THEORY OF COMPUTATION

Unit – I
INTRODUCTION:
 Automata theory (also known as Theory Of
Computation) is a theoretical branch of
Computer Science and Mathematics, which
mainly deals with how efficiently the problem
can be solved on a model of computation using an
appropriate algorithm.
 Automata enables the scientists to understand
how machines compute the functions and solve
problems. The main motivation behind
developing Automata Theory was to develop
methods to describe and analyze the dynamic
behavior of discrete systems.
 Automata is originated from the word
“Automaton” which is closely related to
“Automation”.
 Now, let’s understand the basic terminologies,
which are important and frequently used in
Theory of Computation.
 Symbol
 Alphabet
 String
 Length of String
 Empty String

 Language
 Symbol: Symbol(often also called character) is
the smallest building block, which can be any
alphabet, letter or any picture.
 Alphabets (Σ): Alphabets are set of symbols,
which are always finite.
 String: String is a finite sequence of symbols
from some alphabet. String is generally denoted
as w.
 Length of a string is the number of occurrence of
symbols that might appear in the string. Length
of a string is denoted as |w|.
 Empty string is a special string that’s length is
0. Empty string is denoted by ε.
 Language:
 A language is a collection of words that arranged
in some well defined manner.
 A language is a set of strings, chosen from some
Σ* or we can say- ‘A language is a subset of Σ* ‘.
A language which can be formed over ‘ Σ ‘ can
be Finite or Infinite.
AUTOMATON:
 The word automaton is derived from the Greek
word automata that means ‘to automate’ or ‘self-
acting’. An automaton can be defined as a system
that perform certain functions without direct
participation of man. It accepts energy, material
and (or) information as an input and convert
them into the final product under the guidance of
control signal.
 Ex. – automatic photo printing machine, automatic
packing machine etc.
Basic structure of an Automaton
The figure shows following features of automata:
 Input
 Output
 States of automata
 State relation
 Output relation
 Input: ∑ is the input alphabet that contains all
the input values I0, I1, I2, I3, I4,……….. In. At each
discrete instance of time t0, t1, t2,…..….…tn these
input values are applied to the input side of the
model that is shown in the figure.
 Output: The output variable O contains all the
output values that are O0, O1, O2,…………. On.
 State: At each instant of time the automaton can
be in one of the state q0, q1, q2,…….. qn.
 State Relation: The next state of an automaton
at any instant of time is determined by the
present state and the present input.
 Output Relation: The output is related to either
the state only or both the state and the input.
 There are 4 major families of automaton
system that are:
 Finite Automata
 Pushdown Automata
 Linear-Bounded Automata
 Turing Machine
FINITE AUTOMATA (FA):
 Finite Automata is a simplest kind of language
recognition machine. The finite automata consists
of number of states and some basic rules that is
used for transition from one state to another.
 Finite Automata has 4 types of states:
 Initial

 Intermediate

 Final

 Dead
 Initial: It is the starting state of FA. Input
enters from this state and starts transition. This
is simply indicated by an arrow.
 Intermediate: All the states except the initial
and final states where the transition occurs is
called an intermediate state.
 Final: This state is also called accepting state
because it determines whether the input string is
accepted or not by the FA.
 Dead: This is an optional state.
Sample state diagram for finite automata with dead state
DEFINITION OF FINITE AUTOMATA:
 A finite automaton is a collection of 5-tuple (Q, ∑,
δ, q0, F), where:
 Q: finite set of states

 ∑: finite set of the input symbol

 q0: initial state

 F: final state

 δ: Transition function
MODEL OF FINITE AUTOMATA:
 Finite automata can be represented by input tape
and finite control.
 Input tape: It is a linear tape having some
number of cells. Each input symbol is placed in
each cell.
 Finite control: The finite control decides the
next state on receiving particular input from
input tape. The tape reader reads the cells one by
one from left to right, and at a time only one
input symbol is read.
FINITE AUTOMATA NOTATIONS:
S. No Notation Meaning

1 Represent a state

Represent transition from one state to

2
another

3 Starting state

4 Final state
FINITE AUTOMATA REPRESENTATION:

 FA can be represented by 2 ways:

 Transition Diagram
 Transition Table
TRANSITION DIAGRAM:
 A transition diagram or state transition diagram
is a directed graph which can be constructed as
follows:
 There is a node for each state in Q, which is
represented by the circle.
 There is a directed edge from node q to node p labeled
a if δ(q, a) = p.
 In the start state, there is an arrow with no source.
 Accepting states or final states are indicating by a
double circle.
 DFA with ∑ = {0, 1} accepts all strings starting
with 1.
TRANSITION TABLE:
 The transition table is basically a tabular
representation of the transition function. It takes
two arguments (a state and a symbol) and
returns a state (the "next state").
 A transition table is represented by the following
things:
 Columns correspond to input symbols.
 Rows correspond to states.
 Entries correspond to the next state.
 The start state is denoted by an arrow with no
source.
 The accept state is denoted by a star or enclosed in a
double circle.
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