Title: Mechanical Theorem Proving____ The Intellectual Excitement of Computer Science
1Mechanical Theorem Proving____The Intellectual
Excitement of Computer Science
Group Members Elita Cheung Lily Irani Paul
Tenney
2Introduction
- Mechanical theorem proving is an important
subject in artificial intelligence - Even though Turing showed that there is no
general decision procedure to check the validity
of formulas of the first-order logic, there are
proof procedures which can verify that a formula
is valid if indeed it is valid...
3Our Research Journey
- Journals about automated theorem proving
- Difficult and technical material required
background we lacked - Talked with professors, read about basic logic
4Overview of Automated Theorem Proving
- Philosophical issues regarding a mechanical
theorem prover - Theory and history of the field -- lesson in
logic - Applications of automated theorem provers
5Quick History and Theory
- Principles of Automated Theorem Proving heavily
based on symbolic logic - Learning the basic vocabulary and concepts was
essential to understanding those principles - The history of this field can be easier
understood along with theories - Quick lesson in symbolic logic J
6Different sorts of logic...
- Higher Order
- First Order
- Propositional
More interactive
More Expressive
7Propositional Logic
- A proposition is a declarative sentence that is
either true or false (it cannot be both). - Examples of propositions Stuff at Stanford
Shopping Mall is expensive", Elita is a bargain
hunter", Elita is shop-aholic at Stanford mall".
8Propositional Logic
- B º Stuff at Stanford Shopping Mall is expensive
C º Elita is a bargain hunter D º Elita is a
shop-aholic at Stanford Mall - Symbols, such as B, C, D, that are used to denote
propositions are called atoms
Simple symbols...
9Propositional Logic
- Example The sentence "If stuff at Stanford
Shopping mall is expensive and Elita is a bargain
hunter, then Elita is not a shop-aholic at
Stanford Mall" can be represented by - (( B Ù C) (ØD))
- As we see, this compound proposition can
represent a complicated idea that we deal with in
everyday life.
10Propositional Logic
11Propositional Logic
- The assignment of truth values T,F to G, H is
one of four interpretations of formula F º (G Ù
H) - Equivalent formulas
- Example Suppose that bike accidents increase if
there are more freshmen on campus. Also, suppose
that students will start building their own
impact airbags for their bikes when bike
accidents increase. Assume that there are more
freshmen on campus. Show that you can conclude
that students will starting building their own
airbags.
12Propositional Logic Example...
- The four following statements correspond to this
example - 1. If there are more freshmen on campus, the bike
accidents increase2. If bike accidents increase,
students start building bike airbags3. More
freshmen on campus4. Students will start
building bike airbags
13First Order Logic
- First order logic is a more expressive logic than
propositional logic. For example, propositional
logic cannot denote the following - P Every man is mortalQ Confucius is a manR
Confucius is mortal
14First Order Logic
- First order logic has three more logical notions
than propositional logic - terms, predicates, and quantifiers
- Most of mathematical and everyday language can be
symbolized by the first-order logic.
15First Order Logic - New Terms
- Predicate
- Quantifier
- Interpretation -- different from propositional
- "An interpretation of a formula F in the
first-order logic consists of a nonempty domain
D, and an assignment of 'values' to each
constant, function symbol, and predicate symbol
occurring in F as follows - To each constant, we assign an element in D.
- To each n-place function symbol, we assign a
mapping from Dn to D. - To each n-place predicate symbol, we assign a
mapping from Dn to T, F."
16First Order Logic - New Terms
- Satisfiable- A formula P is satisfiable
(consistent) if and only if there exists an
interpretation I such that P has a truth value of
True in I. - Unsatisfiable
17Herbrands theorem and a little history
- Leibniz (1646-1716) tried to prove validity of
formula - Turing and Church (1936)
- Herbrands contribution
- Robinsons Resolution
18Resolution
- Herbrands procedures problem amount of time
needed to implement increase exponentially (too
many interpretations to generate!) - Resolution decreases the number of interpretations
19Resolution
- The basic idea of the resolution principle is to
check rather any set S of clauses contains the
empty clause . If S contains , then S is
unsatisfiable. If S does not contain , then
check to see if can be derived from S. If it
can, then it is also unsatisfiable. - Example in propositional logic
- Example in first order logic
20Propositional Resolution
- For propositional logic, the principle can be
roughly described as the following combine the
literal that are complementary to each other so
that they cancel out (e.g. P and P are
complementary). - Example in propositional logic
21First Order Resolution
- substitution and unification
- Example in first order logic
22First Order Resolution
- S ØT(x,y,u,v) v P(x,y,u,v), ØP(x,y,u,v) v
E(x,y,v,u,v,y), T(a,b,c,d), ØE(a,b,d,c,d,b) - 1. ØT(x,y,u,v) v P(x,y,u,v)
- 2. ØP(x,y,u,v) v E(x,y,v,u,v,y)
- 3. T(a,b,c,d)
- 4. ØE(a,b,d,c,d,b)
- 5. P(a,b,c,d)
- 6.T(a,b,c,d)
- 7.
a resolvent of 2 and 4 a resolvent of a and 5 a
resolvent of 3 and 6
23Applied Theory
- First order specifications
- Boyer and Moores Induction
24Intel Pentium Chip Specification - IEEE level 74
- when rounding towards negative infinity, the
result shall be the formats value ... closest to
and no greater than the infinitely precise result
Informal
25Intel Pentium Chip Specification - IEEE level 74
- round(toNegInf, R, V)
- (R
- R result, V value to be rounded,
- ulp smallest representable increment
Formal (First Order)
26Induction Algorithm
27Applications
- Mathematical proof checking
- The QED Project
- Computer chip verifications
- Software verification
28Mathematical Proof Checking
- Automated theorem provers do not automate math
- Debugs proofs
- Hard to use many proof checkers
29The QED Project
- Effort of scientists from many laboratories and
institutions
The development of mathematics towards a
greater appreciation has led... to the
formalization of large tracts of it, so that one
can prove any theorem using nothing but a few
mechanical rules. -K.Gödel
- Will represent mathematical knowledge, technique
- Based on a few pages of math
- Still in early stages
30The QED Project- Hoped Benefits
- Reduce mathematical noise pollution.
- Speed publication of papers by taking focus off
of proof checking. Referees can focus on
relevance. - Cultural monument to mathematics.
31Chip Verification
- Formal vs. testbench
- Comparison verification
- NP-Complete
- IBM, Intel, AMD successes
32Software Verification
- Hardware is more economically viable
- More design effort put into software
- Software verification is viable
- Especially useful for critical applications
safety, e-commerce, military
33Software Verification Paradox
- What will verify the verification program?
- Pragmatism does not demand ideal accuracy
- Significant improvement enough
34More Information
- Our website
- demonstrations of theorem proving tools online
- additional research
35Credits
- Thank you to Professor David Dill for information
and support through e-mail and in person.