Monoidal Streams for Dataflow Programming

Title:Monoidal Streams for Dataflow Programming

Authors:Elena Di Lavore, Giovanni de Felice and Mario Román

Conference:LICS 2022

Tags:cartesian monoidal category, coalgebra, controlled stochastic process, dataflow programming, feedback, final coalgebra, markov category, monoidal category, monoidal stream, signal flow graph, stochastic process, stream, string diagram and symmetric monoidal category

Abstract:

We introduce monoidal streams: a generalization of synchronous stream processes to monoidal categories. Monoidal streams over a symmetric monoidal category form a feedback monoidal category. In the same way that classical streams provide semantics to dataflow programming with pure functions; monoidal streams provide semantics to dataflow programming where theories of processes are represented by a symmetric monoidal category. As an example, we study a stochastic dataflow language.