Assignment :-
Theory Of Automata
Submitted to :-
Mam Hira
Submitted by :-
Shahab Akbar
Roll number :-
Mcs-10-46 (Morning)
Session :-
2010-12
Institute Of Computing Bzu , Multan.
PURPOSE OF AUTOMATA AND ITS APPLICATION
Automata theory
In theoretical computer science, automata theory is the study of abstract
machines (or more appropriately, abstract 'mathematical' machines or
systems) and the computational problems that can be solved using these
machines. These abstract machines are called automata. An automaton comes
from the Greek word (Αυτόματα) which means that something is doing
something by itself.
The figure at right illustrates a finite state machine, which is one well-known
variety of automatons. This automaton consists of states (represented in the
figure by circles), and transitions (represented by arrows). As the automaton
sees a symbol of input, it makes a transition (or jump) to another state,
according to its transition function (which takes the current state and the
recent symbol as its inputs).
Automata theory is also closely related to formal language theory, as the
automata are often classified by the class of formal languages they are able to
recognize. An automaton can be a finite representation of a formal language
that may be an infinite set.
Automata play a major role in compiler design and parsing.
Informal description
An automaton is supposed to run on some given sequence or string of inputs
in discrete time steps. At each time step, an automaton gets one input that is
picked up from a set of symbols or letters, which is called an alphabet. At any
time, the symbols so far fed to the automaton as input form a finite sequence
of symbols, which is called a word. An automaton contains a finite set of states.
At each instance in time of some run, the automaton is in one of its states. At
each time step when the automaton reads a symbol, it jumps or transits to a
next state that is decided by a function that takes current state and the symbol
currently read as parameters. This function is called transition function. The
automaton reads the input word one symbol after another in the sequence and
transits from state to state according to the transition function, until the word
is read completely. Once the input word has been read, the automaton is said
to have been stopped and the state at which automaton has stopped is called
final state. Depending on the final state, it's said that the automaton either
accepts or rejects an input word. There is a subset of states of the automaton,
which is defined as the set of accepting states. If the final state is an accepting
state, then the automaton accepts the word. Otherwise, the word is rejected.
The set of all the words accepted by an automaton is called the language
recognized by the automaton.
Formal definition
An automaton is represented formally by the 5-tuple ⟨Q,Σ,δ,q0,A⟩,
Automaton
where:
Q is a finite set of states.
Σ is a finite set of symbols, called the alphabet of the automaton.
δ is the transition function, that is, δ: Q × Σ → Q.
q0 is the start state, that is, the state which the automaton is in
when no input has been processed yet, where q0∈ Q.
A is a set of states of Q (i.e. A⊆Q) called accept states.
Classes of automata
Automata Recognizable language
Deterministic finite automata (DFA) regular languages
Nondeterministic finite automata (NFA) regular languages
Nondeterministic finite automata with ε-transitions
regular languages
(FND-ε or ε-NFA)
Pushdown automata (PDA) context-free languages
context-sensitive
Linear bounded automata (LBA)
language
recursively enumerable
Turing machines
languages
Timed automata
Deterministic Büchi automata ω-limit languages
Nondeterministic Büchi automata ω-regular languages
Nondeterministic/Deterministic Rabin automata ω-regular languages
Nondeterministic/Deterministic Streett automata ω-regular languages
Nondeterministic/Deterministic parity automata ω-regular languages
Nondeterministic/Deterministic Muller automata ω-regular languages
Applications
Each model in automata theory plays important roles in several applied areas.
Finite automata are used in text processing, compilers, and hardware design.
Context-free grammar (CFGs) are used in programming languages and
artificial intelligence. Originally, CFGs were used in the study of the human
languages. Cellular automata are used in the field of biology, the most
common example being John Conway's Game of Life. Some other examples
which could be explained using automata theory in biology include mollusk
and pine cones growth and pigmentation patterns. Going further, a theory
suggesting that the whole universe is computed by some sort of a discrete
automaton, is advocated by some scientists. The idea originated in the work of
Konrad Zuse, most importantly his 1969 book Rechnender Raum, and gives
rise to Digital physics.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automata_theory
