  This work presents a formalization of the theorem of existence of most
general unifiers in first-order signatures in the higher-order proof assistant
PVS. The distinguishing feature of this formalization is that it remains close
to the textbook proofs that are based on proving the correctness of the
well-known Robinson's first-order unification algorithm. The formalization was
applied inside a PVS development for term rewriting systems that provides a
complete formalization of the Knuth-Bendix Critical Pair theorem, among other
relevant theorems of the theory of rewriting. In addition, the formalization
methodology has been proved of practical use in order to verify the correctness
of unification algorithms in the style of the original Robinson's unification
algorithm.
