Amortized Analysis via Coinduction

Abstract

Amortized analysis is a program cost analysis technique for data structures in which the cost of operations is specified in aggregate, under the assumption of continued sequential use. Typically, amortized analyses are presented inductively, in terms of finite sequences of operations. We give an alternative coinductive formulation and prove that it is equivalent to the standard inductive definition. We describe a classic amortized data structure, the batched queue, and outline a coinductive proof of its amortized efficiency in $\textbf{calf}$, a dependent type theory for cost analysis.