Jon Sterling

I am a doctoral student of Robert Harper at Carnegie Mellon University studying type theory, programming languages and semantics. Previously I received a B.A. in Linguistics from U.C. Berkeley. My other interests include category theory, topos theory, formalization of mathematics, Assyriology, and ancient languages and literature.

Research

I study the syntax and semantics of type theory and programming languages through the lens of categorical algebra, with an aim toward building better interactive proof assistants. I am interested in the design and metatheory of program module calculi as in ML family languages.

My colleagues and I have developed the redtt and cooltt proof assistants for Cartesian cubical type theory.

Recent News

Aug. 2020	thesis proposal presented and accepted
Jul. 2019	received ICFP '19 Distinguished Paper Award
Jun. 2019	received FSCD '19 Best Paper Award for Junior Researchers

Recent Drafts

Jul. 2020	Higher-Order Functions and Brouwer's Thesis J. Sterling (In preparation)
Jul. 2020	Logical Relations as Types: Proof-Relevant Parametricity for Program Modules J. Sterling, R. Harper. (Draft paper)
Feb. 2020	A Cubical Language for Bishop Sets J. Sterling, C. Angiuli, and D. Gratzer. (Draft paper) Latest Version

Publications

ICFP '19	Implementing a Modal Dependent Type Theory. D. Gratzer, J. Sterling, and L. Birkedal. International Conference on Functional Programming (ICFP), 2019. Distinguished Paper Award. Preprint, Technical Report, Implementation, Citation
FSCD '19	Cubical Syntax for Reflection-Free Extensional Equality. J. Sterling, C. Angiuli, and D. Gratzer. International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD), 2019. Best Paper Award For Junior Researchers. Extended Version, Slides, Citation
LFMTP '18	The RedPRL Proof Assistant. C. Angiuli, E. Cavallo, K. Hou (Favonia), R. Harper, and J. Sterling. International Workshop on Logical Frameworks and Meta-Languages: Theory and Practice (LFMTP), 2018. Invited Paper Citation
LICS '18	Guarded Computational Type Theory. J. Sterling, R. Harper. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM/IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science (LICS '18). Short Version, Extended Version, Slides, Citation
Apr. 2016	Dependent Types for Pragmatics. D. McAdams, J. Sterling. Redmond J., Pombo Martins O., Nepomuceno Fernández Á. (eds) Epistemology, Knowledge and the Impact of Interaction. Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science, vol 38. Springer, Cham. Citation

Expository Notes

Apr. 2020	An OK Version of Type Theory J. Sterling. (Expository note)
Feb. 2020	Connectives in Semantics of Type Theory J. Sterling. (Expository note)

Selected Talks

(Conference talks listed with publications.)

Aug. 2020	Objective Metatheory of (Cubical) Type Theories Thesis Proposal
Jun. 2020	redtt and the future of Cartesian cubical type theory. Every Proof Assistant Video
Mar. 2020	Objective Metatheory of Dependent Type Theories. HoTTEST Slides, Video
Mar. 2020	(Cubical) Computability Structures. MURI Grant Meeting
Jan. 2020	Gluing Models of Type Theory Along Flat Functors. J. Sterling and C. Angiuli CMU HoTT Seminar.
HoTT '19	Cubical Exact Equality and Categorical Gluing. J. Sterling, C. Angiuli, and D. Gratzer. International Conference on Homotopy Type Theory, 2019.
TYPES '19	XTT: Cubical Syntax for Extensional Equality (without equality reflection). J. Sterling, C. Angiuli, and D. Gratzer. TYPES, 2019.
Apr. 2019	Algebraic Type Theory and the Gluing Construction. CMU HoTT Seminar.
Aug. 2018	redtt: implementing cartesian cubical type theory. C. Angiuli, E. Cavallo, Favonia, R. Harper, A. Mőrtberg, and J. Sterling. Dagstuhl Seminar 18341: Formalization of Mathematics in Type Theory.

Selected Lectures

Fall 2017	Substructural Deduction. Guest lecture for Constructive Logic (15-317).
Fall 2017	Implementing Inference Rules in Standard ML. Tutorial for Constructive Logic (15-317), Fall 2017.

Teaching

Fall 2018	TA for Constructive Logic (15-317) with Karl Crary.
Fall 2017	TA for Constructive Logic (15-317) with Frank Pfenning.

Academic Service

I have served as an external reviewer for LICS (2017), FSCD (2019, 2020), CSL (2021); and as a referee for MSCS.

Awards and Honors

2019	ICFP '19 Distinguished Paper Award
2019	FSCD '19 Best Paper Award for Junior Researchers
2011	W.K. Pritchett Prize in Elementary Greek, UC Berkeley

Other Activities

Together with my co-hosts David Christiansen and Darin Morrison, I helped create The Type Theory Podcast.