Decidable Problems :

The decidable problems are those problems for which there exists a corresponding Turing machine that
halts on every input with an answer- yes (accepting) or no (rejecting). It is also called Turing Decidable.

Semi-Decidable Problems :

Semi-Decidable problems are those problems for which a Turing machine halts on the input accepted by it
but can either loop forever or halt on the input which is rejected by the Turing Machine. It is also called
Turing Recognizable problems.

Undecidable Problems :

Undecidable problems are those problems for which there exists no Turing machine which will always halt
an infinite amount of time to give an answer as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. An undecidable problem has no algorithm to
determine the answer for a given input. It can be partially decidable but never decidable. They are also
known as Non-Recursively Enumerable Language.
Rice Theorem :

Rice theorem states that any non-trivial semantic property of a language which is recognized by a Turing
machine is undecidable. A property, P, is the language of all Turing machines that satisfy that property.

It’s Formal Definition:

If P is a non-trivial property, and the language holding the property, Lp , is recognized by Turing machine M,
then Lp = {<M> | L(M) ∈ P} is undecidable.

Chomsky’s Hierarchy
According to Chomsky hierarchy, grammar is divided into 4 types as follows:

1. Type 0 is known as unrestricted grammar.

2. Type 1 is known as context-sensitive grammar.
3. Type 2 is known as a context-free grammar.
4. Type 3 Regular Grammar.
Type 0: Unrestricted Grammar:
Type-0 grammars include all formal grammar. Type 0 grammar languages are recognized
by turing machine. These languages are also known as the Recursively Enumerable
languages.
Grammar Production in the form of α → β where

α is ( V U T)* V ( V U T)*
V : Variables
T : Terminals.

Β is ( V U T)*
In type 0 there must be at least one variable on the Left side of production.

For example:
Sab --> ba
A --> S
Here, Variables are S, A, and Terminals a, b.
Type 1: Context-Sensitive Grammar
Type-1 grammars generate context-sensitive languages. The language generated by the
grammar is recognized by the Linear Bound Automata
In Type 1
• First of all Type 1 grammar should be Type 0.
• Grammar Production in the form of

α→β
| α | <= | β |

That is the count of symbol in α is less than or equal to β.

For example:
S --> AB
AB --> abc
B --> b

Type 2: Context-Free Grammar: Type-2 grammars generate context-free languages. The

language generated by the grammar is recognized by a Pushdown automata. In Type 2:
• First of all, it should be Type 1.
• The left-hand side of production can have only one variable and there is no
restriction on β

|α| =1
For example:
S --> AB
A --> a
B --> b

Type 3: Regular Grammar: Type-3 grammars generate regular languages. These

languages are exactly all languages that can be accepted by a finite-state
automaton. Type 3 is the most restricted form of grammar.
Type 3 should be in the given form only :
V --> VT / T (left-regular grammar)
(or)
V --> TV /T (right-regular grammar)
Post’s Correspondence
Problem (PCP) Is
Undecidable
Contents :
 Introduction
 What IsPCP ?
 Instances Of PCP ?
 Introduction Of Modified PCP (MPCP)
 Why MPCP?
 Reducing MPCP to PCP !
 PCP IsUndecidable !!
• Statements
• Proof
 Conclusion
 References
Introduction:
The Post’s Correspondence Problem is an
undecidable decision problem that was introduced by
“ Emil Leon Post ” in 1946.

Post’s Correspondence Problem (PCP) involves

strings rather than TM. Our goal is to prove this problem
about strings to be undecidable, and then use its
Un-decidability to prove other problems undecidable
by reducing PCP to those.
 What IsPost’s Correspondence Problem
(PCP) ?
A PCP consists of two lists of string over some
alphabet Σ;the two lists must be of equal length.

Generally A=w1,w2, w3, … … .wk and B= x1,

x2,x3, ……x k for some integer k.
For each i , the pair (wi , xi ) is said to be a
corresponding pair.
We say this instances of PCP has a solution, if
there is a sequence of one or more integers i1, i2,……., im
that, when interpreted as indexes for strings in the A and
B lists, yield the same string.
 Contd.

That is, wi1 wi2 … … . wim =xi1 xi2 ……. xim . We say the
sequence i1, i2,… … ., im is a solution to this instance of
PCP, if so.
 Instances Of PCP !
1 ) Consider two lists A and B

List A List B
List Order :
i wi xi
2
1 1 111

2 10111 10
w2 10111
3 10 0
x2 10
 Instances Of PCP ! ( Contd.)
Consider two lists A and B

List A List B
List Order :
i wi xi
21
1 1 111

2 10111 10
w2 w1 10111 1
3 10 0 x2 x1 10 111
 Instances Of PCP ! ( Contd.)
Consider two lists A and B

List A List B

i wi xi List Order :

1 1 111 211

2 10111 10
w2 w1 w1 10111 1 1
3 10 0
x2 x1 x1 10 111 111
 Instances Of PCP ! ( Contd.)
Consider two lists A and B

List A List B

i wi xi List Order :
1 1 111 2113
2 10111 10

3 10 0 w2 w1 w1 w3 10111 1 1 10

x2 x1 x1 x3 10 111 111 0
Both list order arrangement makes them
similar sequence.
 Contd.
• The above instance of PCP have a solution in the
order of indexes 2,1,1,3.
• The solution can also be expressed in terms of
2,1,1,3,2,1,1,3,2,1,1,3 and so on.

Another Instanc e of PCP :

2) C onsider Lists A and B List A List B

i wi xi

1 10 101

2 011 11

3 101 011
 Contd.
2) Consider Lists A and B
List Order :
List A List B
1
i wi xi

1 10 101 W1 10
2 011 11 X1 101

3 101 011

• We cannot start with 2 and 3 because the starting

doesn’t match with eac h other.
• So the only choice in the list is 1.
 Contd.
Consider Lists A and B
List Order :
List A List B
13
i wi xi

1 10 101
W1 w3 10 101
2 011 11 X1 x3 101 011
3 101 011
 Contd.
Consider Lists A and B
Partial Solution
List Order :
List A List B
133
i wi xi

1 10 101
W1 w3 w3 10 101 101
2 011 11 X1 x3 x3 101 011 011
3 101 011

 Always at the end we see an extra 1 in x list

sequence and this make us repeatedly to go
for index 3.
 These continues which results in Partial Solution
or no solution.
 Introduction Of Modified PCP !
In MPCP, there is the additional requirement on a solution
that the first pair on the A and B lists must be the first pair in
the solution.

More formally, an instance of MPCP is two lists

A=w1,w2, w3, … … .wk and B= x1, x2,x3, ……x k for some
integer k.
And a solution is a list of 0 or more integers i1, i2,…., im
Such that w1wi1 wi2 ……. wim =x1 xi1 xi2 ……. xim .
 Why MPCP ?

• We use MPCP as a medium for proving PCP is Un-

decidable.
• First we reduce Lu (ATM ) to MPCP instance.
• We Reduce MPCP instance to PCP instance.
• As from reductions from Lu to PCP as MPCP in
middle It bec ome easy to prove that PCP is
Undecidable.
 Reducing MPCP To PCP !
Rules for conversion of MPCP to PCP:
1. Add a symbol (*) after every string in the list(wi ) of MPCP.
2. Add a symbol (*) before every string in the list(xi ) of MPCP.
3. We need to observe that we will have k+2 indexes after conversion
of MPCP to PCP.
1. For instance if we have from 1 in MPCP then we start with 0
in PCP such that list(yi ) will have a symbol before 1 index
list(yi )
and list(zi ) will have same as of 1 index value in list(zi )
2. Extra Stings in lists are initial and final terminals for identification,
i.e.;$ and *$ {list(yi ) and list(zi ) }respectively.

MPCP PCP
list(wi ) list(yi )
list(xi ) list(zi )
 Example of Reducing MPCP to PCP.
Consider two lists A and B
List A List B

i wi xi

1 1 111 Consider this as a MPCP

lists
2 10111 10

3 10 0

List C List D
i yi zi
0 1* *1*1*1
1 1* *1*1*1
Corresponding PCP
instance 2 1*0*1*1*1* *1*0
3 1*0* *0
4 $ *$
 Contd.

• Above is the example that we can change any

instance of MPCP to PCP by reduction following
rules.
• After Converting or reducing MPCP to PCP
o The lists will be in the form of
y0 yi1 yi2 … ..yimyk+1 =z0 zi1 zi2 … ..zimzk+1
So it fallows that
wi1 wi2 … … .wim =xi1 xi2 … … .xim