Abstract
We survey some basic issues in first-order theorem proving and their implications for conditional term-rewriting systems. In particular, we discuss the propositional efficiency of theorem proving strategies, goal-sensitivity, and the use of semantics. We give several recommendations for theorem proving strategies to enable them to properly treat these issues. Although few current theorem provers implement these recommendations, we discuss the clause linking theorem proving method and its extension to equality and semantics as examples of methods that satisfy most or all of our recommendations. Implicit induction theorem provers meet our recommendations, to some extent. We also discuss correctness and efficiency issues involved in the use of semantics in first-order theorem proving. Finally, we discuss issues of efficiency and semantics in conditional term-rewriting.
This research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grant CCR-9108904; Fachbereich Informatik, Universitaet Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany; and the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Informatik, Saarbruecken, Germany
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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Plaisted, D.A., Alexander, G.D., Chu, H., Lee, SJ. (1993). Conditional term rewriting and first-order theorem proving. In: Rusinowitch, M., Rémy, JL. (eds) Conditional Term Rewriting Systems. CTRS 1992. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 656. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56393-8_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56393-8_19
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