Normalization via Rewrite Closures

Leo Bachmair, C. R. Ramakrishnan, I. V. Ramakrishnan, Ashish Tiwari

Abstract: We present an abstract completion-based method for finding normal forms of terms with respect to given rewrite systems. The method uses the concept of a rewrite closure, which is a generalization of the idea of a congruence closure. Our results generalize previous results on congruence closure-based normalization methods. The description of known methods within our formalism also allows a better understanding of these procedures.