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We present a new technique for proving factorization theorems for compound rewriting systems in a modular way, which is inspired by the Hindley-Rosen technique for confluence. Specifically, our approach is well adapted to deal with extensions of the call-by-name and call-by-value λ-calculi. The technique is first developed abstractly. We isolate a sufficient condition (called linear swap) for lifting factorization from components to the compound system, and which is compatible with β-reduction. We then closely analyze some common factorization schemas for the λ-calculus. Concretely, we apply our technique to diverse extensions of the λ-calculus, among which de' Liguoro and Piperno’s non-deterministic λ-calculus and - for call-by-value - Carraro and Guerrieri’s shuffling calculus. For both calculi the literature contains factorization theorems. In both cases, we give a new proof which is neat, simpler than the original, and strikingly shorter.
@InProceedings{accattoli_et_al:LIPIcs.CSL.2021.6,
author = {Accattoli, Beniamino and Faggian, Claudia and Guerrieri, Giulio},
title = {{Factorize Factorization}},
booktitle = {29th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2021)},
pages = {6:1--6:25},
series = {Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
ISBN = {978-3-95977-175-7},
ISSN = {1868-8969},
year = {2021},
volume = {183},
editor = {Baier, Christel and Goubault-Larrecq, Jean},
publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
address = {Dagstuhl, Germany},
URL = {https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2021.6},
URN = {urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-134407},
doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2021.6},
annote = {Keywords: Lambda Calculus, Rewriting, Reduction Strategies, Factorization}
}