Skip to main content

A Game Semantics of the Asynchronous π-Calculus

  • Conference paper
CONCUR 2005 – Concurrency Theory (CONCUR 2005)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 3653))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

This paper studies the denotational semantics of the typed asynchronous π-calculus. We describe a simple game semantics of this language, placing it within a rich hierarchy of games models for programming languages,

A key element of our account is the identification of suitable categorical structures for describing the interpretation of types and terms at an abstract level. It is based on the notion of closed Freyd category, establishing a connection between our semantics, and that of the λ-calculus. This structure is also used to define a trace operator, with which name binding is interpreted. We then show that our categorical characterization is sufficient to prove a weak soundness result.

Another theme of the paper is the correspondence between justified sequences, on which our model is based, and traces in a labelled transition system in which only bound names are passed. We show that the denotations of processes are equivalent, via this correspondence, to their sets of traces. These results are used to show that the games model is fully abstract with respect to may-equivalence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Abramsky, S., Jagadeesan, R.: Games and full completeness for multiplicative linear logic. Journal of Symbolic Logic 59, 543–574 (1994)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Abramsky, S., Jagadeesan, R., Malacaria, P.: Full abstraction for PCF. Information and Computation 163, 409–470 (2000)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  3. Berger, M., Honda, K., Yoshida, N.: Sequentiality and the π-calculus. In: Abramsky, S. (ed.) TLCA 2001. LNCS, vol. 2044, p. 29. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Berger, M., Honda, K., Yoshida, N.: Strong normalization in the π-calculus. In: Proceedings of LICS 2001. IEEE Press, Los Alamitos (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Boudol, G.: Asynchrony in the pi-calculus. Technical Report 1702, INRIA (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ghica, D., McCusker, G.: The regular language semantics of second-order Idealised Algol. Theoretical Computer Science (2003) (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ghica, D., Murawski, A.: Angelic semantics of fine-grained concurrency. In: Walukiewicz, I. (ed.) FOSSACS 2004. LNCS, vol. 2987, pp. 211–225. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Harmer, R., McCusker, G.: A fully abstract games semantics for finite nondeterminism. In: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Symposium on Logic in Computer Science, LICS 1999. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hennessy, M.: A fully abstract denotational semantics for the π-calculus. Technical Report 041996, University of Sussex (COGS) (2996)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Honda, K., Tokoro, M.: An object calculus for asynchronous communication. In: America, P. (ed.) ECOOP 1991. LNCS, vol. 512, pp. 133–147. Springer, Heidelberg (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hyland, J.M.E., Ong, C.-H.L.: On full abstraction for PCF: I, II and III. Information and Computation 163, 285–408 (2000)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. Jagadeesan, L.J., Jagadeesan, R.: Causality and true concurrency: A data-flow analysis of the pi-calculus. In: Alagar, V.S., Nivat, M. (eds.) AMAST 1995. LNCS, vol. 936, Springer, Heidelberg (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jeffrey, A.S.A., Rathke, J.: Contextual equivalence for higher-order pi-calculus revisited. Technical Report 0402, University of Sussex (COGS) (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Jeffrey, A.S.A., Rathke, J.: A fully abstract may-testing semantics for concurrent objects. In: Proceedings of LICS 2002, pp. 101–112 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Joyal, A., Street, R., Verity, D.: Traced monoidal categories. Math. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 119, 447–468 (1996)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. Laird, J.: A game semantics of ICSP. In: Proceedings of MFPS XVII. Electronic notes in Theoretical Computer Science, vol. 45. Elsevier, Amsterdam (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Laird, J.: A categorical semantics of higher-order store. In: Proceedings of CTCS 2002. ENTCS, vol. 69. Elsevier, Amsterdam (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Laird, J.: A game semantics of local names and good variables. In: Walukiewicz, I. (ed.) FOSSACS 2004. LNCS, vol. 2987, pp. 289–303. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. de Nicola, R., Boreale, M., Pugliese, R.: Trace and testing equivalence on asynchronous processes. Information and Computation 172(2), 139–164 (2002)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. Moggi, E., Fiore, M., Sangiorgi, D.: A fully abstract model for the π-calculus. In: Proceedings of LICS 1996 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Malacaria, P., Hankin, C.: Generalised flowcharts and games. In: Proceedings of the 25th International Colloquium on Automata, Langugages and Programming (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  22. McCusker, G.: Games and full abstraction for a functional metalanguage with recursive types. PhD thesis, Imperial College London, Published by Cambridge University Press (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Milner, R.: Polyadic π-calculus: a tutorial. In: Proceedings of the Marktoberdorf Summer School on Logic and Algebra of Specification (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Power, J., Thielecke, H.: Environments in Freyd categories and k-categories. In: Wiedermann, J., Van Emde Boas, P., Nielsen, M. (eds.) ICALP 1999. LNCS, vol. 1644, p. 625. Springer, Heidelberg (1999)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  25. Sangiorgi, D.: Expressing Mobility in Process Algebras: First-Order and Higher-Order Paradigms. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Stark, I.: A fully abstract domain model for the π-calculus. In: Proceedings of LICS 1996 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Laird, J. (2005). A Game Semantics of the Asynchronous π-Calculus. In: Abadi, M., de Alfaro, L. (eds) CONCUR 2005 – Concurrency Theory. CONCUR 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3653. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11539452_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11539452_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-28309-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31934-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics