Bounded Model Generation for Isabelle/HOL

A translation from higher-order logic (on top of the simply typed λ-calculus) to propositional logic is presented, such that the resulting propositional formula is satisfiable iff the HOL formula has a model of a given finite size. A standard SAT solver can then be used to search for a satisfying assignment, and such an assignment can be transformed back into a model for the HOL formula. The algorithm has been implemented in the interactive theorem prover Isabelle/HOL, where it is used to automatically generate countermodels for non-theorems.