Automated Reasoning (AR) is a 10 credit course at Level 9, normally taken in Year 3. It runs in Semester 1. The exam is in , and is worth 60% of the course mark. The University descriptor is here.
Course Outline
The course starts with an introduction to higher order logic, theorem provers and, more specifically, Isabelle/HOL. This will set the context for the rest of the course in which Isabelle will be the framework for getting hands-on experience about the application of various theoretical concepts.
Through the lectures and weekly exercises that incorporate practical aspects the students will gain the skills needed to get started with Isabelle and progress to more complex concepts involving both representation and reasoning.
The second part will look at representation/modelling of concepts in (higher order) logic in details. Axiomatic versus conservative extensions of theories will be covered and mechanisms such as Isabelle locales will be introduced and used. Recursive definitions and inductive notions will be covered too.
The third part of the course will focus on fundamental notions such as unification and rewriting, within both a first and higher order context. It will look at notions such as termination and use Isabelle's simplifier as the tool for understanding many of the concepts. It will also look at the interplay between (fully) automatic and interactive proofs.
The fourth part will introduce declarative/structured proofs and using the Isar language of Isabelle show how proofs resembling pencil and paper ones can be formalized.
Finally the various strands will be brought together through the discussion of a non-trivial case study. This may involve either formalized mathematics (e.g. looking at a geometric theory) or a formal verification example.
The assignment will be a combination of basic to intermediate representation and reasoning in Isabelle (up to 40%), more advanced proof tackling one particular domain or example (up to 40%) and a final part which, if completed successfully, will clearly demonstrate that the student has a good grasp of the challenges that advanced interactive theorem proving entails.
Timetable
If you are looking for your class times for this course, these can be found via your University of Edinburgh calendar (links provided below):
