Proof Orders for Decreasing Diagrams

We present and compare some well-founded proof orders for decreasing diagrams. These proof orders order a conversion above another conversion if the latter is obtained by filling any peak in the former by a (locally) decreasing diagram. Therefore each such proof order entails the decreasing diagrams technique for proving confluence. The proof orders dier with respect to monotonicity and complexity. Our results are developed in the setting of involutive monoids. We extend these results to obtain a decreasing diagrams technique for confluence modulo. 1998 ACM Subject Classification F.4 Mathematical Logic and Formal Languages