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How to Prove Algorithms Linearisable

  • Gerhard Schellhorn
  • Heike Wehrheim
  • John Derrick
Conference paper
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 7358)

Abstract

Linearisability is the standard correctness criterion for concurrent data structures. In this paper, we present a sound and complete proof technique for linearisability based on backward simulations. We exemplify this technique by a linearisability proof of the queue algorithm presented in Herlihy and Wing’s landmark paper. Except for the manual proof by them, none of the many other current approaches to checking linearisability has successfully treated this intricate example. Our approach is grounded on complete mechanisation: the proof obligations for the queue are verified using the interactive prover KIV, and so is the general soundness and completeness result for our proof technique.

Keywords

Proof Obligation Concrete State Return Event Separation Logic Linearisation Point 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Gerhard Schellhorn
    • 1
  • Heike Wehrheim
    • 2
  • John Derrick
    • 3
  1. 1.Institut für InformatikUniversität AugsburgAugsburgGermany
  2. 2.Institut für InformatikUniversität PaderbornPaderbornGermany
  3. 3.Department of ComputingUniversity of SheffieldSheffieldUK

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