Research

Formalization as a
mathematical activity.

The prospectus covers more than the last line of a proof. Formalization includes the definitions, the library, the choice of foundations, and the use of machines that suggest the next step.

A gold-edged sapphire with the corgi, capybara, and turtle.
Meaning guides. Syntax decides.

Research themes

  1. 01

    Formalized mathematics

    Definitions, constructions, and theorems written so a proof kernel can check them — libraries that travel, not notes that only a specialist can reconstruct.

  2. 02

    Computer-assisted proof

    Proof assistants as instruments of mathematical work: Lean, Rocq, Isabelle, Agda, and the translations between them. The checker, not the interface, is the authority.

  3. 03

    Artificial logic

    Models that propose lemmas, translations, and proof sketches. A proposal is not a proof. Artificial logic earns its name when a machine can follow the rule, and a kernel can refuse it.

  4. 04

    Mathematical logic

    The ground under the tools: type theory, proof theory, computability, and the limits of what a formal system can certify. Foundations treated as a living subject, not a preface.

The principle

When the model speaks,
the kernel signs.

Generated text is a proposal. Acceptance belongs to a checker whose rules are public.

Questions to work on

Beyond the last line.

Definitions, foundations, and the meaning
of a checked statement.

Libraries

Statements a person can read

A formalization that only another formalizer can parse has done half the work. Each deposit should carry the informal statement, the system, the axioms actually used, and a pointer to the checked source.

Assistants

Several kernels, one conversation

Lean, Rocq, Isabelle, and Agda do not formalize the same way. The institute would not pick a house system in order to look decisive. Translation, and honesty about what does not translate, is part of the subject.

Models

Proposal, then refusal

Autoformalization and lemma search are already changing the pace of formal work. The research stance here is narrow on purpose: generated text is a proposal. Acceptance belongs to a checker whose rules are public.

Foundations

What the certificate does not say

A machine-checked proof certifies a statement in a logic. It does not, by itself, certify that the statement is the theorem mathematicians meant. That gap — between informal intent and formal claim — is a research topic, not an embarrassment.