An algebraic study of commutation and termination
- We study commutation and termination properties in Cohen's w-algebra; an idempotent semiring with operations for finite and infinite iteration. We provide particularly simple calculational proofs of certain additivity and transformation theorems for termination that depend on commutation, cooperation or simulation properties. We also show that this algebraic approach provides a natural semantics to many standard diagrammatic arguments and that it is especially suited for mechanization in a formal method. Applications are total program correctness, abstract rewriting and concurrency control.
