Speaker: Andrew Pitts (University of Cambridge)

Title: An Invitation to Nominal Domain Theory

Abstract:

The category of nominal sets provides a mathematical model of names
and binding based on simple, but subtle ideas to do with permutations
of names and "finitely supported" mathematical objects that first
arose in mathematical logic in the 1930s. Its use underlies a number of
recent works on names and binding in computational logic, automated
reasoning, programming language design and operational
semantics. Relatively little use has been made of it for denotational
semantics. Yet the key notion of finite support provides a
syntax-independent model of "free occurrence of names" that really
comes into its own when considering the kind of infinite mathematical
objects that arise in semantics rather than syntax. So this talk will
explain what is known so far about "doing domain theory in the
category of nominal sets", in the hope that some of the audience will
be attracted to do some more.