We present a novel denotational semantics for the untyped call-by-value λ-calculus, where terms are interpreted as stable relations , i.e. as binary relations between substitutions and values, enjoying a monotonicity property. The denotation captures the input-output behaviour of higher-order programs, and is proved sound and complete with respect to the operational semantics. The definition also admits a presentation as a program logic. Following the principles of abstract interpretation, we use our denotational semantics as a collecting semantics to derive a modular relational analysis for higher-order programs. The analysis infers equalities between the arguments of a program and its result—a form of frame condition for functional programs.

@article{MontaguJ20,
  title = {Stable relations and abstract interpretation of higher-order programs},
  author = {Benoît Montagu and Thomas Jensen},
  journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages},
  volume = {4},
  number = {ICFP},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.1145/3409001}
}