TY  - JOUR
Y1  - 2013///
SN  - 1875-8681
N2  - In this paper we present an overview of the unfold/fold proof method, a method for proving theorems about programs, based on program transformation. As a metalanguage for specifying programs and program properties we adopt constraint logic programming (CLP), and we present a set of transformation rules (including the familiar unfolding and folding rules) which preserve the semantics of CLP programs. Then, we show how program transformation strategies can be used, similarly to theorem proving tactics, for guiding the application of the transformation rules and inferring the properties to be proved. We work out three examples: (i) the proof of predicate equivalences, applied to the verification of equality between CCS processes, (ii) the proof of first order formulas via an extension of the quantifier elimination method, and (iii) the proof of temporal properties of infinite state concurrent systems, by using a transformation strategy that performs program specialization.
JF  - Fundamenta Informaticae
SP  - 115
A1  - Fioravanti, Fabio
A1  - Pettorossi, Alberto
A1  - Proietti, Maurizio
A1  - Senni, Valerio
PB  - IOS Press
VL  - 127
EP  - 134
UR  - http://iospress.metapress.com/content/0480055u62738804/?p=3456de1a2cbc47178e8f67e94b991d32&pi=0
IS  - 1-4
KW  - Automated theorem proving
KW  -  program transformation
KW  -  constraint logic programming
KW  -  program specialization
KW  -  bisimilarity
KW  -  quantifier elimination
KW  -  temporal logics.
AV  - public
ID  - eprints1832
TI  - Proving theorems by program transformation
ER  -