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Every deep-inference derivation decomposes into an up-fragment followed by a down-fragment whose middle formula is a Lyndon interpolant.

Reviewed by Pith at T0; open to challenge. T0 means a machine referee read the full paper against a public rubric. the ladder, T0–T4 →

T0 review · grok-4.5

2026-07-30 12:03 UTC pith:KMCYRVIJ

load-bearing objection Solid modular deep-inference proof of Lyndon interpolation that also generalizes cut-elim; the only real softness is an unmechanized permutation argument and some modal copy-paste slips. the 1 major comments →

arxiv 2607.23798 v1 pith:KMCYRVIJ submitted 2026-07-26 cs.LO

Interpolation via Generalized Splitting

classification cs.LO
keywords proof theorylinear logiccut eliminationinterpolationdeep inferenceLyndon interpolationmodal logicsplitting lemma
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved

The pith

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper shows that Lyndon interpolation can be obtained directly inside deep inference, without extracting an interpolant from a sequent proof. The key statement is that any derivation from A to B can be rewritten as a derivation that first uses only “up” rules down to an intermediate formula I and then only “down” rules from I to B. Because up-rules cannot introduce new atoms (or reverse polarity) while moving downward and down-rules cannot do so while moving upward, I automatically satisfies the language and polarity conditions of a Lyndon interpolant. The same decomposition specialises to cut-elimination when the premise is the unit, so interpolation and cut-elimination become two faces of one structural fact. The method is carried out uniformly for linear logic, classical logic and the modal systems K, KT, K4 and S4, for which new cut-free deep-inference calculi are also supplied.

Core claim

Theorem 1 asserts that every derivation A ⊢_X B in the systems considered can be decomposed into A ⊢_{X↑} I ⊢_{X↓} B for some formula I; the intermediate I is necessarily a Lyndon interpolant, and the decomposition simultaneously generalises cut elimination.

What carries the argument

The generalised splitting lemma (Lemma 10) together with the core-flipping lemma: splitting is extended from proofs of (A ⊸ B) ⊸ K to arbitrary-premise derivations, and flipping then turns a mixed up/down derivation into a pure up-then-down derivation while preserving the interpolant.

Load-bearing premise

The whole argument needs a carefully engineered core that contains three extra admissible rules (p′, d′, d′₀ and duals) which are not derivable in the ordinary systems; without that non-standard core the induction for generalised splitting fails.

What would settle it

Exhibit a concrete derivation in one of the listed systems that cannot be rearranged into an up-fragment followed by a down-fragment, or whose forced intermediate formula violates the Lyndon polarity condition.

Watch this falsifier — get emailed when new claim-graph text bears on it.

If this is right

  • Interpolation and cut-elimination become instances of a single decomposition theorem rather than separate meta-results.
  • The same core/non-core split immediately yields Lyndon interpolation for classical and the four modal logics once it is proved for linear logic.
  • Novel cut-free deep-inference systems for K, KT, K4 and S4 become available as a by-product.
  • Currying is shown to preserve the up/down decomposition, giving a precise account of how the interpolant transforms under implication introduction.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The same modular core/non-core discipline may supply a uniform interpolation criterion for other substructural or modal systems that still lack sequent calculi.
  • Because the decomposition is invertible (up to rule permutation), one obtains a concrete “proof-relevant” interpolant that can be read off atomic flows, linking the result to combinatorial proof theory.
  • Failure of the required core rules for a logic such as K4.3 would give a structural explanation of why that logic lacks interpolation.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit.

Referee Report

1 major / 0 minor

Summary. The paper proposes a deep-inference route to Lyndon interpolation based on a generalized splitting lemma. The main claim, Theorem 1, is that a derivation A ⊢_X B can be decomposed as A ⊢_{X↑} I ⊢_{X↓} B; since down-rules cannot create atoms/polarities going up and up-rules cannot create them going down, I is a Lyndon interpolant, and for A=1 the same statement specializes to cut elimination. The method is developed for linear logic (SLS′), classical logic (SKS), and modal logics K, KT, K4, S4 via new cut-free deep-inference systems. The technical architecture is: generalized splitting for the core fragment (Lemma 10), core flipping (Lemma 12), core/non-core decomposition preserving the ⅋/∨-structure (Lemmas 13, 23, 30), then flipping and interpolation (Theorem 15, Corollary 17, Theorem 31, Corollary 32). Appendices B–E give extensive inductive cases and sequent-calculus simulations.

Significance. If the decomposition lemmas are fully secure, this is a substantial and genuinely modular proof-theoretic contribution: a constructive, syntax-only interpolation proof that strengthens Maehara-style extraction in the direction of Saurin’s proof-relevant interpolation while simultaneously generalizing cut elimination. The core/non-core separation addresses Girard’s modularity complaint in a concrete way, and the transfer from linear to classical and modal logics is elegant. The new cut-free deep-inference systems for K/KT/K4/S4 are independently useful, since deep-inference modal proof theory is underdeveloped. The paper is not machine-checked, but it ships long explicit inductions, stated critical pairs, design rationales for the engineered rules p′↓/d′↓/d′₀↓, and external completeness/cut-elimination anchors; these make the result checkable and falsifiable rather than rhetorical.

major comments (1)
  1. [§4 Lemma 13; Appendix C; Lemmas 23/30] Lemma 13 is the pivot from the core result to Theorem 15 and hence Theorem 1, but the Appendix C proof is still an asserted rule-permutation argument. The displayed critical pairs are persuasive, yet two load-bearing ingredients are missing: (i) an explicit termination measure. The duplication cases for ˚c↓/c↓ replace one core instance below a contraction by two core instances above it, so a naive count of rules or inversions is not obviously well-founded; a lexicographic measure should be stated and shown to decrease in every displayed permutation. (ii) an exhaustiveness argument/table covering all LSnc rules against all LS′c rules, including the quiet cases ai↓, e↓, &↓, ⊤↓, d0↓, ⊗↓ and nested active/passive occurrences, not only the representative critical pairs. Lemmas 23 and 30 inherit this gap by appeal to “same proof.” This is a correctness-risk issue about the permutation proof,不是

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity: interpolation is constructed by induction on derivations, not assumed or fitted.

full rationale

Theorem 1 and its instances (Corollaries 17, 25, 32) are obtained by an explicit inductive construction: generalized splitting (Lemma 10, induction on derivation size and formula size, all cases written out), core flipping (Lemma 12), core/non-core decomposition by rule permutation (Lemma 13), then flipping (Theorem 15) plus ordinary cut elimination. The interpolant I is produced by the induction; it is not an input, a fitted parameter, or a quantity defined in terms of the target statement. Background facts (soundness/completeness of LS/KS and the modal systems, cut elimination) are standard external theorems, some of which appear in the author’s prior deep-inference papers; those citations supply infrastructure and are not used to smuggle the interpolation claim itself. The engineered core rules p'↓, d'↓, d'₀↓ are openly admitted as extra admissible rules needed for the induction (Remarks 6, 11, 16); that is a design choice, not a definitional loop. No step reduces the claimed decomposition to its own inputs by construction.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 4 axioms · 3 invented entities

Load-bearing background is standard proof-theoretic infrastructure (soundness/completeness and cut elimination for linear and classical deep-inference systems; sequent calculi and cut admissibility for K/KT/K4/S4) plus the paper's own engineered rule sets. No free parameters. Invented entities are the new proof systems and the generalized lemmas, which are syntactic constructions with internal proofs rather than physical postulates.

axioms (4)
  • domain assumption Cut elimination / completeness for LS ⊆ X ⊆ SLS' (Theorem 4, Theorem 8) and the corresponding classical facts for KS/SKS
    Used to reduce interpolation to flipping after translating A ⊢ B to a proof of A⊥ ⅋ B and eliminating cut (Corollary 17 steps 1–2). Taken from prior deep-inference literature and sequent translations.
  • domain assumption Sequent systems GS1Y are sound and complete for modal logics Y ∈ {K,KT,K4,S4} with cut admissible (Theorem 40, citing Troelstra–Schwichtenberg, Wansing, Poggiolesi)
    Needed for soundness/completeness and cut elimination of the new deep-inference modal systems via translation (Theorem 27, Corollary 28).
  • standard math De Morgan dualities, multiplicative context lemmas (Lemma 9), and open-deduction derivation formation
    Standard deep-inference and linear-logic infrastructure used throughout splitting and flipping.
  • ad hoc to paper Presence and admissibility of core rules p'↓, d'↓, d'₀↓ (and duals) in LS'c / SLS'c
    Not required for ordinary completeness of linear logic, but required for generalized splitting and O-structure-preserving decomposition (Remarks 6, 11, 14, 16).
invented entities (3)
  • Generalized splitting lemma (Lemma 10) and core flipping lemma (Lemma 12) no independent evidence
    purpose: Extract context splits from derivations with arbitrary premise and flip up/down separation under currying to build the interpolant
    Syntactic lemmas proved by induction; no external referent beyond the proof systems.
  • Deep-inference systems KSY / SKSY for modal logics K, KT, K4, S4 (rules in Figure 3, definition (8)) no independent evidence
    purpose: Provide cut-free deep-inference presentations on which the same interpolation method applies
    New rule sets designed so core/non-core separation and splitting carry over from linear logic via !↔□, ?↔◇.
  • Core/non-core decomposition preserving ⅋/∨ structure (Lemmas 13, 23, 30) no independent evidence
    purpose: Separate non-core structural rules so flipping can be proved on the core then lifted
    Rule-permutation device internal to the method; stronger than prior atomic contraction/weakening decompositions cited.

pith-pipeline@v1.2.0-grok45-kimik3 · 37296 in / 3117 out tokens · 73676 ms · 2026-07-30T12:03:42.181530+00:00 · methodology

0 comments
read the original abstract

We propose a new proof theoretical method for proving Lyndon interpolation. Our proof does not use the sequent calculus but is based on a generalization of the splitting lemma in deep inference. We then formulate the interpolation theorem as a decomposition of a derivation into an up-fragment and a down-fragment. This can be seen as (i) a strengthening of the standard formulation of the interpolation theorem, and (ii) a generalization of the cut elimination theorem. We demonstrate the flexibility of our approach by applying it to linear logic, classical logic, and modal logics. For this, we also introduce novel cut-free proof systems for several modal logics in deep inference.

discussion (0)

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