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arXiv · 1907.02836

From LCF to Isabelle/HOL

Lawrence C. Paulson·Tobias Nipkow·Makarius Wenzel
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Abstract

Interactive theorem provers have developed dramatically over the past four decades, from primitive beginnings to today's powerful systems. Here, we focus on Isabelle/HOL and its distinctive strengths. They include automatic proof search, borrowing techniques from the world of first order theorem proving, but also the automatic search for counterexamples. They include a highly readable structured language of proofs and a unique interactive development environment for editing live proof documents. Everything rests on the foundation conceived by Robin Milner for Edinburgh LCF: a proof kernel, using abstract types to ensure soundness and eliminate the need to store proofs. Compared with the research prototypes of the 1970s, Isabelle is a practical and versatile tool. It is used by system designers, mathematicians and many others.

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Lawrence C. Paulson, Tobias Nipkow, Makarius Wenzel. 2019-07-05. From LCF to Isabelle/HOL. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00165-019-00492-1

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