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First page of Trace-Tree Magmas: Proof-Producing Infinite Countermodels and 28 New Order-Five Austin Classifications

Trace-Tree Magmas: Proof-Producing Infinite Countermodels and 28 New Order-Five Austin Classifications

Jiaming Zhao, Bing Wu, Xu Miao

cs.LO Sep 4, 2026 · v1 math.LO
Synthesizes infinite trace-tree magma countermodels for Austin laws and emits self-contained Lean 4 certificates verifying functionality and identity satisfaction.
Finite model finders cannot witness an Austin law: an identity whose finite models are all trivial but which has a nontrivial infinite model. We introduce rank-decreasing sparse trace-tree magmas, finitely presented total operations on a countably infinite constructor-tree carrier. The default product pairs its arguments; finitely many positive Horn clauses define exceptions. Our main procedure derives clauses from symbolic evaluation traces. For every model found, it proves functionality of the exceptional relation by descent on constructor size, proves the identity by exhaustive symbolic case analysis, and emits a self-contained Lean 4 certificate. A least simultaneous fixed point gives an implementation-independent semantics, so bounded search may miss models but cannot invalidate certified results. On ETP's 96 order-five Austin candidates, we discover and Lean-verify infinite countermodels for 28 identities with no prior public classification in our audit. They form 14 duality classes and establish 28 new Austin classifications. Four ALPS-known cases bring the total to 32 certified candidates. On Canonical-4187, the deduplicated union of Order5-130 and the 4,141-row ALPS pool, a fresh trace run produces 636 certificates, all accepted by Judge v3. At equal resource limits, Vampire 5.0.1, E 3.5.1, and complete Twee 2.6.1 jointly prove implications in 94 canonical classes. Only Twee returns trusted counter-satisfiable outcomes, for 18 classes; independent finite-side certificates force 16 to be infinite. None of these ATPs emits an explicit model or Lean certificate, and none decides the 28 new classifications. To the best of our audit, this is the first automated system to synthesize this trace-tree model family, generate well-founded inversion proofs, and emit self-contained Lean 4 certificates.

Austin laws are magma identities whose finite models are all trivial but which admit nontrivial infinite models; finite model finders cannot witness them. The Equational Theories Project lists 96 order-five candidates lacking known infinite countermodels, requiring construction of an infinite carrier, a total operation, and a proof of the identity.

Rank-decreasing sparse trace-tree magmas are introduced: total operations on a countably infinite free constructor-tree carrier where a default product pairs arguments and finitely many positive Horn clauses define exceptions. A procedure derives clauses from symbolic evaluation traces, proves functionality of the exceptional relation by descent on constructor size, and proves the identity by exhaustive symbolic case analysis. Each discovered model is reported with a self-contained Lean 4 certificate that reconstructs the carrier and operation, proves universal source validity, and refutes the target identity. A least simultaneous fixed point gives an implementation-independent semantics.

Infinite countermodels for 28 previously unclassified order-five identities were discovered and Lean-verified, forming 14 duality classes and 28 new Austin classifications; adding four known cases gives 32 certified candidates. On Canonical-4187 a trace run produced 636 accepted certificates, while ATPs (Vampire, E, Twee) jointly proved implications in 94 classes but emitted no explicit models or Lean certificates and decided none of the 28 new classifications.