive closure of the one-step reduction. (Page 15, $\twoheadrightarrow_r$ is the ...
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Applications of the monoidal closed structure in LTL?
A simple model of temporal logic is via time-indexed truth
functions. This lets us model the Boolean connectives, as well as the
next-step operator and modal always operator:
$$
\begin{array}{lclll}
...
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Is there is an intuitive explanation why call-by-name PCF is less expressive than both call-by-value PCF and lazy PCF?
J.C. Mitchell cites in his "Expressive power of programming languages" the result in Riecke's "Fully abstract translations between functional languages" about the call-by-value, call-by-name and lazy ...
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Standard reference for basic model theory definitions
I am trying to give a formal presentation of the model-theoretical semantics of a language and I am a bit lost in the terminology. In particular, could somebody clarify the exact definitions of model-...
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Observational Equivalence of open terms in PCF
The notion of observational equivalence is rather intuitive, but formally I'm having some doubts in the particular case of open terms.
Lets consider the simple case where the terms ...
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In what fields does a knowledge of formal semantics prove useful?
(If this is better for programmers SE, let me know, but I imagined you guys would have more thorough answers)
I'm a mathematics major, but I have a pretty deep interest in CS (especially in compiler ...
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Precise definition of syntatic categories / syntatic domains in abstract syntax
I have read the introductory parts of a couple of books on programming language semantics (Gordon, Winskel, Nielson & Nielson, Allison, Stump, Schmidt), and while I do understand what they mean by ...
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How to specify and verify Horn clauses (logic programming programs)? Semantics of Horn clauses
There are lot of applications of Horn clauses (notable examples include use of rules in cognitive architectures and knowledge bases, as well as use of rules in business rules programs). Are there ...
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What's the difference between reduction strategies and evaluation strategies?
From the evaluation strategy article on Wikipedia:
The notion of reduction strategy in lambda calculus is similar but distinct.
From the reduction strategy article on Wikipedia:
It is similar ...
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How do we contribute to the lexicon of computer science?
What's the best way to contribute to the lexicon of computer science? There is an obvious organic nature to the naming of things in most sciences. The name of the discoverer is inherited or bestowed, ...
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What is the relation/difference between axiomatic and denotational semantics one one side, and the data flow analysis(DFA) on the other sied?
I am supposed to write a small paper about DFA in OOP for a CS class in theory. But I am required to connect that (DFA) to axiomatic and denotational semantics!
I read few resources about axiomatic/...
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Name a set of program variables
I am interested in the set of the variables that satisfy the following properties. I would like to find a proper name for them.
We assume that a program $\phi$ has a set of variables $v_0, \ldots, ...
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Categorical semantics for non-monotonic logics?
Are there any categorical semantics for non-monotonic logics?
It appears that the simple answer to this is "No" since the obvious notion of composition fails for any model of a non-monotonic logic. ...
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What requirements should a denotational semantics for a programming language satisfy to be correct?
We have a programming language and its denotational semantic,
like Tony Hoare's CSP with its syntax and denotational semantic
e.g. stable failure and UTP.
We want to extend the language (its ...
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How can I prove formally semantic equivalence of programming languages?
I would like to compare two languages which are from different programming paradigms. Both languages are object oriented languages, but one of them a multiparadigm language because it supports ...
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Program Minimization
Circuit Minimization is the problem to minimize the size of a given circuit. Is there anything similar for general programs?
In particular my question is -
Do there exist algorithms to minimize the ...
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Tool for specifying operational semantics for given formally specified programming language
I am trying to translate code from one programming language into another (to be specific - from RuleML to Drools, but other pairs can be expected as well) and it would be nice to know - whether there ...
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What exactly does "semantically observable" side-effect mean?
I have question regarding pure functions. According to the Wikipedia page one of the requisites for a pure function is :
Evaluation of the result does not cause any semantically observable side ...
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Difference between abstract machines and calculi
So, first of all: I'm not sure how to tag this question. Feel free to tag it differently.
I recently started reading up on CHAMs, which can express different process calculi. Slightly confused, I go ...
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