Interpolation in logics with constructors

We present a generic method for establishing the interpolation property by borrowing it across the logical systems from a base institution to prove it for its constructor-based variant. The framework used is that of the so-called institution theory invented by Goguen and Burstall which is a categorical-based formulation of the informal concept of logical system sufficiently abstract to capture many examples of logics used in computer science and mathematical logic, and expressive enough to elaborate our general results. We illustrate the applicability of the present work by instantiating the abstract results to constructor-based Horn clause logic and constructor-based Horn preorder algebra but applications are also expected for many other logical systems. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.