Publication Date
8-2009
Type of Culminating Activity
Thesis
Degree Title
Master of Science in Mathematics
Department
Mathematics
Major Advisor
M. Randall Holmes, Ph.D.
Abstract
The oft-emphasized virtue of formal proof is correctness; a machine-checked proof adds greatly to our confidence in a result. But the rigors of formalization give rise to another possible virtue, namely clarity. Given the state of the art, clarity and formality are at odds: complexity of formalization obscures the content of proof. To address this, we develop a notion of proof strategies which extend the well-known notion of proof tactics. Beginning with the foundations of logic, we describe the methods and structures necessary to implement proof strategies, concluding with a proof-of-concept implementation in CheQED, a web-based proof assistant.
Recommended Citation
Petschulat, Cap, "Transparency in Formal Proof" (2009). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. 54.
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/td/54