Certification Problem

Input (COPS 695)

We consider the TRS containing the following rules:

h(a,a) → c (1)
b → h(b,a) (2)
b → a (3)
f(c) → c (4)
c → a (5)

The underlying signature is as follows:

{h/2, a/0, c/0, b/0, f/1}

Property / Task

Prove or disprove confluence.

Answer / Result

No.

Proof (by csi @ CoCo 2020)

1 Non-Joinable Fork

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

t0 = f(c)
→ f(a)
= t1

t0 = f(c)
→ c
→ a
= t2

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