IMPS: System Description

Support for the Axiomatic Method. imps supports the “little theories” version of the axiomatic method, as opposed to the “big theory” version. In the big theory approach, all reasoning is carried out within one theory—usually some highly expressive theory, such as the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. In the little theories approach, reasoning is distributed over a network of theories. Results are typically proved in compact, abstract theories, and then transported as needed to more concrete theories, or indeed to ∗Supported by the MITRE-Sponsored Research Program. Published in: D. Kapur, ed., Automated Deduction—CADE-11 , Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 607, SpringerVerlag, 1992, pp. 701–705.