Provenance Memory Model for C

The provenance memory model defines how to trace the origins of C pointer values to improve alias analysis and program optimization.

It introduces the concept of a storage instance as the maximal region of memory provided by allocations, definitions, or temporaries.

A pointer’s provenance is the storage instance it points into or one beyond, enabling precise aliasing decisions.

Exposure and synthesis rules describe when compilers can assume or must ignore pointer origins based on pointer-to-integer conversions, byte accesses, or I/O operations.

Ambiguities from adjacent storage instances are resolved by choosing provenance consistent with pointer arithmetic usage in expressions.

Everyday C code should avoid exposing pointer values (e.g., casting to integers, byte-level access, printing with %p) to allow reliable compiler optimizations.