Program Verification of Numerical Computation

Abstract

These notes outline a formal method for program verification of numerical computation. It forms the basis of the software package VPC in its initial phase of development. Much of the style of presentation is in the form of notes that outline the definitions and rules upon which VPC is based. The initial motivation of this project was to address some practical issues of computation, especially of numerically intensive programs that are commonplace in computer models. The project evolved into a wider area for program construction as proofs leading to a model of inference in a more general sense. Some basic results of machine arithmetic are derived as a demonstration of VPC.