Introduction to Automata Theory
Reading: Chapter 1
What is Automata Theory?
Study of abstract computing devices, or machines Automaton = an abstract computing device
Note: A device need not even be a physical hardware! Find out what different models of machines can do and cannot do The theory of computation
A fundamental question in computer science:
Computability vs. Complexity
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(A pioneer of automata theory)
Alan Turing (1912-1954)
Father of Modern Computer Science English mathematician Studied abstract machines called Turing machines even before computers existed Heard of the Turing test?
Theory of Computation: A Historical Perspective
1930s Alan Turing studies Turing machines Decidability Halting problem
1940-1950s Finite automata machines studied Noam Chomsky proposes the Chomsky Hierarchy for formal languages
1969 1970Cook introduces intractable problems or NP-Hard problems Modern computer science: compilers, computational & complexity theory evolve
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Languages & Grammars
Or words
Languages: A language is a collection of sentences of finite length all constructed from a finite alphabet of symbols Grammars: A grammar can be regarded as a device that enumerates the sentences of a language - nothing more, nothing less
N. Chomsky, Information and Control, Vol 2, 1959
Image source: Nowak et al. Nature, vol 417, 2002
The Chomsky Hierachy
A containment hierarchy of classes of formal languages
Regular (DFA)
Contextfree (PDA)
Contextsensitive (LBA)
Recursivelyenumerable (TM)
The Central Concepts of Automata Theory
Alphabet
An alphabet is a finite, non-empty set of symbols We use the symbol (sigma) to denote an alphabet Examples:
Binary: = {0,1} All lower case letters: = {a,b,c,..z} Alphanumeric: = {a-z, A-Z, 0-9} DNA molecule letters: = {a,c,g,t}
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Strings
A string or word is a finite sequence of symbols chosen from Empty string is (or epsilon)
Length of a string w, denoted by |w|, is equal to the number of (non- ) characters in the
string
E.g., x = 010100 x = 01 0 1 00
|x| = 6 |x| = ?
xy = concatentation of two strings x and y
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Powers of an alphabet
Let be an alphabet.
k = the set of all strings of length k * = 0 U 1 U 2 U + = 1 U 2 U 3 U
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Languages
L is a said to be a language over alphabet , only if L * this is because * is the set of all strings (of all possible length including 0) over the given alphabet Examples: 1. Let L be the language of all strings consisting of n 0s followed by n 1s: L = {,01,0011,000111,} 2. Let L be the language of all strings of with equal number of 0s and 1s: L = {,01,10,0011,1100,0101,1010,1001,} Definition:
denotes the Empty language
Let L = {}; Is L=?
NO
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The Membership Problem
Given a string w *and a language L over , decide whether or not w L.
Example: Let w = 100011 Q) Is w the language of strings with equal number of 0s and 1s?
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Finite Automata
Some Applications
Software for designing and checking the behavior of digital circuits Lexical analyzer of a typical compiler Software for scanning large bodies of text (e.g., web pages) for pattern finding Software for verifying systems of all types that have a finite number of states (e.g., stock market transaction, communication/network protocol)
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Finite Automata : Examples
action
On/Off switch
state
Modeling recognition of the word then
Start state
Transition
Intermediate state
Final state
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Structural expressions
Grammars Regular expressions
E.g., unix style to capture city names such as Palo Alto CA:
[A-Z][a-z]*([ ][A-Z][a-z]*)*[ ][A-Z][A-Z]
Start with a letter A string of other letters (possibly empty) Should end w/ 2-letter state code
Other space delimited words (part of city name)
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Formal Proofs
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Deductive Proofs
From the given statement(s) to a conclusion statement (what we want to prove) Logical progression by direct implications Example for parsing a statement: If y4, then 2yy2.
given
conclusion
(there are other ways of writing this).
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Example: Deductive proof
Let Claim 1: If y4, then 2yy2. Let x be any number which is obtained by adding the squares of 4 positive integers.
Given x and assuming that Claim 1 is true, prove that 2xx2 Proof: 1) Given: x = a2 + b2 + c2 + d2 2) Given: a1, b1, c1, d1 3) a21, b21, c21, d21 (by 2) 4) x4 (by 1 & 3) 5) 2x x2 (by 4 and Claim 1) implies or follows
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Quantifiers
For all or For every
Universal proofs Notation*=?
There exists
Used in existential proofs Notation*=?
Implication is denoted by =>
E.g., IF A THEN B can also be written as A=>B
*I
wasnt able to locate the symbol for these notation in powerpoint. Sorry! Please follow the standard notation for these quantifiers.
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Proving techniques
By contradiction
Start with the statement contradictory to the given statement E.g., To prove (A => B), we start with:
(A and ~B)
and then show that could never happen
What if you want to prove that (A and B => C or D)?
By induction
(3 steps) Basis, inductive hypothesis, inductive step If A then B If ~B then ~A
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By contrapositive statement
Proving techniques
By counter-example Show an example that disproves the claim Note: There is no such thing called a proof by example! So when asked to prove a claim, an example that satisfied that claim is not a proof
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Different ways of saying the same thing
i. ii. iii. iv. v.
If H then C:
H implies C H => C C if H H only if C Whenever H holds, C follows
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If-and-Only-If statements
A if and only if B
(A <==> B)
(if part) if B then A ( <= ) (only if part) A only if B ( => ) (same as if A then B) i.e., A iff B Theorem: Let x be a real number. Then floor of x = ceiling of x if and only if x is an integer. One for the if part & another for the only if part
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If and only if is abbreviated as iff
Example:
Proofs for iff have two parts
Summary
Automata theory & a historical perspective Chomsky hierarchy Finite automata Alphabets, strings/words/sentences, languages Membership problem Proofs: Deductive, induction, contrapositive, contradiction, counterexample If and only if
Read chapter 1 for more examples and exercises Gradiance homework 1
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