What is a Quotient type pattern in Isabelle? - isabelle

Question

What is a "Quotient type pattern" in Isabelle?
I couldn't find any explanation over the internet.

Answer 1

It would be better if you would quote a little from where you saw the phrase. I know of "pattern matching," and I know of "quotient type," but I don't know of "quotient type pattern."
I prefer not to ask for clarification, and then wait, so I pick two of the three words, "quotient type." If I'm on the wrong track, it's still a worthy subject, and a big and important part of Isabelle/HOL.
There is the quotient_type keyword, and it allows you to define a new type with an equivalence relation.
It is part of the quotient package, described starting on page 248 of isar-ref.pdf. There happens to be a Wiki page, Quotient_type.
A more involved description is given by Brian Hufmann and Ondřej Kunčar. Go to Kunčar's web page and look at the two PDFs titled Lifting and Transfer: A Modular Design for Quotients in Isabelle/HOL, which are not exactly the same.
It happens to be that lifting and quotient types are heavily related, and not easy to understand, which is why I try to study a little here and there, like right now, to get a better understanding of it all.
Integers and Rationals in HOL Are Quotient Types, I Pick One as an Example, Integers
You can start by looking Int.thy.
For a quotient type, you need an equivalence relation, which defines a set, and intrel is what is used to define that set for type int.
definition intrel :: "(nat * nat) => (nat * nat) => bool" where
"intrel = (%(x, y) (u, v). x + v = u + y)"
This is the classic definition of the integers, based on the natural numbers. Integers are ordered pairs of natural numbers (and sets as I describe below), and they're equal by that definition.
For example, informally, (2,3) = (4,5) because 2 + 5 = 4 + 3.
I'm boring you, and you're waiting for the good stuff. Here's part of it, the use of quotient_type:
quotient_type int = "nat * nat" / "intrel"
morphisms Rep_Integ Abs_Integ
Those two morphisms come into play, if you want to strain your brain, and really understand what's going on, which I do. There are lots of functions and simp rules that quotient_type generates, and you have to do a lot of work to find it all, such as with the find_theorems command.
An Abs function abstracts an ordered pair to an int. Check these out:
lemma "Abs_Integ(1,0) = (1::int)"
by(metis one_int_def)
lemma "Abs_Integ(x,0) + Abs_Integ(y,0) ≥ (0::int)"
by(smt int_def)
They show that an int really is an ordered pair, under the hood of the engine.
Now I show the explicit types of those morphisms, along with Abs_int and Rep_int, which show int not only as an ordered pair, but as a set of ordered pairs.
term "Abs_int :: (nat * nat) set => int"
term "Abs_Integ :: (nat * nat) => int"
term "Rep_int :: int => (nat * nat) set"
term "Rep_Integ :: int => (nat * nat)"
I'm boring you again, but I have an emotional need to show some more examples. Two positive integers are equal if the components of the ordered pairs differ by one, such as these:
lemma "Abs_Integ(1,0) = Abs_Integ(3,2)"
by(smt nat.abs_eq split_conv)
lemma "Abs_Integ(4,3) = Abs_Integ(3,2)"
by(smt nat.abs_eq split_conv)
What would you expect if you added Abs_Integ(4,3) and Abs_Integ(3,2)? This:
lemma "Abs_Integ(2,3) + Abs_Integ(3,4) = Abs_Integ(2 + 3, 3 + 4)"
by(metis plus_int.abs_eq plus_int_def split_conv)
That plus_int in the proof is defined in Int.thy, on line 44.
lift_definition plus_int :: "int => int => int"
is "%(x, y) (u, v). (x + u, y + v)"
What is this lifting all about? That would put me at "days into" this explanation, and I'm only just starting to understand it a little.
The find_theorems shows there's lots of stuff hidden, as I said:
thm "plus_int.abs_eq"
find_theorems name: "Int.plus_int*"
More examples, but these are to emphasize that, under the hood of the engine, an int ties back into an equivalence class as a set, where I'm using intrel above to define the sets right:
term "Abs_int::(nat * nat) set => int"
term "Abs_int {(x,y). x + 3 = 2 + y}" (*(2,3)*)
term "Abs_int {(x,y). x + 4 = 3 + y}" (*(3,4)*)
lemma "Abs_int {(x,y). x + 3 = 2 + y} = Abs_int {(x,y). x + 100 = 99 + y}"
by(auto)
That auto proof was easy, but there's no magic coming through for me on this next one, even though it's simple.
lemma "Abs_int {(x,y). x + 3 = 2 + y} + Abs_int {(x,y). x + 4 = 3 + y}
= Abs_int {(x,y). x + 7 = 5 + y}"
apply(auto simp add: plus_int.abs_eq plus_int_def intrel_def)
oops
It could be that all I need to do is tap into something that's not a simp rule by default.
If quotient_type is not the "quotient type pattern" you're talking about, at least I got something out of it by seeing all what find_theorems returns about Int.plus_int* above.

Answer 2

What is a quotient type?
A quotient type is a way to define a new type in terms of an already existing type. That way, we don't have to axiomatize the new type. For example, one might find reasonable to use the naturals to build the integers, since they can be seen as "naturals+negatives". You may then want to use the integers to build the rationals, since they can be seen as "integers+quotients". And so on.
Quotient types use a given equivalence relation on the "lower type" to determine what equality means for the "higher type".
Being more precise: A quotient type is an abstract type for which equality is dictated by some equivalence relation on its underlying representation.
This definition might be too abstract at first, so we'll use the integers as a grounding example.
Example: Integers from Naturals
If one wants to define the integers, the most standard way is to use an ordered pair of natural numbers, such as (a,b), which intuitively represents "a-b". For example, the number represented by the pair (2,4) is -2, since intuitively 2-4 = -2. By the same logic, (0,2) also represents '-2', and so does (1,3) or (10,12), since 0-2 = 1-3 = 10-12 = -2.
We could then say that "two pairs (a,b) and (x,y) represent the same integer iff a - b = x - y". However, the minus operation can be weird in natural numbers (what is '2-3' in the naturals?). To avoid that weirdness, rewrite 'a - b = x - y' as 'a + y = x + b', now using only addition. So, two pairs (a,b) and (x,y) represent the same integer when 'a + y = x + b'. For example, (7,9) represents the same integer as (1,3), since '7 + 3 = 1 + 9'.
That leads to a quotient definition of integers: An integer is a type represented by an ordered pair of natural numbers. Two integers represented by (a,b) and (x,y) are equal if, and only if, a+y = x+b.
The integer type derives from the type "ordeded pair of natural numbers" which is its representation. We may call the integer itself an abstraction of that. The equality of integers is defined as whenever some underlying representations '(a,b)' and '(x,y)' follow the equivalence relation 'a+y = x+b'.
In that sense, the integer '-3' is represented by both '(0,3)' and '(2,5)', and we may show this by noticing that 0+5 = 3+2. On the other hand, '(0,3)' and '(6,10)' do not represent the same integer, since '0+10 ≠ 3+6'. This reflects the fact that '-3 ≠ -4'.
Technically speaking, the integer '-3' is not specifically '(0,3)', nor '(1,4)', nor '(10,13)', but the whole equivalence class. By that I mean that '-3' is the set containing all of its representations (i.e. -3 = { (0,3), (1,4), (2,5), (3,6), (4,7), ... }). '(0,3)' is called a representation for '-3', and '-3' is the abstraction of '(0,3)'.
Morphisms: Rep and Abs in Isabelle
Rep and Abs are ways for us to transition between the representations and the abstractions they represent. More precisely, they are mappings from an equivalence class to one of its representations, and vice-versa. We call them morphisms.
Rep takes an abstract object (an equivalence class), such as '-3', and transforms it into one of its representations, for example '(0,3)'. Abs does the opposite, taking a representation such as '(3,10)', and mapping it into its abstract object, which is '-7'. Int.thy (Isabelle's implementation of integers) defines these as Rep_Integ and Abs_Integ for integers.
Notice that the statement '(2,3) = (8,9)' is an absurd. Since these are ordered pairs, that would imply '2 = 8' and '3 = 9'. On the other hand the statement 'Abs_Integ(2,3) = Abs_Integ(8,9)' is very much true, as we are simply saying that the integer abstraction of '(2,3)' is the same as the integer abstraction '(8,9)', namely '-1'.
A more precise phrasing of 'Abs_Integ(2,3) = Abs_Integ(8,9)' is: "'(2,3)' and '(8,9)' belong in the same equivalence class under the integer relation". We usually call this class '-1'.
It's important to note that '-1' is just a convenient shorthand for "the equivalence class of (0,1)", in the same vein that '5' is just a shorthand for "the equivalence class of (5,0)" and '-15' is shorthand for "the equivalence class of '(0,15)'. We call '(0,1)', '(5,0)', and '(0,15) the canonical representations. So saying "Abs_Integ(2,3) = -1" is really just a nice abbreviation for "Abs_Integ(2,3) = Abs_Integ(0,1)" .
It's also worth noting that the mapping Rep is one-to-one. This means that Rep_Integ(-1) will always yield the same representation pair, usually the canonical '(0,1)'. The specific pair picked does not matter much, but it'll always pick the same one. That is useful to know, as it implies that the statement Rep_Integ(i) = Rep_Integ(i) is always true.
The quotient_type command in Isabelle
'quotient_type' creates a quotient type using the specified type and equivalence relation. So quotient_type int = "nat × nat" / "intrel" creates the quotient type int, as the equivalence classes of nat × nat under the relation intrel (where "intrel = (λ(a,b) (x,y). a+y = x+b)"). Section 11.9.1 of the manual details the specifics about the command.
It's worth noting that you actually have to prove that the relation provided (intrel) is an equivalence.
Here's a usage example from Int.thy, which defines the integers, it's morphisms, and proves that intrel is an equivalence relation:
(* Definition *)
quotient_type int = "nat × nat" / "intrel"
morphisms Rep_Integ Abs_Integ
(* Proof that 'intrel' is indeed an equivalence *)
proof (rule equivpI)
show "reflp intrel" by (auto simp: reflp_def)
show "symp intrel" by (auto simp: symp_def)
show "transp intrel" by (auto simp: transp_def)
qed
Definitions and Lemmas: The Lifting and Transfer packages
Now, the previous explanations suggest that Rep and Abs should appear everywhere, right? These transformations are crucial for proving properties about quotient types. However, they appear less than 10 times throughout the 2000 lines of Int.thy. Why?
lift_definition and the proof method transfer are the answer. They come from the Lifting and Transfer packages. These packages do a lot, but for our purposes, they do the job of concealing Rep and Abs from your definitions and theorems.
The gist when working with quotient types in Isabelle, is that you want to [1] define some operations, [2] prove some useful lemmas with the representation type, and then [3] completely forget about these representations, working only with the abstract type. When proving theorems about the abstract type, you should be using the previously shown properties and lemmas.
To get [1], lift_definition helps you to define the operations. In specific, it allows you to define a function with the representation type, and it automatically "lifts" it to the abstract type.
As an example, you can define addition on integers as such:
lift_definition int_plus:: "int ⇒ int ⇒ int"
is "λ(a,b)(c,d). (a+c, b+d)"
This definition is stated in terms of nat × nat ⇒ nat × nat ⇒ nat × nat, but 'lift_definition' will automatically "lift" it to int ⇒ int ⇒ int.
An important thing to note is that you have to prove the function still follows the equivalence relation after applied (i.e. if 'x ≃ y' then 'f x ≃ f y'). The definition above for example, will prompt you to prove that "if '(a,b) ≃ (x,y)' and '(c,d) ≃ (u,v)', then '(a+c,b+d) ≃ (x+u,y+v)'" (if it doesn't look like it, try using apply clarify).
One of the nice things about lift_definition is that it works in terms of the underlying representation only, so you don't have to worry about transitioning between abstractions and representations. Hence the lack of Rep_Integ and Abs_Integ in Int.thy.
It also sets up a transfer rule for the function. This how you get [2]: proving properties without having to worry about Rep and Abs. Using the transfer proof method, you can bring a lemma about an abstraction down to the representation level, and prove the desired property there.
As an example, you can state the commutativity of addition in the form int_plus x y = int_plus y x, and then use the transfer method to bring that statement down to the representation level, which after a clarify looks like intrel (a + c, b + d) (c + a, d + b). We can then prove by simplification with the definition of intrel:
lemma plus_comm: "int_plus x y = int_plus y x"
apply transfer
apply clarify
by (simp add: intrel_def)
And to get [3], you simply use these lemmas and properties of the abstract type, without worrying about the actual representations.
After this point, you'll even forget that you're using a quotient type, since the abstract type and it's properties are all you need. Usually a handful of lemmas on the abstract type is enough, and Int.thy will give you a lot more than a handful.
References and further reading
Section 1 of the paper "Quotient Types" gives a good overview of the topic (and goes in depth in the other sections).
The introduction of "Quotients Revisited for Isabelle/HOL" also explains very well the purpose of 'Rep' and 'Abs'.
"Lifting and Transfer" is also a great read into how these can be concealed and the automation behind quotient types in Isabelle.
Isabelle's Reference Manual (with some ctrl+f) is also a great source when in doubt about what specific commands do.