A new deconstructive logic: linear logic

Abstract

AbstractThe main concern of this paper is the design of a noetherian and confluent normalization for LK2 (that is, classical second order predicate logic presented as a sequent calculus).The method we present is powerful: since it allows us to recover as fragments formalisms as seemingly different as Girard's LC and Parigot's λμ, FD ([10, 12, 32, 36]), delineates other viable systems as well, and gives means to extend the Krivine/Leivant paradigm of ‘programming-with-proofs’ ([26, 27]) to classical logic; it is painless: since we reduce strong normalization and confluence to the same properties for linear logic (for non-additive proof nets, to be precise) using appropriate embeddings (so-called decorations); it is unifying: it organizes known solutions in a simple pattern that makes apparent the how and why of their making.A comparison of our method to that of embedding LK into LJ (intuitionistic sequent calculus) brings to the fore the latter's defects for these ‘deconstructive purposes’.