The chemical abstract machine

TLDR

Machine states are chemical solutions in which molecules interact according to reaction rules. The paper introduces a novel abstract machine inspired by the chemical metaphor of the Γ language. The machine stratifies solutions with membranes to localize reactions, and the authors illustrate its use by defining the operational semantics of TCCS and CCS and extracting a higher‑order concurrent λ‑calculus.

Abstract

We introduce a new kind of abstract machine based on the chemical metaphor used in the Γ language of Banâtre & al. States of a machine are chemical solutions where floating molecules can interact according to reaction rules. Solutions can be stratified by encapsulating subsolutions within membranes that force reactions to occur locally. We illustrate the use of this model by describing the operational semantics of the TCCS and CCS process calculi. We also show how to extract a higher-order concurrent λ-calculus out of the basic concepts of the chemical abstract machine.