The pi-calculus : a theory of mobile processes

Mobile systems, whose components communicate and change their structure, now pervade the informational world and the wider world of which it is a part.

The science of mobile systems is as yet immature, however.

This book presents the pi-calculus, a theory of mobile systems.

The pi-calculus provides a conceptual framework for understanding mobility, and mathematical tools for expressing systems and reasoning about their behaviours.

The book serves both as a reference for the theory and as an extended demonstration of how to use pi-calculus to describe systems and analyse their properties.

It covers the basic theory of pi-calculus, typed pi-calculi, higher-order processes, the relationship between pi-calculus and lambda-calculus, and applications of pi-calculus to object-oriented design and programming.

The book is written at the graduate level, assuming no prior acquaintance with the subject, and is intended for computer scientists interested in mobile systems.