Galois Connections and Fixed Point Calculus by Roland Backhouse
2001
Number of pages: 105
Recursion is a very powerful problem-solving technique that is used widely in computing science. It is used, for example, in the definition of programming languages, as a fundamental programming structure in functional and logic programming, and in the definition of data structures. A complete understanding of recursion can only be achieved by studying its algebraic properties. This tutorial covers fixed point calculus, which is about the solution of recursive equations defined by a monotonic endofunction on a partially ordered set. It presents the basic theory of fixed point calculus together with a number of applications of direct relevance to the construction of computer programs. The tutorial also presents the theory and application of Galois connections between partially ordered sets. In particular, the intimate relation between Galois connections and fixed point equations is amply demonstrated.
Computers & Internet Computer Science Theory of Computation

---