Facets of the PIE Environment for Proving, Interpolating and Eliminating on the Basis of First-Order Logic

Abstract

PIE is a Prolog-embedded environment for automated reasoning on the basis of first-order logic. Its main focus is on formulas, as constituents of complex formalizations that are structured through formula macros, and as outputs of reasoning tasks such as second-order quantifier elimination and Craig interpolation. It supports a workflow based on documents that intersperse macro definitions, invocations of reasoners, and L A T E X-formatted natural language text. Starting from various examples, the paper discusses features and application possibilities of PIE along with current limitations and issues for future research.