Non-linearity as the metric completion of linearity

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Abstract

We summarize some recent results showing how the lambda-calculus may be obtained by considering the metric completion (with respect to a suitable notion of distance) of a space of affine lambda-terms, i.e., lambda-terms in which abstractions bind variables appearing at most once. This formalizes the intuitive idea that multiplicative additive linear logic is "dense" in full linear logic (in fact, a proof-theoretic version of the above-mentioned construction is also possible). We argue that thinking of non-linearity as the "limit" of linearity gives an interesting point of view on well-known properties of the lambda-calculus and its relationship to computational complexity (through lambda-calculi whose normalization is time-bounded).

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTyped Lambda Calculi and Applications - 11th International Conference, TLCA 2013, Proceedings
Pages3-14
Number of pages12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Sept 2013
Externally publishedYes
Event11th International Conference on Typed Lambda Calculi and Applications, TLCA 2013 - Eindhoven, Netherlands
Duration: 26 Jun 201328 Jun 2013

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume7941 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference11th International Conference on Typed Lambda Calculi and Applications, TLCA 2013
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityEindhoven
Period26/06/1328/06/13

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