QED manifesto

Last updated

The QED manifesto was a proposal for a computer-based database of all mathematical knowledge, strictly formalized and with all proofs having been checked automatically. (Q.E.D. means quod erat demonstrandum in Latin, meaning "which was to be demonstrated.")

Contents

Overview

The idea for the project arose in 1993, mainly under the impetus of Robert Boyer. The goals of the project, tentatively named QED project or project QED, were outlined in the QED manifesto, a document first published in 1994, with input from several researchers. [1] Explicit authorship was deliberately avoided. A dedicated mailing list was created, and two scientific conferences on QED took place, the first one in 1994 at Argonne National Laboratories and the second in 1995 in Warsaw organized by the Mizar group. [2]

The project seems to have dissolved by 1996, never having produced more than discussions and plans. In a 2007 paper, Freek Wiedijk identifies two reasons for the failure of the project. [3] In order of importance:

Nonetheless, QED-style projects are regularly proposed. The Mizar Mathematical Library formalizes a large portion of undergraduate mathematics, and was considered the largest such library in 2007. [4] Similar projects include the Metamath proof database and the mathlib library written in Lean. [5]

In 2014 the Twenty years of the QED Manifesto [6] workshop was organized as part of the Vienna Summer of Logic.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabelle (proof assistant)</span> Higher-order logic (HOL) automated theorem prover

The Isabelle automated theorem prover is a higher-order logic (HOL) theorem prover, written in Standard ML and Scala. As an LCF-style theorem prover, it is based on a small logical core (kernel) to increase the trustworthiness of proofs without requiring — yet supporting — explicit proof objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mizar system</span>

The Mizar system consists of a formal language for writing mathematical definitions and proofs, a proof assistant, which is able to mechanically check proofs written in this language, and a library of formalized mathematics, which can be used in the proof of new theorems. The system is maintained and developed by the Mizar Project, formerly under the direction of its founder Andrzej Trybulec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan curve theorem</span> Theorm on division of the plane in topology

In topology, the Jordan curve theorem asserts that every Jordan curve divides the plane into an "interior" region bounded by the curve and an "exterior" region containing all of the nearby and far away exterior points. Every continuous path connecting a point of one region to a point of the other intersects with the curve somewhere. While the theorem seems intuitively obvious, it takes some ingenuity to prove it by elementary means. "Although the JCT is one of the best known topological theorems, there are many, even among professional mathematicians, who have never read a proof of it.". More transparent proofs rely on the mathematical machinery of algebraic topology, and these lead to generalizations to higher-dimensional spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pick's theorem</span> Formula for area of a grid polygon

In geometry, Pick's theorem provides a formula for the area of a simple polygon with integer vertex coordinates, in terms of the number of integer points within it and on its boundary. The result was first described by Georg Alexander Pick in 1899. It was popularized in English by Hugo Steinhaus in the 1950 edition of his book Mathematical Snapshots. It has multiple proofs, and can be generalized to formulas for certain kinds of non-simple polygons.

A formal system is an abstract structure or formalization of an axiomatic system used for inferring theorems from axioms by a set of inference rules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coq (software)</span> Proof assistant

Coq is an interactive theorem prover first released in 1989. It allows for expressing mathematical assertions, mechanically checks proofs of these assertions, helps find formal proofs, and extracts a certified program from the constructive proof of its formal specification. Coq works within the theory of the calculus of inductive constructions, a derivative of the calculus of constructions. Coq is not an automated theorem prover but includes automatic theorem proving tactics (procedures) and various decision procedures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proof assistant</span> Software tool to assist with the development of formal proofs by human-machine collaboration

In computer science and mathematical logic, a proof assistant or interactive theorem prover is a software tool to assist with the development of formal proofs by human-machine collaboration. This involves some sort of interactive proof editor, or other interface, with which a human can guide the search for proofs, the details of which are stored in, and some steps provided by, a computer.

In computer science, in particular in knowledge representation and reasoning and metalogic, the area of automated reasoning is dedicated to understanding different aspects of reasoning. The study of automated reasoning helps produce computer programs that allow computers to reason completely, or nearly completely, automatically. Although automated reasoning is considered a sub-field of artificial intelligence, it also has connections with theoretical computer science and philosophy.

HOL Light is a member of the HOL theorem prover family. Like the other members, it is a proof assistant for classical higher order logic. Compared with other HOL systems, HOL Light is intended to have relatively simple foundations. HOL Light is authored and maintained by the mathematician and computer scientist John Harrison. HOL Light is released under the simplified BSD license.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrzej Trybulec</span> Polish mathematician and computer scientist

Andrzej Wojciech Trybulec was a Polish mathematician and computer scientist noted for work on the Mizar system.

Metamath is a formal language and an associated computer program for archiving and verifying mathematical proofs. Several databases of proved theorems have been developed using Metamath covering standard results in logic, set theory, number theory, algebra, topology and analysis, among others.

Automath is a formal language, devised by Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn starting in 1967, for expressing complete mathematical theories in such a way that an included automated proof checker can verify their correctness.

In programming language theory, the POPLmark challenge is a set of benchmarks designed to evaluate the state of automated reasoning in the metatheory of programming languages, and to stimulate discussion and collaboration among a diverse cross section of the formal methods community. Very loosely speaking, the challenge is about measurement of how well programs may be proven to match a specification of how they are intended to behave. The challenge was initially proposed by the members of the PL club at the University of Pennsylvania, in association with collaborators around the world. The Workshop on Mechanized Metatheory is the main meeting of researchers participating in the challenge.

Interactive Theorem Proving (ITP) is an annual international academic conference on the topic of automated theorem proving, proof assistants and related topics, ranging from theoretical foundations to implementation aspects and applications in program verification, security, and formalization of mathematics.

Georges Gonthier is a Canadian computer scientist and one of the leading practitioners in formal mathematics. He led the formalization of the four color theorem and Feit–Thompson proof of the odd-order theorem.

The Euclid–Euler theorem is a theorem in number theory that relates perfect numbers to Mersenne primes. It states that an even number is perfect if and only if it has the form 2p−1(2p − 1), where 2p − 1 is a prime number. The theorem is named after mathematicians Euclid and Leonhard Euler, who respectively proved the "if" and "only if" aspects of the theorem.

In the philosophy of mathematics, a non-surveyable proof is a mathematical proof that is considered infeasible for a human mathematician to verify and so of controversial validity. The term was coined by Thomas Tymoczko in 1979 in criticism of Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken's computer-assisted proof of the four color theorem, and has since been applied to other arguments, mainly those with excessive case splitting and/or with portions dispatched by a difficult-to-verify computer program. Surveyability remains an important consideration in computational mathematics.

Christine Paulin-Mohring is a mathematical logician and computer scientist, and Professor Faculté des Sciences at Paris-Saclay University, best known for developing the interactive theorem prover Coq.

Lean is a proof assistant and programming language. It is based on the calculus of constructions with inductive types. It is an open-source project hosted on GitHub. It was made by Microsoft Research.

References

  1. The QED Manifesto in Automated Deduction - CADE 12, Springer-Verlag, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 814, pp. 238-251, 1994. HTML version
  2. The QED Workshop II report
  3. Freek Wiedijk, The QED Manifesto Revisited, 2007
  4. Fairouz Kamareddine, Manuel Maarek, Krzysztof Retel, and J. B. Wells, Gradual Computerisation/Formalisation of Mathematical Texts into Mizar
  5. mathlib library https://leanprover-community.github.io/mathlib-overview.html
  6. Twenty years of the QED Manifesto workshop

Further reading