Chapter 29  Polymorphic Universes

• 29.1  General Presentation
• 29.2  Polymorphic, Monomorphic
• 29.3  Global and local universes
• 29.4  Conversion and unification
• 29.5  Minimization
• 29.6  Explicit Universes

Matthieu Sozeau

29.1  General Presentation

This section describes the universe polymorphic extension of Coq. Universe polymorphism makes it possible to write generic definitions making use of universes and reuse them at different and sometimes incompatible universe levels.

A standard example of the difference between universe polymorphic and monomorphic definitions is given by the identity function:

By default, constant declarations are monomorphic, hence the identity function declares a global universe (say Top.1) for its domain. Subsequently, if we try to self-apply the identity, we will get an error:

Indeed, the global level Top.1 would have to be strictly smaller than itself for this self-application to typecheck, as the type of (@identity) is forall (A : Type@Top.1), A -> A whose type is itself Type@Top.1+1.

A universe polymorphic identity function binds its domain universe level at the definition level instead of making it global.

It is then possible to reuse the constant at different levels, like so:

Of course, the two instances of pidentity in this definition are different. This can be seen when Set Printing Universes is on:

Now pidentity is used at two different levels: at the head of the application it is instantiated at Top.3 while in the argument position it is instantiated at Top.4. This definition is only valid as long as Top.4 is strictly smaller than Top.3, as show by the constraints. Note that this definition is monomorphic (not universe polymorphic), so the two universes (in this case Top.3 and Top.4) are actually global levels.

Inductive types can also be declared universes polymorphic on universes appearing in their parameters or fields. A typical example is given by monoids:

The Monoid’s carrier universe is polymorphic, hence it is possible to instantiate it for example with Monoid itself. First we build the trivial unit monoid in Set:

From this we can build a definition for the monoid of Set-monoids (where multiplication would be given by the product of monoids).

As one can see from the constraints, this monoid is “large”, it lives in a universe strictly higher than Set.

29.2  Polymorphic, Monomorphic

As shown in the examples, polymorphic definitions and inductives can be declared using the Polymorphic prefix. There also exists an option Set Universe Polymorphism which will implicitly prepend it to any definition of the user. In that case, to make a definition producing global universe constraints, one can use the Monomorphic prefix. Many other commands support the Polymorphic flag, including:

• Lemma, Axiom, and all the other “definition” keywords support polymorphism.
• Variables, Context, Universe and Constraint in a section support polymorphism. This means that the universe variables (and associated constraints) are discharged polymorphically over definitions that use them. In other words, two definitions in the section sharing a common variable will both get parameterized by the universes produced by the variable declaration. This is in contrast to a “mononorphic” variable which introduces global universes and constraints, making the two definitions depend on the same global universes associated to the variable.
• Hint {Resolve, Rewrite} will use the auto/rewrite hint polymorphically, not at a single instance.

29.3  Global and local universes

Each universe is declared in a global or local environment before it can be used. To ensure compatibility, every global universe is set to be strictly greater than Set when it is introduced, while every local (i.e. polymorphically quantified) universe is introduced as greater or equal to Set.

29.4  Conversion and unification

The semantics of conversion and unification have to be modified a little to account for the new universe instance arguments to polymorphic references. The semantics respect the fact that definitions are transparent, so indistinguishable from their bodies during conversion.

This is accomplished by changing one rule of unification, the first-order approximation rule, which applies when two applicative terms with the same head are compared. It tries to short-cut unfolding by comparing the arguments directly. In case the constant is universe polymorphic, we allow this rule to fire only when unifying the universes results in instantiating a so-called flexible universe variables (not given by the user). Similarly for conversion, if such an equation of applicative terms fail due to a universe comparison not being satisfied, the terms are unfolded. This change implies that conversion and unification can have different unfolding behaviors on the same development with universe polymorphism switched on or off.

29.5  Minimization

Universe polymorphism with cumulativity tends to generate many useless inclusion constraints in general. Typically at each application of a polymorphic constant f, if an argument has expected type Type@{i} and is given a term of type Type@{j}, a j ≤ i constraint will be generated. It is however often the case that an equation j = i would be more appropriate, when f’s universes are fresh for example. Consider the following example:

This definition is elaborated by minimizing the universe of id to level Set while the more general definition would keep the fresh level i generated at the application of id and a constraint that Set ≤ i. This minimization process is applied only to fresh universe variables. It simply adds an equation between the variable and its lower bound if it is an atomic universe (i.e. not an algebraic max() universe).

The option Unset Universe Minimization ToSet disallows minimization to the sort Set and only collapses floating universes between themselves.

29.6  Explicit Universes

The syntax has been extended to allow users to explicitly bind names to universes and explicitly instantiate polymorphic definitions.

29.6.1  Universe ident.

In the monorphic case, this command declares a new global universe named ident. It supports the polymorphic flag only in sections, meaning the universe quantification will be discharged on each section definition independently. One cannot mix polymorphic and monomorphic declarations in the same section.

29.6.2  Constraint ident ord ident.

This command declares a new constraint between named universes. The order relation can be one of <, ≤ or =. If consistent, the constraint is then enforced in the global environment. Like Universe, it can be used with the Polymorphic prefix in sections only to declare constraints discharged at section closing time. One cannot declare a global constraint on polymorphic universes.

Error messages:

1. Undeclared universe ident.
2. Universe inconsistency

29.6.3  Polymorphic definitions

For polymorphic definitions, the declaration of (all) universe levels introduced by a definition uses the following syntax:

During refinement we find that j must be larger or equal than i, as we are using A : Type@i <= Type@j, hence the generated constraint. At the end of a definition or proof, we check that the only remaining universes are the ones declared. In the term and in general in proof mode, introduced universe names can be referred to in terms. Note that local universe names shadow global universe names. During a proof, one can use Show Universes to display the current context of universes.

Definitions can also be instantiated explicitly, giving their full instance:

User-named universes are considered rigid for unification and are never minimized.

29.6.4  Unset Strict Universe Declaration.

The command Unset Strict Universe Declaration allows one to freely use identifiers for universes without declaring them first, with the semantics that the first use declares it. In this mode, the universe names are not associated with the definition or proof once it has been defined. This is meant mainly for debugging purposes.