Big proof
Cambridge University
Proofs as constructive demonstrations of mathematical validity have been at the heart of mathematics since antiquity. Formal proof systems capture the definitions, statements, and proofs of mathematical discourse using precisely defined formal languages and rules of inference. Formal proofs have enabled mathematicians to rigorously explore foundational issues of expressiveness, consistency, independence, completeness, computability, and decidability. The formalisation of proof facilitates the representation and manipulation of mathematical knowledge with modern digital computers. During the last sixty years, the digitisation of formal mathematics has yielded satisfiability solvers, rewriting engines, computer algebra systems, automated theorem provers, and interactive proof assistants. Proof technology can be used to perform large calculations reliably, solve systems of constraints, discover and visualise examples and counterexamples, simplify expressions, explore hypotheses, navigate