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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2026.22

On the Algorithmic Structure of Dialectica Realisers

Authors: Davide Barbarossa and Thomas Powell

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 363, 34th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2026)

Abstract

Gödel’s Dialectica interpretation is a fundamental tool for the extraction of computational content from proofs, and plays a central role in today’s proof mining program. In the past decades, it has also been studied from the perspective of programming languages, and our contribution is in that direction. Specifically, we present Dialectica as a collection of rules in the style of Hoare logic, where Dialectica is now viewed as a language for specifying procedural programs that come with a forward and backward direction. This viewpoint captures the interesting dynamics of realisers extracted by the Dialectica interpretation, and we illustrate this by defining a generalised backpropagation semantics for a fragment of this language. We envisage this work as providing a base for several future developments, both theoretical and practical, which we outline at the end.

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Davide Barbarossa and Thomas Powell. On the Algorithmic Structure of Dialectica Realisers. In 34th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 363, pp. 22:1-22:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{barbarossa_et_al:LIPIcs.CSL.2026.22,
  author =	{Barbarossa, Davide and Powell, Thomas},
  title =	{{On the Algorithmic Structure of Dialectica Realisers}},
  booktitle =	{34th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2026)},
  pages =	{22:1--22:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-411-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{363},
  editor =	{Guerrini, Stefano and K\"{o}nig, Barbara},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2026.22},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-254466},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2026.22},
  annote =	{Keywords: Dialectica interpretation, Hoare logic, Programs from proofs}
}

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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2011.233

System T and the Product of Selection Functions

Authors: Martin Escardo, Paulo Oliva, and Thomas Powell

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 12, Computer Science Logic (CSL'11) - 25th International Workshop/20th Annual Conference of the EACSL (2011)

Abstract

We show that the finite product of selection functions (for all finite types) is primitive recursively equivalent to Goedel's higher-type recursor (for all finite types). The correspondence is shown to hold for similar restricted fragments of both systems: The recursor for type level n+1 is primitive recursively equivalent to the finite product of selection functions of type level n. Whereas the recursor directly interprets induction, we show that other classical arithmetical principles such as bounded collection and finite choice are more naturally interpreted via the product of selection functions.

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Martin Escardo, Paulo Oliva, and Thomas Powell. System T and the Product of Selection Functions. In Computer Science Logic (CSL'11) - 25th International Workshop/20th Annual Conference of the EACSL. Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 12, pp. 233-247, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2011)

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@InProceedings{escardo_et_al:LIPIcs.CSL.2011.233,
  author =	{Escardo, Martin and Oliva, Paulo and Powell, Thomas},
  title =	{{System T and the Product of Selection Functions}},
  booktitle =	{Computer Science Logic (CSL'11) - 25th International Workshop/20th Annual Conference of the EACSL},
  pages =	{233--247},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-939897-32-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2011},
  volume =	{12},
  editor =	{Bezem, Marc},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2011.233},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-32341},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2011.233},
  annote =	{Keywords: primitive recursion, product of selection functions, finite choice, dialectica interpretation}
}

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Documents authored by Powell, Thomas

On the Algorithmic Structure of Dialectica Realisers

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System T and the Product of Selection Functions

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