Product Description
Logical frameworks are languages used to represent information. In this dissertation we present Delphin (http://www.delphin.logosphere.org/), which is a functional programming language with a logical framework supporting both higher-order abstract syntax and dependent types. Higher-order abstract syntax, or HOAS, refers to the technique of representing variables of an object language using variables of a metalanguage, which leads to more concise and elegant encodings than first-order alternatives. Dependent types allow one to represent complex data (e.g. derivations) and enforce more properties of programs than possible using only simple types. Delphin is not only a useful programming language but also a useful system for formalizing proofs as total functions express proofs that the input entails the output. We motivate our system with examples of translating derivations between logics and converting between higher-order and first-order representations of data.
