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Undecidable Problems FLAT

Undecidable problems are those for which no algorithm can provide a correct Yes/No answer for all inputs in finite time. Notable examples include the Halting Problem, Acceptance Problem, Emptiness Problem, Universality Problem, and Equivalence Problem, all of which are proven undecidable. The concept of undecidability can be demonstrated through reduction from known undecidable problems.

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25 views3 pages

Undecidable Problems FLAT

Undecidable problems are those for which no algorithm can provide a correct Yes/No answer for all inputs in finite time. Notable examples include the Halting Problem, Acceptance Problem, Emptiness Problem, Universality Problem, and Equivalence Problem, all of which are proven undecidable. The concept of undecidability can be demonstrated through reduction from known undecidable problems.

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cybergirlsrujana11
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Undecidable Problems in FLAT

What Are Undecidable Problems?

A problem is undecidable if no algorithm (or Turing Machine) can be built that always gives a correct

Yes/No answer in finite time for all possible inputs.

From a BTech student's perspective: Undecidable means we cant write a program (Turing Machine)

to decide the answer for every case. Some cases may run forever and never halt.

Famous Undecidable Problems

1. Halting Problem (HP)

Will a Turing Machine M halt on input w?

- Input: A TM M and a string w

- Output: Yes if M halts on w, No otherwise

- Undecidable

2. Acceptance Problem (ATM)

Will TM M accept input w?

- A_TM = { M, w | TM M accepts input w }

- Undecidable

3. Emptiness Problem

Is the language accepted by TM M empty?

- E_TM = { M | L(M) = }

- Undecidable
4. Universality Problem

Does TM M accept all strings (*)?

- U_TM = { M | L(M) = * }

- Undecidable

5. Equivalence Problem

Are the languages of two TMs the same?

- Input: TMs M1 and M2

- Output: Yes if L(M1) = L(M2)

- Undecidable

6. Ambiguity Problem (for CFGs)

Is a given Context-Free Grammar ambiguous?

- Undecidable

Table for Quick Revision

| Problem | Language | Decidable? |

|----------------------|------------------------------------------|------------|

| Halting Problem | H = { M, w | M halts on w } | No |

| Acceptance Problem | A_TM = { M, w | M accepts w } | No |

| Emptiness Problem | E_TM = { M | L(M) = } | No |

| Universality Problem | U_TM = { M | L(M) = * } | No |

| CFG Ambiguity | AMBIG_CFG = { G | G is ambiguous } | No |

Real-Life Analogy
Think about writing a code that can tell for any program whether it will crash or run forever it's

impossible to predict perfectly. Thats the Halting Problem.

Proving Undecidability

Use reduction: If you can convert a known undecidable problem (like the Halting Problem) to

another, then the new one is also undecidable.

Summary

- Undecidable problems = No TM can solve for all inputs.

- Use Halting Problem as base to prove others.

- Mnemonic: H-A-E-U-EQ-Ambiguity

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