Most standard models of the lambda calculus validate the principles of infinitary rewriting (which include identification of meaningless terms). For example, in Scott models, the interpretation of every fixed point combinator is equal to the limit (in the model) of interpretations of

\f.f(Ω), \f.f^2(Ω), \f.f^3(Ω), …, \f.f^n(Ω), ….

The infinite term \f.f(f(f…)) is the limit of the above sequence, and in the infinitary lambda calculus all fpcs reduce to this term, which is an infinitary normal form. It would seem natural to extend the interpretation function to cover infinitary terms as well, however, naive attempts to do this fail. The problem is already present in the first-order case: finite terms over a signature ∑ can be interpreted by means of the initial semantics – where the free algebra of terms admits a canonical homomorphism to any other ∑-algebra. However, the infinite terms are elements of the cofinal coalgebra, which universal property concerns maps INTO the algebra, rather than out of it. We are thus faced with a “koan”:

• What does it mean to interpret infinite terms?*

While we shall not provide a (co)final solution to this koan, we will offer germs of some possible approaches, with the hope of starting a discussion that could follow this short talk.