Theory of Automata -

1
Introduction
Amna Iftikhar
2 What is theory of automata?

 An exciting, theoretical branch of CS.

 Deals with logic of computation with respect to simple machines (automata)
 Enables computer scientists to understand how machines solve problems.
 Text and Reference Material
1. Introduction to the Theory of Computation by Michael Sipser , Second Edition
2. Introduction to Computer Theory, by Daniel I. Cohen, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1991,
Second Edition
3. Introduction to Languages and Theory of Computation , by J. C. Martin, McGraw Hill Book Co.,
1997, Second Edition

3
Grading

Mid-Term Exams 20%

Assignments 20%
Quizzes 10%
Final Exams 50%

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5 What does automata mean?

 It is the plural of automaton, and it means “something

that works automatically”
 What is Automata?
6

 The term "Automata" is derived from the Greek word

"αὐτόματα" which means "self-acting".

 An automaton (Automata in plural) is an abstract self-

propelled computing device which follows a
predetermined sequence of operations automatically.
What is automata theory?
7

 Automata theory is the study of “abstract computational devices”

 Abstract devices are (simplified) models of real computations

 Computations happen everywhere: On your laptop, on your cell phone,

in nature, …
Theory of Computation: Brief History

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 Cook introduces “intractable” problems

or “NP-Hard” problems

1970- Modern computer science: compilers,

computational & complexity theory evolve
 Some Applications
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 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)

 Artificial Intelligence Applications

NLP
Deep Learning / Machine Learning
Computer Vision
10 Introduction to languages

 There are two types of languages

 Formal Languages (Syntactic languages)

 Informal Languages (Semantic languages)
11 Informal Languages

 In which we do not strictly follow the Grammar Rules

 All spoken languages are informal languages

 For eg. Urdu, english,arabic etc.

 Informal language is more casual and spontaneous

12 Formal Languages

 In which we are not allowed to divert from the strict and predefined grammatical rules

 We must make and consider all the possible strings/subsets according to predefined rules

 Can be finite or infinite

 13 Alphabets

 Definition:
A finite non-empty set of symbols (letters), is called an alphabet. It is denoted by Σ ( Greek letter sigma).
 Example:
Σ={a,b}
Σ={0,1} //important as this is the language //which the computer understands.
Σ={i,j,k}
 Strings

 Definition:
Concatenation of finite symbols from the alphabet is called a string.
 Example:
If Σ= {a,b} then
a, abab, aaabb, ababababababababab

14
 NOTE:

EMPTY STRING or NULL STRING

 Sometimes a string with no symbol at all is used, denoted by (Small
Greek letter Lambda) λ or (Capital Greek letter Lambda) Λ, is called
an empty string or null string.
The capital lambda will mostly be used to denote the empty string, in
further discussion.

15
 16 Words

 Definition:
Words are strings belonging to some language.
Example:
If Σ= {x} then a language L can be defined as
L={xn : n=1,2,3,…..} or L={x,xx,xxx,….}
Here x,xx,… are the words of L
17 NOTE:

 All words are strings, but not all strings are words.
18 Length of Strings

 Definition:
The length of string s, denoted by |s|, is the number of
letters in the string.
 Example:
Σ={a,b}
s=ababa
|s|=5
19

 Example:
Σ= {B, aB, bab, d}
s=BaBbabBd
Tokenizing=(B), (aB), (bab), (d)
|s|=4
20 Reverse of a String

 Definition:
The reverse of a string s denoted by Rev(s) or sr, is
obtained by writing the letters of s in reverse order.
 Example:
If s=abc is a string defined over Σ={a,b,c}
then Rev(s) or sr = cba
21

 Example:
Σ= {B, aB, bab, d}
s=BaBbabBd
Rev(s)=dBbabaBB
22 Defining Languages

 The languages can be defined in different ways , such

as Descriptive definition, Recursive definition, using
Regular Expressions(RE) and using Finite
Automaton(FA) etc.

Descriptive definition of language:

The language is defined, describing the conditions
imposed on its words.
23

 Example:
The language L of strings of odd length, defined over Σ={a}, can be written as
L={a, aaa, aaaaa,…..}
 Example:
The language L of strings that does not start with a, defined over Σ={a,b,c}, can be written
as
L={b, c, ba, bb, bc, ca, cb, cc, …}
24

 Example:
The language L of strings of length 2, defined over
Σ={0,1,2}, can be written as
L={00, 01, 02,10, 11,12,20,21,22}
 Example:
The language L of strings ending in 0, defined over Σ
={0,1}, can be written as
L={0,00,10,000,010,100,110,…}
25

 Example: The language EQUAL, of strings with number of a’s equal to number of b’s,
defined over Σ={a,b}, can be written as

{Λ ,ab,aabb,abab,baba,abba,…}
 Example: The language EVEN-EVEN, of strings with even number of a’s and even
number of b’s, defined over Σ={a,b}, can be written as
{Λ, aa, bb, aaaa,aabb,abab, abba, baab, baba, bbaa, bbbb,…}
26

 Example: The language INTEGER, of strings defined over

Σ={-,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, can be written as
INTEGER = {…,-2,-1,0,1,2,…}
 Example: The language EVEN, of stings defined over
Σ={-,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, can be written as
EVEN = { …,-4,-2,0,2,4,…}
27

 Example: The language {anbn }, of strings defined over Σ={a,b}, as

{an bn : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{ab, aabb, aaabbb,aaaabbbb,…}

 Example: The language {anbnan }, of strings defined over Σ={a,b}, as

{an bn an: n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{aba, aabbaa, aaabbbaaa,aaaabbbbaaaa,…}
 28

 Example: The language factorial, of strings defined over Σ={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9} i.e.

{1,2,6,24,120,…}
 Example: The language FACTORIAL, of strings defined over
Σ={a}, as
{an! : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{a,aa,aaaaaa,…}. It is to be noted that the language FACTORIAL
can be defined over any single letter alphabet.
29

 Example: The language DOUBLEFACTORIAL, of strings defined over Σ={a, b}, as

{an!bn! : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{ab, aabb, aaaaaabbbbbb,…}
 Example: The language SQUARE, of strings defined over Σ={a}, as
2
{a : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
n

{a, aaaa, aaaaaaaaa,…}

30

 Example: The language DOUBLESQUARE, of

strings defined over Σ={a,b}, as
n2 n2
{a b : n=1,2,3,…}, can be written as
{ab, aaaabbbb, aaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbb,…}
31

 Example: The language PRIME, of strings defined

over Σ={a}, as
{ap : p is prime}, can be written as
{aa,aaa,aaaaa,aaaaaaa,aaaaaaaaaaa…}
32

An Important language

 PALINDROME:
The language consisting of Λ and the strings s
defined over Σ such that Rev(s)=s.
It is to be denoted that the words of PALINDROME
are called palindromes.
 Example:For Σ={a,b},
PALINDROME={Λ , a, b, aa, bb, aaa, aba, bab,
bbb, ...}
33 Note

 Number of strings of length ‘m’ defined over alphabet

of ‘n’ letters is nm.
 Examples:
 The language of strings of length 2, defined over
Σ={a,b} is L={aa, ab, ba, bb} i.e. number of strings = 22
 The language of strings of length 3, defined over
Σ={a,b} is L={aaa, aab, aba, baa, abb, bab, bba, bbb} i.e.
number of strings = 23
34
Kleene Star Closure

 Given Σ, then the Kleene Star Closure of the alphabet

Σ, denoted by Σ , is the collection of all strings defined
*

over Σ, including Λ.
 It is to be noted that Kleene Star Closure can be
defined over any set of strings.
35 Examples

 If Σ = {x}
Then Σ* = {Λ, x, xx, xxx, xxxx, ….}
 If Σ = {0,1}
Then Σ* = {Λ, 0, 1, 00, 01, 10, 11, ….}
 If Σ = {aaB, c} d
Then Σ* = {Λ, aaB, c, aaBaaB, aaBc, caaB, cc,
….}
36 Note

 Languages generated by Kleene Star Closure of set of

strings, are infinite languages. (By infinite language, it
is supposed that the language contains infinite many
words, each of finite length).
 37 Task
 Q)
1) Let S={ab, bb} and T={ab, bb, bbbb} Show that S * = T* [Hint S* 
T* and T*  S*]
2) Let S={ab, bb} and T={ab, bb, bbb} Show that S * ≠ T* But S*  T*
3) Let S={a, bb, bab, abaab} be a set of strings. Are abbabaabab and
baabbbabbaabb in S*? Does any word in S* have odd number of
b’s?
38 PLUS Operation (+)

 Plus Operation is same as Kleene Star Closure except that it does not generate Λ (null
string), automatically.
Example:
 If Σ = {0,1}
Then Σ+ = {0, 1, 00, 01, 10, 11, ….}
 If Σ = {aab, c}
Then Σ+ = {aab, c, aabaab, aabc, caab, cc, ….}
39 TASK

Q1)Is there any case when S+ contains Λ? If yes then justify

your answer.

Q2) Prove that for any set of strings S

i. (S+)*=(S*)*
ii. (S+)+=S+
iii. Is (S*)+=(S+)*
40 Remark

 It is to be noted that Kleene Star can also be operated on any string i.e. a* can be considered
to be all possible strings defined over {a}, which shows that a* generates

Λ, a, aa, aaa, …
It may also be noted that a can be considered to be all possible non empty
+

strings defined over {a}, which shows that a+ generates

a, aa, aaa, aaaa, …

41 Defining Languages Continued…

 Recursive definition of languages

The following three steps are used in recursive definition
1. Some basic words are specified in the language.
2. Rules for constructing more words are defined in the language.
3. No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in the language.
42 Example

 Defining language of INTEGER

Step 1:
1 is in INTEGER.
Step 2:
If x is in INTEGER then x+1 and x-1 are also in INTEGER.
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in
INTEGER.
43 Example

 Defining language of EVEN

Step 1:
2 is in EVEN.
Step 2:
If x is in EVEN then x+2 and x-2 are also in EVEN.
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in EVEN.
 44 Example

 Defining the language factorial

Step 1:
As 0!=1, so 1 is in factorial.
Step 2:
n!=n*(n-1)! is in factorial.
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in factorial.
45

 Defining the language PALINDROME, defined over Σ = {a,b}

Step 1:
a and b are in PALINDROME
Step 2:
if x is palindrome, then s(x)Rev(s) and xx will also be
palindrome, where s belongs to Σ*
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to
be in palindrome
46

 Defining the language {anbn }, n=1,2,3,… , of strings defined over Σ={a,b}

Step 1:
ab is in {anbn}
Step 2:
if x is in {anbn}, then axb is in {anbn}
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in {anbn}
47

 Defining the language L, of strings ending in a , defined over Σ={a,b}

Step 1:
a is in L
Step 2:
if x is in L then s(x) is also in L, where s belongs to Σ*
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in L
48

 Defining the language L, of strings beginning and ending in same letters , defined
over Σ={a, b}
Step 1:
a and b are in L
Step 2:
(a)s(a) and (b)s(b) are also in L, where s belongs to Σ*
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in L
49

 Defining the language L, of strings containing aa or bb , defined over Σ={a, b}

Step 1:
aa and bb are in L
Step 2:
s(aa)s and s(bb)s are also in L, where s belongs to Σ*
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in L
50

 Defining the language L, of strings containing exactly aa, defined over Σ={a, b}
Step 1:
aa is in L
Step 2:
s(aa)s is also in L, where s belongs to b*
Step 3:
No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in L
51
Summing Up

 Introduction to the course title

 Formal and In-formal languages
 Alphabets, Strings, Null string, Words, Valid and In-valid alphabets, length of a
string, Reverse of a string, Defining languages, Descriptive definition of languages,
EQUAL, EVEN-EVEN, INTEGER, EVEN, { an bn}, { an bn an }, factorial,
FACTORIAL, DOUBLEFACTORIAL, SQUARE, DOUBLESQUARE, PRIME,
PALINDROME.
 Kleene Star Closure, Plus operation, recursive definition of languages, INTEGER,
EVEN, factorial, PALINDROME, {anbn}, languages of strings (i) ending in a, (ii)
beginning and ending in same letters, (iii) containing aa or bb (iv)containing exactly
aa,
52 SummingUp Lecture-1