ProofObjectsWorking with Explicit Evidence in Coq
Require Export Logic.
We have seen that Coq has mechanisms both for programming,
using inductive data types (like nat or list) and functions
over these types, and for proving properties of these programs,
using inductive propositions (like ev or eq), implication, and
universal quantification. So far, we have treated these mechanisms
as if they were quite separate, and for many purposes this is
a good way to think. But we have also seen hints that Coq's programming and
proving facilities are closely related. For example, the
keyword Inductive is used to declare both data types and
propositions, and → is used both to describe the type of
functions on data and logical implication. This is not just a
syntactic accident! In fact, programs and proofs in Coq are almost
the same thing. In this chapter we will study how this works.
We have already seen the fundamental idea: provability in Coq is
represented by concrete evidence. When we construct the proof
of a basic proposition, we are actually building a tree of evidence,
which can be thought of as a data structure. If the proposition
is an implication like A → B, then its proof will be an
evidence transformer: a recipe for converting evidence for
A into evidence for B. So at a fundamental level, proofs are simply
programs that manipulate evidence.
Q. If evidence is data, what are propositions themselves?
A. They are types!
Look again at the formal definition of the beautiful property.
Print beautiful.
(* ==>
Inductive beautiful : nat -> Prop :=
b_0 : beautiful 0
| b_3 : beautiful 3
| b_5 : beautiful 5
| b_sum : forall n m : nat, beautiful n -> beautiful m -> beautiful (n + m)
*)
The trick is to introduce an alternative pronunciation of ":".
Instead of "has type," we can also say "is a proof of." For
example, the second line in the definition of beautiful declares
that b_0 : beautiful 0. Instead of "b_0 has type
beautiful 0," we can say that "b_0 is a proof of beautiful 0."
Similarly for b_3 and b_5.
This pun between types and propositions (between : as "has type"
and : as "is a proof of" or "is evidence for") is called the
Curry-Howard correspondence. It proposes a deep connection
between the world of logic and the world of computation.
propositions ~ types proofs ~ data valuesMany useful insights follow from this connection. To begin with, it gives us a natural interpretation of the type of b_sum constructor:
Check b_sum.
(* ===> b_sum : forall n m,
beautiful n ->
beautiful m ->
beautiful (n+m) *)
This can be read "b_sum is a constructor that takes four
arguments — two numbers, n and m, and two values, of types
beautiful n and beautiful m — and yields evidence for the
proposition beautiful (n+m)."
Now let's look again at a previous proof involving beautiful.
Theorem eight_is_beautiful: beautiful 8.
Proof.
apply b_sum with (n := 3) (m := 5).
apply b_3.
apply b_5. Qed.
Just as with ordinary data values and functions, we can use the Print
command to see the proof object that results from this proof script.
Print eight_is_beautiful.
(* ===> eight_is_beautiful = b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5
: beautiful 8 *)
In view of this, we might wonder whether we can write such
an expression ourselves. Indeed, we can:
Check (b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5).
(* ===> beautiful (3 + 5) *)
The expression b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5 can be thought of as
instantiating the parameterized constructor b_sum with the
specific arguments 3 5 and the corresponding proof objects for
its premises beautiful 3 and beautiful 5 (Coq is smart enough
to figure out that 3+5=8). Alternatively, we can think of b_sum
as a primitive "evidence constructor" that, when applied to two
particular numbers, wants to be further applied to evidence that
those two numbers are beautiful; its type,
[
∀ n m, beautiful n → beautiful m → beautiful (n+m),
]
expresses this functionality, in the same way that the polymorphic
type ∀ X, list X in the previous chapter expressed the fact
that the constructor nil can be thought of as a function from
types to empty lists with elements of that type.
This gives us an alternative way to write the proof that 8 is
beautiful:
Theorem eight_is_beautiful': beautiful 8.
Proof.
apply (b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5).
Qed.
Notice that we're using apply here in a new way: instead of just
supplying the name of a hypothesis or previously proved theorem
whose type matches the current goal, we are supplying an
expression that directly builds evidence with the required
type.
Proof Scripts and Proof Objects
Theorem eight_is_beautiful'': beautiful 8.
Proof.
Show Proof.
apply b_sum with (n:=3) (m:=5).
Show Proof.
apply b_3.
Show Proof.
apply b_5.
Show Proof.
Qed.
At any given moment, Coq has constructed a term with some
"holes" (indicated by ?1, ?2, and so on), and it knows what
type of evidence is needed at each hole.
Each of the holes corresponds to a subgoal, and the proof is
finished when there are no more subgoals. At this point, the
Theorem command gives a name to the evidence we've built and
stores it in the global context.
Tactic proofs are useful and convenient, but they are not
essential: in principle, we can always construct the required
evidence by hand, as shown above. Then we can use Definition
(rather than Theorem) to give a global name directly to a
piece of evidence.
Definition eight_is_beautiful''' : beautiful 8 :=
b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5.
All these different ways of building the proof lead to exactly the
same evidence being saved in the global environment.
Print eight_is_beautiful.
(* ===> eight_is_beautiful = b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5 : beautiful 8 *)
Print eight_is_beautiful'.
(* ===> eight_is_beautiful' = b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5 : beautiful 8 *)
Print eight_is_beautiful''.
(* ===> eight_is_beautiful'' = b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5 : beautiful 8 *)
Print eight_is_beautiful'''.
(* ===> eight_is_beautiful''' = b_sum 3 5 b_3 b_5 : beautiful 8 *)
Exercise: 1 star (six_is_beautiful)
Give a tactic proof and a proof object showing that 6 is beautiful.Theorem six_is_beautiful :
beautiful 6.
Proof.
(* FILL IN HERE *) Admitted.
Definition six_is_beautiful' : beautiful 6 :=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
Exercise: 1 star (nine_is_beautiful)
Give a tactic proof and a proof object showing that 9 is beautiful.Theorem nine_is_beautiful :
beautiful 9.
Proof.
(* FILL IN HERE *) Admitted.
Definition nine_is_beautiful' : beautiful 9 :=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
Quantification, Implications and Functions
Theorem b_plus3: ∀n, beautiful n → beautiful (3+n).
Proof.
intros n H.
apply b_sum.
apply b_3.
apply H.
Qed.
What is the proof object corresponding to b_plus3?
We're looking for an expression whose type is ∀ n,
beautiful n → beautiful (3+n) — that is, a function that
takes two arguments (one number and a piece of evidence) and
returns a piece of evidence! Here it is:
Definition b_plus3' : ∀n, beautiful n → beautiful (3+n) :=
fun (n : nat) => fun (H : beautiful n) =>
b_sum 3 n b_3 H.
Check b_plus3'.
(* ===> b_plus3' : forall n : nat, beautiful n -> beautiful (3+n) *)
Recall that fun n => blah means "the function that, given n,
yields blah." Another equivalent way to write this definition is:
Definition b_plus3'' (n : nat) (H : beautiful n) : beautiful (3+n) :=
b_sum 3 n b_3 H.
Check b_plus3''.
(* ===> b_plus3'' : forall n, beautiful n -> beautiful (3+n) *)
When we view the proposition being proved by b_plus3 as a function type,
one aspect of it may seem a little unusual. The second argument's
type, beautiful n, mentions the value of the first argument, n.
While such dependent types are not commonly found in programming
languages, even functional ones like ML or Haskell, they can
be useful there too.
Notice that both implication (→) and quantification (∀)
correspond to functions on evidence. In fact, they are really the
same thing: → is just a shorthand for a degenerate use of
∀ where there is no dependency, i.e., no need to give a name
to the type on the LHS of the arrow.
For example, consider this proposition:
Definition beautiful_plus3 : Prop :=
∀n, ∀(E : beautiful n), beautiful (n+3).
A proof term inhabiting this proposition would be a function
with two arguments: a number n and some evidence E that n is
beautiful. But the name E for this evidence is not used in the
rest of the statement of funny_prop1, so it's a bit silly to
bother making up a name for it. We could write it like this
instead, using the dummy identifier _ in place of a real
name:
Definition beautiful_plus3' : Prop :=
∀n, ∀(_ : beautiful n), beautiful (n+3).
Or, equivalently, we can write it in more familiar notation:
Definition beatiful_plus3'' : Prop :=
∀n, beautiful n → beautiful (n+3).
In general, "P → Q" is just syntactic sugar for
"∀ (_:P), Q".
Exercise: 3 stars (b_times2)
First prove this theorem using tactics.Theorem b_times2: ∀n, beautiful n → beautiful (2*n).
Proof.
(* FILL IN HERE *) Admitted.
☐
Now write a corresponding proof object directly.
Definition b_times2': ∀n, beautiful n → beautiful (2*n) :=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
Exercise: 2 stars, optional (gorgeous_plus13_po)
Give a proof object corresponding to the theorem gorgeous_plus13 from Prop.vDefinition gorgeous_plus13_po: ∀n, gorgeous n → gorgeous (13+n):=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
It is particularly revealing to look at proof objects involving the
logical connectives that we defined with inductive propositions in Logic.v.
Theorem and_example :
(beautiful 0) ∧ (beautiful 3).
Proof.
apply conj.
(* Case "left". *) apply b_0.
(* Case "right". *) apply b_3. Qed.
Let's take a look at the proof object for the above theorem.
Print and_example.
(* ===> conj (beautiful 0) (beautiful 3) b_0 b_3
: beautiful 0 /λ beautiful 3 *)
Note that the proof is of the form
conj (beautiful 0) (beautiful 3)
(...pf of beautiful 3...) (...pf of beautiful 3...)
as you'd expect, given the type of conj.
(...pf of beautiful 3...) (...pf of beautiful 3...)
Exercise: 1 star, optional (case_proof_objects)
The Case tactics were commented out in the proof of and_example to avoid cluttering the proof object. What would you guess the proof object will look like if we uncomment them? Try it and see. ☐Theorem and_commut : ∀P Q : Prop,
P ∧ Q → Q ∧ P.
Proof.
intros P Q H.
inversion H as [HP HQ].
split.
(* Case "left". *) apply HQ.
(* Case "right". *) apply HP. Qed.
Once again, we have commented out the Case tactics to make the
proof object for this theorem easier to understand. It is still
a little complicated, but after performing some simple reduction
steps, we can see that all that is really happening is taking apart
a record containing evidence for P and Q and rebuilding it in the
opposite order:
Print and_commut.
(* ===>
and_commut =
fun (P Q : Prop) (H : P /λ Q) =>
(fun H0 : Q /λ P => H0)
match H with
| conj HP HQ => (fun (HP0 : P) (HQ0 : Q) => conj Q P HQ0 HP0) HP HQ
end
: forall P Q : Prop, P /λ Q -> Q /λ P *)
After simplifying some direct application of fun expressions to arguments,
we get:
(* ===>
and_commut =
fun (P Q : Prop) (H : P /λ Q) =>
match H with
| conj HP HQ => conj Q P HQ HP
end
: forall P Q : Prop, P /λ Q -> Q /λ P *)
Exercise: 2 stars, optional (conj_fact)
Construct a proof object demonstrating the following proposition.Definition conj_fact : ∀P Q R, P ∧ Q → Q ∧ R → P ∧ R :=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
We have seen that the families of propositions beautiful and
gorgeous actually characterize the same set of numbers.
Prove that beautiful n ↔ gorgeous n for all n. Just for
fun, write your proof as an explicit proof object, rather than
using tactics. (Hint: if you make use of previously defined
theorems, you should only need a single line!)
Exercise: 2 stars, advanced (beautiful_iff_gorgeous)
Definition beautiful_iff_gorgeous :
∀n, beautiful n ↔ gorgeous n :=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
Exercise: 2 stars, optional (or_commut'')
Try to write down an explicit proof object for or_commut (without using Print to peek at the ones we already defined!).(* FILL IN HERE *)
☐
Recall that we model an existential for a property as a pair consisting of
a witness value and a proof that the witness obeys that property.
We can choose to construct the proof explicitly.
For example, consider this existentially quantified proposition:
Definition some_nat_is_even : Prop :=
ex nat ev.
To prove this proposition, we need to choose a particular number
as witness — say, 4 — and give some evidence that that number is
even.
Definition snie : some_nat_is_even :=
ex_intro _ ev 4 (ev_SS 2 (ev_SS 0 ev_0)).
Definition p : ex nat (fun n => beautiful (S n)) :=
(* FILL IN HERE *) admit.
☐
Giving Explicit Arguments to Lemmas and Hypotheses
Check plus_comm.
(* ==>
plus_comm
: forall n m : nat, n + m = m + n *)
Lemma plus_comm_r : ∀a b c, c + (b + a) = c + (a + b).
Proof.
intros a b c.
(* rewrite plus_comm. *)
(* rewrites in the first possible spot; not what we want *)
rewrite (plus_comm b a). (* directs rewriting to the right spot *)
reflexivity. Qed.
In this case, giving just one argument would be sufficient.
Lemma plus_comm_r' : ∀a b c, c + (b + a) = c + (a + b).
Proof.
intros a b c.
rewrite (plus_comm b).
reflexivity. Qed.
Arguments must be given in order, but wildcards (_)
may be used to skip arguments that Coq can infer.
Lemma plus_comm_r'' : ∀a b c, c + (b + a) = c + (a + b).
Proof.
intros a b c.
rewrite (plus_comm _ a).
reflexivity. Qed.
The author of a lemma can choose to declare easily inferable arguments
to be implicit, just as with functions and constructors.
The with clauses we've already seen is really just a way of
specifying selected arguments by name rather than position:
Lemma plus_comm_r''' : ∀a b c, c + (b + a) = c + (a + b).
Proof.
intros a b c.
rewrite plus_comm with (n := b).
reflexivity. Qed.
Exercise: 2 stars (trans_eq_example_redux)
Redo the proof of the following theorem (from MoreCoq.v) using an apply of trans_eq but not using a with clause.Example trans_eq_example' : ∀(a b c d e f : nat),
[a;b] = [c;d] →
[c;d] = [e;f] →
[a;b] = [e;f].
Proof.
(* FILL IN HERE *) Admitted.
☐
Programming with Tactics
Definition add1 : nat → nat.
intro n.
Show Proof.
apply S.
Show Proof.
apply n. Defined.
Print add1.
(* ==>
add1 = fun n : nat => S n
: nat -> nat
*)
Eval compute in add1 2.
(* ==> 3 : nat *)
Notice that we terminate the Definition with a . rather than with
:= followed by a term. This tells Coq to enter proof scripting mode
to build an object of type nat → nat. Also, we terminate the proof
with Defined rather than Qed; this makes the definition transparent
so that it can be used in computation like a normally-defined function.
This feature is mainly useful for writing functions with dependent types,
which we won't explore much further in this book.
But it does illustrate the uniformity and orthogonality of the basic ideas in Coq.
(* $Date: 2013-07-17 16:19:11 -0400 (Wed, 17 Jul 2013) $ *)