The first-order theory of rewriting is decidable for linear variable-separated rewrite systems. We present a new decision procedure which is the basis of FORT, a decision and synthesis tool for properties expressible in the theory. The decision procedure is based on tree automata techniques and verified in Isabelle. Several extensions make the theory more expressive and FORT more versatile. We present a certificate language that enables the output of FORT to be certified by the certifier FORTify generated from the formalization, and we provide extensive experiments.

The first-order theory of rewriting is a decidable theory for finite left-linear right-ground rewrite systems, implemented in FORT. We present a formally verified variant of the decision procedure for the class of linear variable-separated rewrite systems. This variant supports a more expressive theory and is based on the concept of anchored ground tree transducers. The correctness of the decision procedure is verified by a formalization in Isabelle/HOL on top of the Isabelle Formalization of Rewriting (IsaFoR).

Abstract The first-order theory of rewriting is a decidable theory for linear variable-separated rewrite systems. The decision procedure is based on tree automata techniques and recently we completed a formalization in the Isabelle proof assistant. In this paper we present a certificate language that enables the output of software tools implementing the decision procedure to be formally verified. To show the feasibility of this approach, we present , a reincarnation of the decision tool with certifiable output, and the formally verified certifier .

Abstract We present a formalized proof of the regularity of the infinity predicate on ground terms. This predicate plays an important role in the first-order theory of rewriting because it allows to express the termination property. The paper also contains a formalized proof of a direct tree automaton construction of the normal form predicate, due to Comon.

Term rewriting in the presence of associative and commutative function symbols constitutes a highly expressive model of computation, which is for example well suited to reason about parallel computations. However, it is well known that the standard notion of termination does not apply any more: any term rewrite system containing a commutativity rule is nonterminating. Thus, instead of adding AC-rules to a rewrite system, we switch to the notion of AC-termination. AC-termination can for example be shown using AC-compatible reduction orders. One specific example of such an order is ACKBO. We present our Isabelle/HOL formalization of the ACKBO order. On an abstract level this gives us a mechanized proof of the fact that ACKBO is indeed an AC-compatible reduction order. Moreover, we integrated corresponding check functions into the verified certifier CeTA. This has the more practical consequence of enabling the machine certification of AC-termination proofs generated by automated termination tools.