We introduce a new presentation of the intersection type discipline in which typing judgments derive vectors of types rather than single types. The system uses binary relations to control the flow of information between coordinates of these vectors. We refer to this presentation as system R. The maximal length of type vectors assigned to variables serves as a reasonable notion of dimension for system R, which allows for a natural stratification into fragments of bounded dimension. The present system lies strictly between two known bounded-dimensional systems: the multiset-dimensional system, for which inhabitation is EXPSPACE-complete, and the set-dimensional system, for which inhabitation is undecidable. Our main result is that inhabitation in bounded system R is decidable in 2-EXPTIME, while for each fixed dimension, inhabitation is decidable in EXPTIME. This result is based on a subformula property restricting the inhabitant search space. Unlike in traditional intersection type systems, the proof of the subformula property requires careful treatment of the additional information flow management capabilities. Finally, we argue that system R and its stratification is a valid presentation of the intersection type discipline. First, by proving the subject reduction property for system R in each bounded dimension, and second, by establishing a correspondence with the classical intersection type system of Barendregt, Coppo, and Dezani-Ciancaglini.

Higher-order β-matching is the following decision problem: given two simply typed λ-terms, can the first term be instantiated to be β-equivalent to the second term? This problem was formulated by Huet in the 1970s and shown undecidable by Loader in 2003 by reduction from λ-definability. The present work provides a novel undecidability proof for higher-order β-matching, in an effort to verify this result by means of a proof assistant. Rather than starting from λ-definability, the presented proof encodes a restricted form of string rewriting as higher-order β-matching. The particular approach is similar to Urzyczyn’s undecidability result for intersection type inhabitation. The presented approach has several advantages. First, the proof is simpler to verify in full detail due to the simple form of rewriting systems, which serve as a starting point. Second, undecidability of the considered problem in string rewriting is already certified using the Coq proof assistant. As a consequence, we obtain a certified many-one reduction from the Halting Problem to higher-order β-matching. Third, the presented approach identifies a uniform construction which shows undecidability of higher-order β-matching, λ-definability, and intersection type inhabitation. The presented undecidability proof is mechanized in the Coq proof assistant and contributed to the existing Coq Library of Undecidability Proofs.

Semi-unification is the combination of first-order unification and first-order matching. The undecidability of semi-unification has been proven by Kfoury, Tiuryn, and Urzyczyn in the 1990s by Turing reduction from Turing machine immortality (existence of a diverging configuration). The particular Turing reduction is intricate, uses non-computational principles, and involves various intermediate models of computation. The present work gives a constructive many-one reduction from the Turing machine halting problem to semi-unification. This establishes RE-completeness of semi-unification under many-one reductions. Computability of the reduction function, constructivity of the argument, and correctness of the argument is witnessed by an axiom-free mechanization in the Coq proof assistant. Arguably, this serves as comprehensive, precise, and surveyable evidence for the result at hand. The mechanization is incorporated into the existing, well-maintained Coq library of undecidability proofs. Notably, a variant of Hooper's argument for the undecidability of Turing machine immortality is part of the mechanization.

The undecidability of both typability and type checking for System F (polymorphic lambda-calculus) was established by Wells in the 1990s. For type checking Wells gave an astonishingly simple reduction from semi-unification (first-order unification combined with first-order matching). For typability Wells developed an intricate calculus to control the shape of type assumptions across type derivations via term structure. This calculus of invariant type assumptions allows for a reduction from type checking to typability. Unfortunately, this approach relies on heavy machinery that complicates surveyability of the overall argument. The present work gives comparatively simple, direct reduction from semi-unification to System F typability. The key observation is as follows: in the existential setting of typability, it suffices to consider some specific (but not all, as for invariant type assumptions) type derivations. Additionally, the particular result requires only to consider closed types without nested quantification. The undecidability of type checking is obtained via a folklore reduction from typability. Profiting from its smaller footprint, correctness of the new approach is witnessed by a mechanization in the Coq proof assistant. The mechanization is incorporated into the existing Coq library of undecidability proofs. For free, the library provides constructive, mechanically verified many-one reductions from Turing machine halting to both System F typability and System F type checking.

We propose a notion of the Kripke-style model for intersection logic. Using a game interpretation, we prove soundness and completeness of the proposed semantics. In other words, a formula is provable (a type is inhabited) if and only if it is forced in every model. As a by-product, we obtain another proof of normalization for the Barendregt–Coppo–Dezani intersection type assignment system.

Semi-unification (unification combined with matching) has been proven undecidable by Kfoury, Tiuryn, and Urzyczyn in the 1990s. The original argument reduces Turing machine immortality via Turing machine boundedness to semi-unification. The latter part is technically most challenging, involving several intermediate models of computation. This work presents a novel, simpler reduction from Turing machine boundedness to semi-unification. In contrast to the original argument, we directly translate boundedness to solutions of semi-unification and vice versa. In addition, the reduction is mechanized in the Coq proof assistant, relying on a mechanization-friendly stack machine model that corresponds to space-bounded Turing machines. Taking advantage of the simpler proof, the mechanization is comparatively short and fully constructive.

We revisit the undecidability result of rank 3 intersection type inhabitation (Urzyczyn 2009) in pursuit of two goals. First, we simplify the existing proof, reducing simple semi-Thue systems to intersection type inhabitation in the original Coppo-Dezani type assignment system. Additionally, we out line a direct reduction from the Turing machine halting problem to intersection type inhabitation. Second, we formalize soundness and completeness of the reduction in the Coq proof assistant under the banner of “type theory inside type theory”.

We develop an algebraic and algorithmic theory of principality for the recently introduced framework of intersection type calculi with dimensional bound. The theory enables inference of principal type information under dimensional bound, it provides an algebraic and algorithmic theory of approximation of classical principal types in terms of computable bases of abstract vector spaces (more precisely, semimodules), and it shows a systematic connection of dimensional calculi to the theory of approximants. Finite, computable bases are shown to span standard principal typings of a given term for sufficiently high dimension, thereby providing an approximation to standard principality by type inference, and capturing it precisely for sufficiently large dimensional parameter. Subsidiary results include decidability of principal inhabitation for intersection types (given a type does there exist a normal form for which the type is principal?). Remarkably, combining bounded type inference with principal inhabitation allows us to compute approximate normal forms of arbitrary terms without using beta-reduction.

We present a method for synthesizing compositions of mixins using type inhabitation in intersection types. First, recursively defined classes and mixins, which are functions over classes, are expressed as terms in a lambda calculus with records. Intersection types with records and record-merge are used to assign meaningful types to these terms without resorting to recursive types. Second, typed terms are translated to a repository of typed combinators. We show a relation between record types with record-merge and intersection types with constructors. This relation is used to prove soundness and partial completeness of the translation with respect to mixin composition synthesis. Furthermore, we demonstrate how a translated repository and goal type can be used as input to an existing framework for composition synthesis in bounded combinatory logic via type inhabitation. The computed result is a class typed by the goal type and generated by a mixin composition applied to an existing class.

Recently (authors, POPL 2017), a notion of dimensionality for intersection types was introduced, and it was shown that the bounded-dimensional inhabitation problem is decidable under a non-idempotent interpretation of intersection and undecidable in the standard set-theoretic model. In this paper we study the typability problem for bounded-dimensional intersection types and prove that the problem is decidable in both models. We establish a number of bounding principles depending on dimension. In particular, it is shown that dimensional bound on derivations gives rise to a bounded width property on types, which is related to a generalized subformula property for typings of arbitrary terms. Using the bounded width property we can construct a nondeterministic transformation of the typability problem to unification, and we prove that typability in the set-theoretic model is PSPACE-complete, whereas it is in NP in the multiset model.

A notion of dimension in intersection typed λ-calculi is presented. The dimension of a typed λ-term is given by the minimal norm of an elaboration (a proof theoretic decoration) necessary for typing the term at its type, and, intuitively, measures intersection introduction as a resource.