Stannett, M.P. orcid.org/0000-0002-2794-8614 and Németi, I. (2013) Using Isabelle/HOL to verify first-order relativity theory. Journal of Automated Reasoning, 52. pp. 361-378. ISSN 0168-7433
Abstract
Logicians at the Rényi Mathematical Institute in Budapest have spent several years developing versions of relativity theory (special, general, and other variants) based wholly on first-order logic, and have argued in favour of the physical decidability, via exploitation of cosmological phenomena, of formally unsolvable questions such as the Halting Problem and the consistency of set theory. As part of a joint project, researchers at Sheffield have recently started generating rigorous machine-verified versions of the Hungarian proofs, so as to demonstrate the soundness of their work. In this paper, we explain the background to the project and demonstrate a first-order proof in Isabelle/HOL of the theorem “no inertial observer can travel faster than light”. This approach to physical theories and physical computability has several pay-offs, because the precision with which physical theories need to be formalised within automated proof systems forces us to recognise subtly hidden assumptions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Springer. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Automated Reasoning. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Isabelle/HOL; first-order relativity theory; hypercomputation; physics and computation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ROYAL SOCIETY IE110369 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 Sep 2016 14:04 |
Last Modified: | 21 Mar 2018 01:47 |
Published Version: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10817-013-9292-7 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10817-013-9292-7 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:76527 |