A program logic for fresh name generation (2101.10720v2)

Abstract: We present a program logic for Pitts and Stark's {\nu}-calculus, an extension of the call-by-value simply-typed {\lambda}-calculus with a mechanism for the generation of fresh names. Names can be compared for (in)-equality, producing programs with subtle observable properties. Hidden names produced by interactions between generation and abstraction are captured logically with a second-order quantifier over type contexts. We illustrate usage of the logic through reasoning about well-known difficult cases from the literature.