# Who Finds the Short Proof? An Exploration of Variants of Boolos' Curious Inference using Higher-order Automated Theorem Provers

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.06879 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.06879/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 0 of its 30 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 14 Aug 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Mathematical Proof Assistants for Teaching Logic: The LogiKEy Methodology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.08214/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper reports on an exploration of Boolos' Curious Inference, using higher-order automated theorem provers (ATPs). Surprisingly, only suitable shorthand notations had to be provided by hand for ATPs to find a short proof. The higher-order lemmas required for constructing a short proof are automatically discovered by the ATPs. Given the observations and suggestions in this paper, full proof automation of Boolos' and related examples now seems to be within reach of higher-order ATPs.