Sequent Calculus Deductions

The Sequent class indicates that a code block will contain sequent-calculus deduction exercises, which require the production of a sequent calculus deduction.

These problems use ProofJS for their user interface. An initial click may be required to select a node. Once a node is selected, Enter will create a sibling node (on any node but the root), Ctrl-Enter will create a new child node, and Ctrl-Shift-Enter will create a new parent node (on any node but the root node). Nodes can be selected by either pressing Tab and Shift-Tab to cycle, or by using the mouse. Changes can be undone and redone with Ctrl-Z and Shift-Ctrl-Z respectively. The subtree above a selected node can be deleted with Ctrl-Backspace, and subtrees can be cut-copy-pasted with Shift-Ctrl-X, Shift-Ctrl-C and Shift-Ctrl-V respectively.

Available Systems

At the moment, four systems are available:

System Description
propLK A system based on the propositional fragment of Gentzen's LK
propLJ A system based on the propositional fragment of Gentzen's LJ
foLK A system based on the full first order system of LK
foLJ A system based on the full first order system of LJ

Exercises are given by specifying the desired endsequent. So an exercise can be constructed like so:

```{.Sequent .propLK}
1.1 P->Q, Q->R :|-: P->R
```

which produces:

1.1

(Remember to click on a node in order to interact, and to press Ctrl-Enter to create the first child node)

A completed proof will look like this:

1.2
{"ident":11,"label":"P->Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"->L","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"Cut","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"R,P,Q:|-:Q","rule":"XL","forest":[{"ident":58,"label":"Q,P,R:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":59,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":14,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]},{"ident":14,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q,R","rule":"XR","forest":[{"ident":57,"label":"Q,P:|-:R,Q","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":10,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}]}]},{"ident":15,"label":"P:|-:Q,P","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":16,"label":"P:|-:P","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":11,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}

With :|-: indicating a turnstile, and rule names to the right of inference lines.

Rules for LK and LJ

Here's a brief summary of LK's propositional "operational" rules:

Rule Premise Sequents Conclusion Sequent
&R Γ ⊢ Δ,φ ; Γ ⊢ Δ,ψ Γ ⊢ Δ, φ & ψ
&L φ, Γ ⊢ Δ φ & ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ
&L ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ φ & ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ
∨L φ, Γ ⊢ Δ ; ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ φ ∨ ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ
∨R Γ ⊢ Δ, φ Γ ⊢ Δ, φ ∨ ψ
∨R Γ ⊢ Δ, ψ Γ ⊢ Δ, φ ∨ ψ
→L Γ ⊢ Δ, φ; ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ φ → ψ, Γ ⊢ Δ
→R φ, Γ ⊢ Δ, ψ Γ ⊢ Δ, φ → ψ
¬L Γ ⊢ Δ, φ ¬φ, Γ ⊢ Δ
¬R φ, Γ ⊢ Δ Γ ⊢ Δ, ¬φ

Some structural rules (interchange, and contraction) are applied automatically to the parts of the sequent that match the Γ and Δ, so there is some room for a little bit of laxness there.1

The following explicit structural inferences are allowed:

Rule Premise Sequents Conclusion Sequent
CR Γ ⊢ Δ Γ ⊢ Δ
CL Γ ⊢ Δ Γ ⊢ Δ
XR Γ ⊢ Δ Γ ⊢ Δ
XL Γ ⊢ Δ Γ ⊢ Δ
WR Γ ⊢ Δ Γ ⊢ Δ,Δ'
WL Γ ⊢ Δ Γ,Γ' ⊢ Δ
Cut φ, Γ ⊢ Δ ; Γ' ⊢ Δ',φ Γ,Γ' ⊢ Δ,Δ'
Ax φ ⊢ φ

The contraction and exchange rules are actually redundant here, because of the fact that structural rules are applied automatically to the formulas substituted in for Γ,Δ. They're included here for presentation. Weakening is modified to allow for an arbitrary number of new formulas to be added.

The first order system for LK adds the following rules to the above:

Rule Premise Sequents Conclusion Sequent
∀L φ(τ), Γ ⊢ Δ ∀υφ(υ), Γ ⊢ Δ
∃L φ(τ), Γ ⊢ Δ ∃υφ(υ), Γ ⊢ Δ
∀R Γ ⊢ Δ, φ(τ) Γ ⊢ Δ, ∀υφ(υ)
∃R Γ ⊢ Δ, φ(τ) Γ ⊢ Δ, ∃υφ(υ)

The usual eigenvariable restrictions apply to ∀L and ∃R: the term τ must be a constant or variable that does not occur anywhere in the conclusion of the inference (i.e. not in Γ,Δ, or φ(υ)).

The propositional and first-order systems for LJ are just like those for LK with the additional restriction that at most one formula can occur on the right hand side of a sequent.

Syntax for LK and LJ

As usual, in writing formulas and inference rules, any of &, or /\ can be used for conjunction, and any of , v, and \/ can be used for disjunction. Any of -> or can be used for the conditional, and any of ¬, -, or ~ for negation. Sentence letters are P through W or P with subscripts like so: P_1. Predicates are F through L, or F with a subscript. Variables are v through z or x with a subscript and constants are a through e or c with a subscript.

Advanced Usage

Options

In addition to the standard points=VALUE and submission="none" options, sequent calculus exercises allow for you to set init="now" to have proofchecking begin as soon as the proof is loaded (rather than waiting for input) as well as the following options:

Name Effect
displayJSON Ctrl-? will toggle display of an editable JSON representation of the proof

JSON Serialization

Proof 1.2 above was generated using the displayJSON option, with the following invocation:

```{.Sequent .propLK init="now" options="displayJSON"}
1.2 P, P->Q :|-: Q
| {"ident":11,"label":"P->Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"->L","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"Cut","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"R,P,Q:|-:Q","rule":"XL","forest":[{"ident":58,"label":"Q,P,R:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":59,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":14,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]},{"ident":14,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q,R","rule":"XR","forest":[{"ident":57,"label":"Q,P:|-:R,Q","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":10,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}]}]},{"ident":15,"label":"P:|-:Q,P","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":16,"label":"P:|-:P","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":11,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}
```

The displayJSON option is useful for saving and communicating proofs, since one can reproduce a proof by pasting its JSON representation into the panel where the JSON representation is displayed. It's also useful for creating exercises in which the problems are partially completed, since, as in the example above, one can prefill an exercise by supplying a JSON representation below the statement of the problem (beginning each line of the JSON with a bar character |).

Playgrounds

You can generate a sequent calculus playground (where there is no goal, but where what you've proved is displayed) using something like the following:

```{.SequentPlayground .propLK init="now" options="displayJSON"}
{"ident":11,"label":"P->Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"->L","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"Cut","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"R,P,Q:|-:Q","rule":"XL","forest":[{"ident":58,"label":"Q,P,R:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":59,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":14,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]},{"ident":14,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q,R","rule":"XR","forest":[{"ident":57,"label":"Q,P:|-:R,Q","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":10,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}]}]},{"ident":15,"label":"P:|-:Q,P","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":16,"label":"P:|-:P","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":11,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}
```

Or like:

```{.SequentPlayground .propLK init="now" options="displayJSON"}
```

The result, in the first case, will be:

Playground
{"ident":11,"label":"P->Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"->L","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"Cut","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"R,P,Q:|-:Q","rule":"XL","forest":[{"ident":58,"label":"Q,P,R:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":59,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":14,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]},{"ident":14,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q,R","rule":"XR","forest":[{"ident":57,"label":"Q,P:|-:R,Q","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":10,"label":"Q,P:|-:Q","rule":"WL","forest":[{"ident":12,"label":"Q:|-:Q","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":13,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}]}]},{"ident":15,"label":"P:|-:Q,P","rule":"WR","forest":[{"ident":16,"label":"P:|-:P","rule":"Ax","forest":[{"ident":11,"label":"","rule":"","forest":[]}]}]}]}

and in the second will be:

Playground

Try editing each proof, and see how the displayed sequent changes!


  1. Variations on the sequent calculus without this simplification will be supported in the future.↩︎