T HE O R Y O F A U T O M ATA
CHAPTER 2
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.
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).
PLUS OPERATION (+)
• Plus operation is same as kleene star closure except that it does not generate Λ (null string),
automatically.
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, …
RECURSIVE DEFINITION OF LANGUAGES
The following three steps are used in recursive definition
• Some basic words are specified in the language.
• Rules for constructing more words are defined in the language.
• No strings except those constructed in above, are allowed to be in the language.
EXAMPLE 1
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.
EXAMPLE 2
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.
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.