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Alex Simpson

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6 papers

2 author rows

CSL Conference 2018 Conference Paper

Basic Operational Preorders for Algebraic Effects in General, and for Combined Probability and Nondeterminism in Particular

Aliaume Lopez
Alex Simpson

The "generic operational metatheory" of Johann, Simpson and Voigtländer (LiCS 2010) defines contextual equivalence, in the presence of algebraic effects, in terms of a basic operational preorder on ground-type effect trees. We propose three general approaches to specifying such preorders: (i) operational (ii) denotational, and (iii) axiomatic; coinciding with the three major styles of program semantics. We illustrate these via a nontrivial case study: the combination of probabilistic choice with nondeterminism, for which we show that natural instantiations of the three specification methods (operational in terms of Markov decision processes, denotational using a powerdomain, and axiomatic) all determine the same canonical preorder. We do this in the case of both angelic and demonic nondeterminism.

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CSL Conference 2009 Conference Paper

Enriching an Effect Calculus with Linear Types

Jeff Egger
Rasmus Ejlers Møgelberg
Alex Simpson

Abstract We define an enriched effect calculus by extending a type theory for computational effects with primitives from linear logic. The new calculus provides a formalism for expressing linear aspects of computational effects; for example, the linear usage of imperative features such as state and/or continuations. Our main syntactic result is the conservativity of the enriched effect calculus over a basic effect calculus without linear primitives (closely related to Moggi’s computational metalanguage, Filinski’s effect PCF and Levy’s call-by-push-value ). The proof of this syntactic theorem makes essential use of a category-theoretic semantics, whose study forms the second half of the paper. Our semantic results include soundness, completeness, the initiality of a syntactic model, and an embedding theorem: every model of the basic effect calculus fully embeds in a model of the enriched calculus. The latter means that our enriched effect calculus is applicable to arbitrary computational effects, answering in the positive a question of Benton and Wadler (LICS 1996).

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I&C Journal 2006 Journal Article

Coalgebraic semantics for timed processes

Marco Kick
John Power
Alex Simpson

We give a coalgebraic formulation of timed processes and their operational semantics. We model time by a monoid called a “time domain”, and we model processes by “timed transition systems”, which amount to partial monoid actions of the time domain or, equivalently, coalgebras for an “evolution comonad” generated by the time domain. All our examples of time domains satisfy a partial closure property, yielding a distributive law of a monad for total monoid actions over the evolution comonad, and hence a distributive law of the evolution comonad over a dual comonad for total monoid actions. We show that the induced coalgebras are exactly timed transition systems with delay operators. We then integrate our coalgebraic formulation of time qua timed transition systems into Turi and Plotkin’s formulation of structural operational semantics in terms of distributive laws. We combine timing with action via the more general study of the combination of two arbitrary sorts of behaviour whose operational semantics may interact. We give a modular account of the operational semantics for a combination induced by that of each of its components. Our study necessitates the investigation of products of comonads. In particular, we characterise when a monad lifts to the category of coalgebras for a product comonad, providing constructions with which one can readily calculate.

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TCS Journal 2003 Journal Article

An equational notion of lifting monad

Anna Bucalo
Carsten Führmann
Alex Simpson

We introduce the notion of an equational lifting monad: a commutative strong monad satisfying one additional equation (valid for monads arising from partial map classifiers). We prove that any equational lifting monad has a representation by a partial map classifier such that the Kleisli category of the former fully embeds in the partial category of the latter. Thus, equational lifting monads precisely capture the equational properties of partial maps as induced by partial map classifiers. The representation theorem also provides a tool for transferring non-equational properties of partial map classifiers to equational lifting monads. It is proved using a direct axiomatization of Kleisli categories of equational lifting monads. This axiomatization is of interest in its own right.

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CSL Conference 1999 Conference Paper

Computational Adequacy in an Elementary Topos

Alex Simpson

Abstract We place simple axioms on an elementary topos which suffice for it to provide a denotational model of call-by-value PCF with sum and product types. The model is synthetic in the sense that types are interpreted by their set-theoretic counterparts within the topos. The main result characterises when the model is computationally adequate with respect to the operational semantics of the programming language. We prove that computational adequacy holds if and only if the topos is 1-consistent (i. e. its internal logic validates only true Σ \(^{\rm 0}_{\rm 1}\) -sentences).

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MFCS Conference 1998 Conference Paper

Lazy Functional Algorithms for Exact Real Functionals

Alex Simpson

Abstract We show how functional languages can be used to write programs for real-valued functionals in exact real arithmetic. We concentrate on two useful functionals: definite integration, and the functional returning the maximum value of a continuous function over a closed interval. The algorithms are a practical application of a method, due to Berger, for computing quantifiers over streams. Correctness proofs for the algorithms make essential use of domain theory.

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