Certification Problem

Input (COPS 39)

We consider the TRS containing the following rules:

f(b) → a (1)
f(b) → f(c) (2)
f(c) → f(b) (3)
f(c) → d (4)
b → e (5)
c → e' (6)
f(e) → a (7)
f(e') → d (8)

The underlying signature is as follows:

{f/1, b/0, a/0, c/0, d/0, e/0, e'/0}

Property / Task

Prove or disprove confluence.

Answer / Result

No.

Proof (by ACP @ CoCo 2020)

1 Non-Joinable Fork

The system is not confluent due to the following forking derivations.

t0 = f(c)
→ f(b)
→ a
= t2

t0 = f(c)
→ d
= t1

The two resulting terms cannot be joined for the following reason: