The semantics of transactions and weak memory in x86, power, ARM, and C++

Weak memory models provide a complex, system-centric se- mantics for concurrent programs, while transactional mem- ory (TM) provides a simpler, programmer-centric semantics. Both have been studied in detail, but their combined seman- tics is not well understood. This is problematic because such widely-used architectures and languages as x86, Power, and C++ all support TM, and all have weak memory models. Our work aims to clarify the interplay between weak mem- ory and TM by extending existing axiomatic weak memory models (x86, Power, ARMv8, and C++) with new rules for TM. Our formal models are backed by automated tooling that enables (1) the synthesis of tests for validating our models against existing implementations and (2) the model-checking of TM-related transformations, such as lock elision and com- piling C++ transactions to hardware. A key finding is that a proposed TM extension to ARMv8 currently being consid- ered within ARM Research is incompatible with lock elision without sacrificing portability or performance