Universal homogeneous event structures and domains (Q1175945)

Different constructions of particular kinds of ``universal'' domains for the denotational semantics of programming languages (or, more generally, models for variants of the \(\lambda\)-calculus) where given in the literature (e.g. unique domains for the classes of all coherent or all \(\omega\)-algebraic cpo's). It is shown that there exists a unique (up to isomorphism) countable univesal homogeneous event structure [in the sense of \textit{G. Winskel}, Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 255, 325-392 (1987; Zbl 0626.68022)]. Hence the category of event domains contains an universal object. Much more, this category is closed under inverse limits. A universal distributive event domain [in the sense of \textit{G. Berry}, Program transformations, Proc. 3rd. int. Symp. Program., Paris, 67-80 (1978; Zbl 0416.03017)] is also obtained. Similar results are derived for \textit{G.Kahn} and \textit{G.Plotkin's} category of concrete domains. In all the above categories, stable embedding-projection pairs are the morphisms. In the present argument, firstly a model-theoretic result on the construction of countable homogeneous relational structures [\textit{R. Fraisse}, Theory of relations, North-Holland, Amsterdam (1986; Zbl 0593.04001)] is used; secondly, for the inverse limit result, an order-theoretical characterization of event domains, obtained by the author in an earlier paper is proved to be essential. Generally, the proofs are only sketched, with references to other papers of the same author.