Comment by esafak
Would writing a Lean proof enable algorithmically searching for a shorter (simpler) proof?
Would writing a Lean proof enable algorithmically searching for a shorter (simpler) proof?
I worked a long time ago on tools for algorithmically pruning proofs in another theorem-proving environment, Isabelle. That project was largely just using pretty straightforward graph algorithms, but I’m sure the state-of-the-art is much more advanced today (not least it’s an area where I assume LLMs would be helpful conjoined with formal methods).
I'm not an expert but I'd say based on my experience with Lean so far, the answer is yes. eg. I have entered some proofs from the Lean guide and then replaced tactics with `apply?` which searches for tactics to meet the goal, and eg. reduced this example from the guide:
To this: Presumably the same thing could be done for each part of a more complicated proof and could be done so at each step automatically.