%0 Journal Article
%T Evaluating functions as processes
%A Beniamino Accattoli
%J Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science
%D 2013
%I Open Publishing Association
%R 10.4204/eptcs.110.6
%X A famous result by Milner is that the lambda-calculus can be simulated inside the pi-calculus. This simulation, however, holds only modulo strong bisimilarity on processes, i.e. there is a slight mismatch between beta-reduction and how it is simulated in the pi-calculus. The idea is that evaluating a lambda-term in the pi-calculus is like running an environment-based abstract machine, rather than applying ordinary beta-reduction. In this paper we show that such an abstract-machine evaluation corresponds to linear weak head reduction, a strategy arising from the representation of lambda-terms as linear logic proof nets, and that the relation between the two is as tight as it can be. The study is also smoothly rephrased in the call-by-value case, introducing a call-by-value analogous of linear weak head reduction.
%U http://arxiv.org/pdf/1302.6337v1