Functional behavior of nondeterministic and concurrent programs

Abstract

The functions behavior of a deterministic program segment is a function f : D → D , where D is some set of states for the computation. This notion of functional behavior can be extended to nondeterministic and concurrent programs using techniques from linear algebra. In particular, the functional behavior of a nondeterministic program segment is a linear transformation f : A → A , where A is a free semiring module. Other notions from linear algebra carry over into this setting. For example, weakest preconditions and predicate transformers correspond to well-studied concepts in linear algebra. Using multilinear algebra, programs with tuples of inputs and outputs can be handled. For nondeterministic concurrent programs, the functional behavior is a linear transformation f : A → A , where A is a free semiring algebra. In this case, f may also be an algebra morphism, which indicates that the program involves no interprocess communication. Finally, a model of syntax for programs is studied whose semantics is given using linear algebra. It is shown that in this model, free interpretations (essentially Herbrand universes) do not generally exist.