Theory of Automata
Example
• The following equivalences show that we should not treat expressions as
algebraic polynomials:
(a + b)* = (a + b)* + (a + b)*
(a + b)* = (a + b)* + a*
(a + b)* = (a + b)*(a + b)*
(a + b)* = a(a + b)* + b(a + b)* + Λ
(a + b)* = (a + b)*ab(a + b)* + b*a*
• The last equivalence may need some explanation:
– The first term in the right hand side, (a + b)*ab(a + b)*, describes all the words
that contain the substring ab.
– The second term, b*a* describes all the words that do not contain the
substring ab (i.e., all a’s, all b’s, Λ, or some b’s followed by some a’s).
Theory Of Automata 2
Example
• Let V be the language of all strings of a’s and b’s in which
either the strings are all b’s, or else an a followed by some b’s.
Let V also contain the word Λ. Hence,
V = {Λ, a, b, ab, bb, abb, bbb, abbb, bbbb, …}
• We can define V by the expression
b* + ab*
where Λ is included in b*.
• Alternatively, we could define V by
(Λ + a)b*
which means that in front of the string of some b’s, we have
either an a or nothing.
Theory Of Automata 3
Example contd.
• Hence,
(Λ + a)b* = b* + ab*
• Since b* = Λ b*, we have
(Λ + a)b* = b* + ab*
which appears to be distributive law at work.
• However, we must be extremely careful in
applying distributive law. Sometimes, it is
difficult to determine if the law is applicable.
Theory Of Automata 4
Product Set
• If S and T are sets of strings of letters (whether
they are finite or infinite sets), we define the
product set of strings of letters to be
ST = {all combinations of a string from S
concatenated with a string from T in that
order}
Theory Of Automata 5
Example
• If S = {a, aa, aaa} and T = {bb, bbb} then
ST = {abb, abbb, aabb, aabbb, aaabb, aaabbb}
• Note that the words are not listed in lexicographic order.
• Using regular expression, we can write this example as
(a + aa + aaa)(bb + bbb)
= abb + abbb + aabb + aabbb + aaabb + aaabbb
Theory Of Automata 6
Example
• If M = {λ, x, xx} and N = {λ, y, yy, yyy, yyyy, …}
then
• MN ={λ, y, yy, yyy, yyyy,…x, xy, xyy, xyyy, xyyyy,
…xx, xxy, xxyy, xxyyy, xxyyyy, …}
• Using regular expression
(λ + x + xx)(y*) = y* + xy* + xxy*
Theory Of Automata 7
Languages Associated with
Regular Expressions
Definition
• The following rules define the language associated with any
regular expression:
• Rule 1: The language associated with the regular expression
that is just a single letter is that one-letter word alone, and
the language associated with λ is just {λ}, a one-word
language.
• Rule 2: If r1 is a regular expression associated with the
language L1 and r2 is a regular expression associated with the
language L2, then:
(i) The regular expression (r1)(r2) is associated with the product L1L2,
that is the language L1 times the language L2:
language(r1r2) = L1L2
Theory Of Automata 9
Definition contd.
• Rule 2 (cont.):
(ii) The regular expression r1 + r2 is associated with
the language formed by the union of L1 and L2:
language(r1 + r2) = L1 + L2
(iii) The language associated with the regular
expression (r1)* is L1*, the Kleene closure of the
set L1 as a set of words:
language(r1*) = L1*
Theory Of Automata 10
Finite Languages Are Regular
Theorem 5
• If L is a finite language (a language with only finitely many words), then L
can be defined by a regular expression. In other words, all finite
languages are regular.
• Proof
• Let L be a finite language. To make one regular expression that defines L,
we turn all the words in L into boldface type and insert plus signs between
them.
• For example, the regular expression that defines the language
L = {baa, abbba, bababa} is baa + abbba + bababa
• This algorithm only works for finite languages because an infinite language
would become a regular expression that is infinitely long, which is
forbidden.
Theory Of Automata 12
How Hard It Is To Understand A
Regular Expression
Let us examine some regular expressions and
see if we could understand something about
the languages they represent.
Example
• Consider the expression
(a + b)*(aa + bb)(a + b)* =(arbitrary)(double letter)(arbitrary)
• This is the set of strings of a’s and b’s that at
some point contain a double letter.
Let us ask, “What strings do not contain a
double letter?” Some examples are
Theory Of Automata 14
Example contd.
• The expression (ab)* covers all of these except
those that begin with b or end with a. Adding
these choices gives us the expression:
(λ + b)(ab)*(λ + a)
• Combining the two expressions gives us the
one that defines the set of all strings
(a + b)*(aa + bb)(a + b)* + (λ + b)(ab)*(λ + a)
Theory Of Automata 15
Examples
• Note that
(a + b*)* = (a + b)*
since the internal * adds nothing to the
language. However,
(aa + ab*)* ≠ (aa + ab)*
since the language on the left includes the
word abbabb, whereas the language on the
right does not. (The language on the right
Theory Of Automata 16
Example
• Consider the regular expression: (a*b*)*.
• The language defined by this expression is all strings that can
be made up of factors of the form a*b*.
• Since both the single letter a and the single letter b are words
of the form a*b*, this language contains all strings of a’s and
b’s. That is,
(a*b*)* = (a + b)*
• This equation gives a big doubt on the possibility of finding a
set of algebraic rules to reduce one regular expression to
another equivalent one.
Theory Of Automata 17
Introducing EVEN-EVEN
• Consider the regular expression
E = [aa + bb + (ab + ba)(aa + bb)*(ab + ba)]*
• This expression represents all the words that are made up of syllables of
three types:
type1 = aa
type2 = bb
type3 = (ab + ba)(aa + bb)*(ab + ba)
• Every word of the language defined by E contains an even number of a’s
and an even number of b’s.
• All strings with an even number of a’s and an even number of b’s belong
to the language defined by E.
Theory Of Automata 18
Algorithms for EVEN-EVEN
• We want to determine whether a long string of a’s and b’s has the
property that the number of a’s is even and the number of b’s is even.
• Algorithm 1: Keep two binary flags, the a-flag and the b-flag. Every time
an a is read, the a-flag is reversed (0 to 1, or 1 to 0); and every time a b is
read, the b-flag is reversed. We start both flags at 0 and check to be sure
they are both 0 at the end.
• Algorithm 2: Keep only one binary flag, called the type3-flag. We read
letter in two at a time. If they are the same, then we do not touch the
type3-flag, since we have a factor of type1 or type2. If, however, the two
letters do not match, we reverse the type3-flag. If the flag starts at 0 and if
it is also 0 at the end, then the input string contains an even number of a’s
and an even number of b’s.
Theory Of Automata 19
• If the input string is
(aa)(ab)(bb)(ba)(ab)(bb)(bb)(bb)(ab)(ab)(bb)(b
a)(aa) then, by Algorithm 2, the type3-flag is
reversed 6 times and ends at 0.
• We give this language the name EVEN-EV EN.
so, EVEN-EV EN ={λ, aa, bb, aaaa, aabb, abab,
abba, baab, baba, bbaa, bbbb, aaaaaa,
aaaabb, aaabab, …} Theory Of Automata 20
