Theory of Computation

Defining Languages by Another

New Method
 Regular Expressions
• Defining Languages by Another New Method

• Formal Definition of Regular Expressions

• Languages Associated with Regular Expressions

• Finite Languages Are Regular

• How Hard It Is to Understand a Regular Expression

• Introducing EVEN-EVEN
3
 Language-Defining Symbols
• We now introduce the use of the Kleene star, applied not
to a set, but directly to the letter x and written as a
superscript: x*.
• This simple expression indicates some sequence of x’s
(may be none at all):
x* = Λ or x or x2 or x3…
= xn for some n = 0, 1, 2, 3, …

• Letter x is intentionally written in boldface type to

distinguish it from an alphabet character.

• We can think of the star as an unknown power. That is,

x* stands for a string of x’s, but we do not specify how
many, and it may be the null string .

4
• The notation x* can be used to define languages
by writing, say L4 = language (x*)
• Since x* is any string of x’s, L4 is then the
language of all possible strings of x’s of any
length (including Λ).

• We should not confuse x* (which is a language-

defining symbol) with L4 (which is the name we
have given to a certain language).

5
• Given the alphabet = {a, b}, suppose we wish to define the
language L that contains all words of the form one a followed by
some number of b’s (maybe no b’s at all); that is
L = {a, ab, abb, abbb, abbbb, …}

• Using the language-defining symbol, we may write

L = language (ab*)

• This equation obviously means that L is the language in which the

words are the concatenation of an initial a with some or no b’s.

• From now on, for convenience, we will simply say some b’s to mean
some or no b’s. When we want to mean some positive number of
b’s, we will explicitly say so.

6
• We can apply the Kleene star to the whole string
ab if we want:
(ab)* = Λ or ab or abab or ababab…
• Observe that
(ab)* ≠ a*b*
• because the language defined by the expression
on the left contains the word abab, whereas the
language defined by the expression on the right
does not.

7
• If we want to define the language L1 = {x; xx; xxx; …}
using the language-defining symbol, we can write
L1 = language(xx*)
which means that each word of L1 must start with an x
followed by some (or no) x’s.

• Note that we can also define L1 using the notation + (as

an exponent) introduced in Chapter 2:
L1 = language(x+)

• which means that each word of L1 is a string of some

positive number of x’s.

8
 Plus Sign
• Let us introduce another use of the plus sign. By
the expression
x+y
where x and y are strings of characters from an
alphabet, we mean either x or y.

• Care should be taken so as not to confuse this

notation with the notation + (as an exponent).

9
 Example
• Consider the language T over the alphabet
Σ = {a; b; c}:
• T = {a; c; ab; cb; abb; cbb; abbb; cbbb; abbbb;
cbbbb; …}
• In other words, all the words in T begin with
either an a or a c and then are followed by some
number of b’s.
• Using the above plus sign notation, we may
write this as
T = language((a+ c)b*)
10
 Example
• Consider a finite language L that contains all the
strings of a’s and b’s of length three exactly:
L = {aaa, aab, aba, abb, baa, bab, bba, bbb}
• Note that the first letter of each word in L is
either an a or a b; so are the second letter and
third letter of each word in L.
• Thus, we may write
L = language((a+ b)(a + b)(a + b))
• or for short,
L = language((a+ b)3)
11
 Example
• In general, if we want to refer to the set of all possible
strings of a’s and b’s of any length whatsoever, we could
write
language((a+ b)*)

• This is the set of all possible strings of letters from the

alphabet Σ = {a, b}, including the null string.

• This is powerful notation. For instance, we can describe

all the words that begin with first an a, followed by
anything (i.e., as many choices as we want of either a or
b) as
a(a + b)*

12
Formal Definition of Regular Expressions
• The set of regular expressions is defined by the following rules:

• Rule 1: Every letter of the alphabet Σ can be made into a regular

expression by writing it in boldface, Λ itself is a regular expression.

• Rule 2: If r1 and r2 are regular expressions, then so are:

(i) (r1)
(ii) r1r2
(iii) r1 + r2
(iv) r1*

• Rule 3: Nothing else is a regular expression.

• Note: If r1 = aa + b then when we write r1* , we really mean (r1)*,

that is r1* = (r1)* = (aa + b)*

13
 Difference
• It is important to be clear about the difference of
the following regular expressions
• r1 = a*+b*
• r2 = (a+b)*
• Here r1 does not generate any string of
concatenation of a and b, while r2 generates
such strings.
• The language generated by any regular
expression is called a regular language.

14
 Equivalent Regular Expressions
• Two regular expressions are said to be
equivalent if they generate the same language.
• Example
• Consider the following regular expressions
• r1 = (a + b)* (aa + bb)
• r2 = (a + b)*aa + ( a + b)*bb then both regular
expressions define the language of strings
ending in aa or bb.

15
 Example
• Consider the language defined by the expression
(a + b)*a(a + b)*

• At the beginning of any word in this language we have

(a + b)*, which is any string of a’s and b’s, then comes an
a, then another any string.

• For example, the word abbaab can be considered to

come from this expression by 3 different choices:

(Λ)a(bbaab) or (abb)a(ab) or (abba)a(b)

16
 Example contd.
• This language is the set of all words over the
alphabet Σ = {a, b} that have at least one a.
• The only words left out are those that have only
b’s and the word Λ.
These left out words are exactly the language
defined by the expression b*.
• If we combine this language, we should provide
a language of all strings over the alphabet Σ =
{a, b}. That is,
(a + b)* = (a + b)*a(a + b)* + b*

17
 Example
• The language of all words that have at least two a’s can
be defined by the expression:
(a + b)*a(a + b)*a(a + b)*

• Another expression that defines all the words with at

least two a’s is
b*ab*a(a + b)*

• Hence, we can write

(a + b)*a(a + b)*a(a + b)* = b*ab*a(a + b)*

where by the equal sign we mean that these two

expressions are equivalent in the sense that they
describe the same language.
18
 Example
• The language of all words that have at least one a and at least one b
is somewhat trickier. If we write
(a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)*
then we are requiring that an a must precede a b in the word. Such
words as ba and bbaaaa are not included in this language.

• Since we know that either the a comes before the b or the b comes
before the a, we can define the language by the expression

(a + b)a(a + b)b(a + b) + (a + b)b(a + b)a(a + b)

• Note that the only words that are omitted by the first term
(a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)* are the words of the form some b’s
followed by some a’s. They are defined by the expression bb*aa*

19
 Example
• We can add these specific exceptions. So, the
language of all words over the alphabet Σ = {a,
b} that contain at least one a and at least one b
is defined by the expression:
(a + b)a(a + b)b(a + b) + bb*aa*
• Thus, we have proved that
(a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)* + (a + b)*b(a + b)*a(a + b)*
= (a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)* + bb*aa*

20
 Example
• In the above example, the language of all words that
contain both an a and a b is defined by the expression
(a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)* + bb*aa*

• The only words that do not contain both an a and a b are

the words of all a’s, all b’s, or Λ.

• When these are included, we get everything. Hence, the

expression
(a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)* + bb*aa* + a* + b*
defines all possible strings of a’s and b’s, including
(accounted for in both a and b).

21
• Thus

(a + b)* = (a + b)*a(a + b)*b(a + b)* + bb*aa* + a* + b*

22
 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).

23
 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.

24
 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.

25
 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}

26
 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

27
 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*

28
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

30
 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*

31
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.

33
 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
λ; a; b; ab; ba; aba; bab; abab; baba; …
35
 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)

36
 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 cannot contain
any word with a double b.)
37
 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.
38
 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.

39
 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.

40
• If the input string is

(aa)(ab)(bb)(ba)(ab)(bb)(bb)(bb)(ab)(ab)(bb)(ba)
(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, …}

41
• Useful Reading

Fourth chapter of Daniel I. Cohen book.

42