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Evan Cavallo
dblp:213/7511
· DBLP profile ↗
9ranked-venue papers
5as first author
6since 2021 · last 2026
0000-0001-8174-7496ORCID · verified
Domains — the database's venue-derived domains; a paper can count in several
Theory of computation · 7 · 4 first-author · 5 since 2021Software engineering, systems software and programming languages · 2 · 1 first-author · 1 since 2021
| Year | Publication | Venue | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Eliminating Reversals from Cubical Type TheoriesabstractCubical type theories are designed around an abstract unit interval from which types of paths, used to represent equalities, are defined. Varying the operations available on this interval yields different type theories. A reversal is an involutive operator on the interval that swaps its two endpoints. We show that for cubical type theories with self-dual interval theories, such as the minimal theory of two endpoints or the theory of a bounded distributive lattice, the extension of the theory with a reversal that internalizes the duality is a conservative extension. The key tool is a "twist construction": the product of an interval and its dual is again an interval with a reversal given by swapping coordinates. Our conservativity result applies to "opaque" cubical type theories, without strict equations reducing the filling operator at concrete type formers or eliminators from higher inductive types at path constructors. Using the same twist construction, we also construct models of strict cubical type theory with reversals in categories of cubical sets without reversals. We thereby give the first model of a theory with reversals whose homotopy theory corresponds to that of topological spaces. Evan Cavallo, Christian Sattler |
LICS | 1 |
| 2026 | Automating Boundary Filling in Cubical Type TheoriesabstractWhen working in a proof assistant, automation is key to discharging routine proof goals such as equations between algebraic expressions. Homotopy type theory allows the user to reason about higher structures, such as topological spaces, using higher inductive types (HITs) and univalence. Cubical type theory provides computational support for HITs and univalence. A difficulty when working in cubical type theory is dealing with the complex combinatorics of higher structures, an infinite-dimensional generalisation of equational reasoning. To solve these higher-dimensional equations consists in constructing cubes with specified boundaries. We develop a simplified cubical language in which we isolate and study two automation problems: contortion solving, where we attempt to "contort" a cube to fit a given boundary, and the more general Kan solving, where we search for solutions that involve pasting multiple cubes together. Both problems are difficult in the general case-Kan solving is even undecidable-so we focus on heuristics that perform well on practical examples. Our language encompasses different variations of cubical type theory which differ in their "contortion theory", i.e., the class of contortions they support. We provide a solver for the contortion problem for the most complex contortion theories currently being researched, the Dedekind and De Morgan contortions, by utilizing a reformulation of contortions in terms of poset maps. We solve Kan problems using constraint satisfaction programming, which is applicable independently of the underlying contortion theory. We have implemented our algorithms in an experimental Haskell solver that can be used to automatically solve many goals a user of cubical type theory might face. We illustrate this with a case study establishing the Eckmann-Hilton theorem using our solver, as well as various benchmarks. Maximilian Doré, Evan Cavallo, Anders Mörtberg |
Log. Methods Comput. Sci. | 2 |
| 2024 | Automating Boundary Filling in Cubical AgdaabstractHomotopy type theory is a logical setting based on Martin-Löf type theory in which one can perform geometric constructions and proofs in a synthetic way. Namely, types can be interpreted as spaces (up to continuous deformation) and proofs as homotopy invariant constructions. In this context, loop spaces of pointed connected groupoids provide a natural representation of groups, and any group can be obtained as the loop space of such a type, which is then called a delooping of the group. There are two main methods to construct the delooping of an arbitrary group G. The first one consists in describing it as a pointed higher inductive type, whereas the second one consists in taking the connected component of the principal G-torsor in the type of sets equipped with an action of G. We show here that, when a presentation is known for the group, simpler variants of those constructions can be used to build deloopings. The resulting types are more amenable to computations and lead to simpler meta-theoretic reasoning. We also investigate, in this context, an abstract construction for the Cayley graph of a generated group and show that it encodes the relations of the group. Most of the developments performed in the article have been formalized using the cubical version of the Agda proof assistant. Maximilian Doré, Evan Cavallo, Anders Mörtberg |
FSCD | 2 |
| 2022 | Modalities and Parametric AdjointsabstractBirkedal et al. recently introduced dependent right adjoints as an important class of (non-fibered) modalities in type theory. We observe that several aspects of their calculus are left underdeveloped and that it cannot serve as an internal language. We resolve these problems by assuming that the modal context operator is a parametric right adjoint. We show that this hitherto unrecognized structure is common. Based on these discoveries we present a new well-behaved Fitch-style multimodal type theory, which can be used as an internal language. Finally, we apply this syntax to guarded recursion and parametricity. Daniel Gratzer, Evan Cavallo, G. A. Kavvos, Adrien Guatto, Lars Birkedal |
ACM Trans. Comput. Log. | 2 |
| 2021 | Internal Parametricity for Cubical Type TheoryabstractWe define a computational type theory combining the contentful equality structure of cartesian cubical type theory with internal parametricity primitives. The combined theory supports both univalence and its relational equivalent, which we call relativity. We demonstrate the use of the theory by analyzing polymorphic functions between higher inductive types, observe how cubical equality regularizes parametric type theory, and examine the similarities and discrepancies between cubical and parametric type theory, which are closely related. We also abstract a formal interface to the computational interpretation and show that this also has a presheaf model. Evan Cavallo, Robert Harper 0001 |
Log. Methods Comput. Sci. | 1 |
| 2021 | Internalizing representation independence with univalenceabstractIn their usual form, representation independence metatheorems provide an external guarantee that two implementations of an abstract interface are interchangeable when they are related by an operation-preserving correspondence. If our programming language is dependently-typed, however, we would like to appeal to such invariance results within the language itself, in order to obtain correctness theorems for complex implementations by transferring them from simpler, related implementations. Recent work in proof assistants has shown that Voevodsky's univalence principle allows transferring theorems between isomorphic types, but many instances of representation independence in programming involve non-isomorphic representations. In this paper, we develop techniques for establishing internal relational representation independence results in dependent type theory, by using higher inductive types to simultaneously quotient two related implementation types by a heterogeneous correspondence between them. The correspondence becomes an isomorphism between the quotiented types, thereby allowing us to obtain an equality of implementations by univalence. We illustrate our techniques by considering applications to matrices, queues, and finite multisets. Our results are all formalized in Cubical Agda, a recent extension of Agda which supports univalence and higher inductive types in a computationally well-behaved way. Carlo Angiuli, Evan Cavallo, Anders Mörtberg, Max Zeuner |
Proc. ACM Program. Lang. | 2 |
| 2020 | Internal Parametricity for Cubical Type TheoryabstractWe define a computational type theory combining the contentful equality structure of cartesian cubical type theory with internal parametricity primitives. The combined theory supports both univalence and its relational equivalent, which we call relativity. We demonstrate the use of the theory by analyzing polymorphic functions between higher inductive types, and we give an account of the identity extension lemma for internal parametricity. Evan Cavallo, Robert Harper 0001 |
CSL | 1 |
| 2020 | Unifying Cubical Models of Univalent Type TheoryabstractWe present a new constructive model of univalent type theory based on cubical sets. Unlike prior work on cubical models, ours depends neither on diagonal cofibrations nor connections. This is made possible by weakening the notion of fibration from the cartesian cubical set model, so that it is not necessary to assume that the diagonal on the interval is a cofibration. We have formally verified in Agda that these fibrations are closed under the type formers of cubical type theory and that the model satisfies the univalence axiom. By applying the construction in the presence of diagonal cofibrations or connections and reversals, we recover the existing cartesian and De Morgan cubical set models as special cases. Generalizing earlier work of Sattler for cubical sets with connections, we also obtain a Quillen model structure. Evan Cavallo, Anders Mörtberg, Andrew W. Swan |
CSL | 1 |
| 2019 | Higher inductive types in cubical computational type theoryabstractHomotopy type theory proposes higher inductive types (HITs) as a means of defining and reasoning about inductively-generated objects with higher-dimensional structure. As with the univalence axiom, however, homotopy type theory does not specify the computational behavior of HITs. Computational interpretations have now been provided for univalence and specific HITs by way of cubical type theories, which use a judgmental infrastructure of dimension variables. We extend the cartesian cubical computational type theory introduced by Angiuli et al. with a schema for indexed cubical inductive types (CITs), an adaptation of higher inductive types to the cubical setting. In doing so, we isolate the canonical values of a cubical inductive type and prove a canonicity theorem with respect to these values. Evan Cavallo, Robert Harper 0001 |
Proc. ACM Program. Lang. | 1 |