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Algebraic properties of idempotent substitutions

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Automata, Languages and Programming (ICALP 1990)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 443))

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Abstract

This paper presents an algebra of idempotent substitutions whose operations have many properties. We provide an algorithm to compute these operations and we show how they are related to the standard composition. The theory of Logic Programming can be rewritten in terms of these new operations. The advantages are that both the operational and the declarative semantics of Horn Clause Logic can be formalized in a compositional way and the proofs of standard results, like the switching lemma, get easier and more intuitive. Moreover, this formalization can be naturally extended to a parallel computational model, and therefore it can be regarded as a basis for a theory of concurrent logic programming.

This work is partially supported by ESPRIT 415: Parallel Architectures and Languages for Advanced Information Processing — A VLSI-directed approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Informatica, Università di Pisa, Corso Italia 40, 56125, Pisa, Italy

    Catuscia Palamidessi

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  1. Catuscia Palamidessi
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Michael S. Paterson

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Palamidessi, C. (1990). Algebraic properties of idempotent substitutions. In: Paterson, M.S. (eds) Automata, Languages and Programming. ICALP 1990. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 443. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0032046

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0032046

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52826-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47159-2

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