FLAT Question Paper Nov/Dec 2019

H - 1178

*1. a) Define the terms "formal language" and "automaton."

Answer:

- Formal Language: A formal language is a set of strings or sequences of symbols from

an alphabet. It's a precise and structured language with well-defined rules and syntax,
commonly used in mathematics, computer science, and linguistics for analysis and
representation.

- Automaton: An automaton is an abstract machine or model used to perform

computations or recognize patterns in strings. It includes a set of states, a transition
function that defines movement between states based on input, and an initial and
possibly one or more final states.

*1. b) Explain the difference between regular languages and context-free languages.

Answer:

- Regular Languages: Regular languages are languages that can be described by regular
expressions or recognized by finite automata. They have simple structures and can be
represented using deterministic finite automata (DFA), non-deterministic finite
automata (NFA), regular expressions, or regular grammars.

- Context-Free Languages: Context-free languages are a broader class of languages

than regular languages. They can be described by context-free grammars (CFG) and
recognized by pushdown automata. Context-free languages have more expressive
power than regular languages and can describe more complex patterns and structures.
*1. c) Provide an example of a regular language and demonstrate its regular expression.

Answer:

- Example: A simple regular language could be the set of all strings over the alphabet {0,
1} that start with '1'. This language can be represented by the regular expression:
`1(0|1)*`, which means a string starting with '1' followed by zero or more occurrences of
either '0' or '1'.

*1. d) Describe the Pumping Lemma for regular languages.

Answer:

- Pumping Lemma: The Pumping Lemma is a property used to prove that a language is
not regular. It states that for any regular language L, there exists a constant 'p' such that
any string 's' in L with length at least 'p' can be split into three parts 'xyz' satisfying
certain conditions:

- 'y' (the middle part) cannot be an empty string.

- For any non-negative integer 'i', the strings 'xy^iz' must also be in the language L.

- It demonstrates that if 'L' does not satisfy these conditions, then 'L' cannot be regular.

*1. e) Differentiate between non-deterministic finite automaton (NFA) and deterministic

finite automaton (DFA).

Answer:

- DFA (Deterministic Finite Automaton):

- Each input symbol uniquely determines the transition from one state to another.

- It has a single valid transition for each symbol in every state.

- Deterministically moves from one state to another based on the input.

- NFA (Non-deterministic Finite Automaton):

- It may have multiple valid transitions for a given input symbol and state.

- Non-deterministically chooses a transition path based on the input.

- Provides flexibility in defining transitions and often results in a simpler

representation for some languages.

*2. a) Discuss the concept of closure properties in the context of regular languages.

Answer:

- Closure Properties of Regular Languages:

- Union: If L1 and L2 are regular languages, then their union (L1 ∪ L2) is also a regular
language.

- Concatenation: If L1 and L2 are regular languages, then their concatenation (L1L2) is

also a regular language.

- Kleene Star: If L is a regular language, then its Kleene star (L*) is also a regular
language.

- These closure properties are crucial because they allow us to perform operations on
regular languages while ensuring that the resulting language remains regular.

*2. b) Explain the Myhill-Nerode theorem and its significance in the theory of regular
languages.

Answer:

- Myhill-Nerode Theorem:

- States that a language L is regular if and only if it has a finite index.

 - The index of a language is the number of distinct equivalence classes under the
indistinguishability relation.

- Two strings are indistinguishable if, for any string in the language, either both or
neither of the concatenated strings is in the language.

- Significance:

- Provides an equivalence between the finite index property and regular languages.

- Offers an alternative characterization of regular languages.

- Useful for proving that certain languages are not regular by showing an infinite
number of equivalence classes.

*3. a) Define a context-free grammar (CFG) and provide an example.

Answer:

- Context-Free Grammar (CFG):

- A context-free grammar is a set of rules used to generate strings in a context-free

language. It consists of a set of production rules that define how symbols can be
replaced by sequences of other symbols.

- Example:

- Consider a simple grammar for generating balanced parentheses:

- S → (S) | SS | ε (where S is the start symbol, '(' represents an opening parenthesis, ')'
represents a closing parenthesis, and ε is the empty string).

*3. b) Explain the process of converting a context-free grammar to Chomsky Normal

Form (CNF).
Answer:

- Chomsky Normal Form (CNF):

- In CNF, each production rule is of the form A → BC or A → a, where A, B, and C are

variables, and 'a' is a terminal symbol.

- The start symbol cannot appear on the right-hand side of any production except for
the production S → ε (if ε is in the language).

- Conversion Process:

1. Eliminate ε-productions: Remove any production of the form A → ε and update

other productions accordingly.

2. Eliminate unit productions: Replace unit productions A → B with the productions A

→ X1X2...Xn, where B → X1X2...Xn are non-unit productions.

3. Eliminate terminals on the right-hand side of productions: Introduce new variables

for each terminal and replace occurrences of terminals with these variables.

4. Convert long productions: If a production A → X1X2...Xn has n > 2, replace it with a

sequence of binary productions A → X1Y1, Y1 → X2Y2, ..., Yn-2 → Xn-1Xn.

5. Rename variables: Ensure that each variable has at least one production where it
produces a terminal.

These steps result in a CFG in Chomsky Normal Form.

*4. a) Define the Pumping Lemma for context-free languages and its role in proving a
language is not context-free.

Answer:

- Pumping Lemma for Context-Free Languages:

- Similar to the Pumping Lemma for regular languages, it is a property used to show
that a language is not context-free.

- It states that for any context-free language L, there exists a constant 'p' (the pumping
length) such that any sufficiently long string s in L can be divided into five substrings,
xyzuv, satisfying certain conditions. The pumping property then asserts that for any i ≥ 0,
xy^i zuv must also be in L.

- Role in Proving Non-Context-Freeness:

- If a language does not satisfy the conditions of the Pumping Lemma for context-
free languages, it implies that the language is not context-free.

- This lemma provides a powerful tool for demonstrating the limitations of context-
free grammars in expressing certain language properties.

*4. b) Discuss the concept of pushdown automata and how it relates to context-free
languages.

Answer:

- Pushdown Automata (PDA):

- A pushdown automaton is an extension of a finite automaton with an added stack,

which provides additional memory.

- It can read input symbols, push and pop symbols onto/from the stack, and transition
between states based on both the input symbol and the symbol on top of the stack.

- PDAs are particularly useful for recognizing context-free languages.

- Relation to Context-Free Languages:

- PDAs are capable of recognizing exactly the class of context-free languages.

- The stack in a PDA allows it to keep track of nested structures, making it suitable
for recognizing languages that can be generated by context-free grammars.
*5. a) Define Turing machines and explain the components that constitute a Turing
machine.

Answer:

- Turing Machine (TM):

- A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation that defines the concept

of an idealized computing device. It consists of an infinite tape, a tape head that can
read and write symbols, a finite set of states, and transition rules that define how the
machine moves between states based on the current symbol being read.

- Components:

1. Infinite Tape: Divided into cells, each capable of holding a symbol from a finite
alphabet.

2. Tape Head: Positioned over a single tape cell, capable of reading and writing
symbols.

3. State Register: Finite set of states that the machine can be in.

4. Transition Function: Rules that dictate how the machine transitions between
states based on the current symbol read and the current state.

5. Start and Halt States: Designate the starting state and one or more halting (final)
states.

*5. b) Discuss the concept of Turing machine equivalence and its implications in the
theory of computation.

Answer:

- Turing Machine Equivalence:

 - Two Turing machines are considered equivalent if they recognize the same language.
That is, for every input string, both machines either accept or reject the string.

- Implications:

- Turing machine equivalence is a fundamental concept in the theory of computation

as it allows us to reason about different models of computation.

- It reinforces the idea that the specific details of a Turing machine implementation
do not affect its computational power if it recognizes the same language.

*6. a) Define the halting problem and discuss its undecidability.

Answer:

- Halting Problem:

- The halting problem is a classic problem in computability theory. It asks whether,

given a description of an arbitrary computer program and an input, one can determine
whether the program will eventually halt (stop) or continue running indefinitely.

- Undecidability:

- Alan Turing proved that the halting problem is undecidable. This means that there
is no general algorithm that can decide, for every possible input program and input data,
whether the program will halt or run forever.

- The proof of the undecidability of the halting problem is achieved through a

technique known as diagonalization.

*6. b) Explain the Church-Turing thesis and its implications for the computational model.

Answer:
- Church-Turing Thesis:

- The Church-Turing thesis proposes that any effectively calculable function can be
computed by a Turing machine (or an equivalent formal mathematical model).

- Implications:

- It suggests a strong connection between different models of computation (Turing

machines, lambda calculus, recursive functions) and real-world computation.

- The Church-Turing thesis forms the basis for considering the Turing machine as the
standard model of computation, providing a theoretical framework for understanding
what is computable.