Interpolation Results for Arrays with Length and MaxDiff

In this article, we enrich McCarthy’s theory of extensional arrays with a length and a maxdiff operation. As is well-known, some diff operation (i.e., some kind of difference function showing where two unequal arrays differ) is needed to keep interpolants quantifier free in array theories. Our maxdiff operation returns the max index where two arrays differ; thus, it has a univocally determined semantics. The length function is a natural complement of such a maxdiff operation and is needed to handle real arrays. Obtaining interpolation results for such a rich theory is a surprisingly hard task. We get such results via a thorough semantic analysis of the models of the theory and of their amalgamation and strong amalgamation properties. The results are modular with respect to the index theory; we show how to convert them into concrete interpolation algorithms via a hierarchical approach realizing a polynomial reduction to interpolation in linear arithmetics endowed with free function symbols.