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MODULE 4
PUSH DOWN AUTOMATA (PDA)

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PUSH DOWN AUTOMATA (PDA)

• Pushdown automata is a way to implement a CFG in the same way
we design Finite Automata (FA) for a regular grammar.
• A FA can remember a finite amount of information, but a PDA can
remember an infinite amount of information.
Pushdown automata = “Finite State Machine + stack memory"
• The addition of stack is used to provide a last-in-first-out memory
management capability to Pushdown automata.
• Pushdown automata can store an unbounded amount of
information on the stack.

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• PDA is more powerful than FSM (Finite State Machine)

• A PDA can push an element onto the top of the stack and pop off
an element from the top of the stack.
• To read an element into the stack, the top elements must be
popped off and are lost.
• A PDA is more powerful than FA.
• Any language which can be acceptable by FA can also be
acceptable by PDA.
• PDA also accepts a class of language which even cannot be
accepted by FA. Thus PDA is much more superior to FA.

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Fig: Push Down Automata (PDA)

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PDA Components
Input tape: The input tape is divided in many cells or symbols. The
input head is read-only and may only move from left to right, one
symbol at a time.
Finite control: The finite control has some pointer which points
the current symbol which is to be read.
Stack: The stack is a structure in which we can push and remove
the items from one end only.
• It has an infinite size.
• In PDA, the stack is used to store the items temporarily.

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 Formal definition of PDA

The PDA can be defined as a collection of 7 components:
Q : the finite set of states
∑ : the input set
Γ : a stack symbol which can be pushed and popped from the stack
q₀ : the initial state
Z₀ : a start symbol which is in Γ.
F : a set of final states
δ : mapping function which is used for moving from current state to
next state.

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Transition function δ takes as argument a triple

δ(q,a,x ) where
q is a state in Q
a is either an input symbol in Σ or a can be ε
x is stack symbol , that is a member of Γ
The output of δ is finite set of pairs (p, γ)
p – new state
γ – string of stack symbols that replaces x at the top of the stack
If γ = ε then the stack is popped
If γ = x then the stack is unchanged
If γ = yz then x is replaced by z and y is pushed on to the stack
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GRAPHICAL NOTATION OF PDA

Finite Automata (Finite State Machine)
PDA
a a – Input symbol (This can also
A B
be ε)
b – Symbol on top of stack. This
Push Down Automata (PDA) symbol is popped (ε means the
stack is neither read nor
popped)
a , b→c
A B c – This symbol is pushed on to
the stack (ε means nothing is
pushed)
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Eg: Construct a PDA that accepts L = {0ⁿ 1ⁿ|n≥0}

Suppose our input string is 0011

0
0
Z₀

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Eg: Construct a PDA that accepts even palindrome of the form

L = {wwᴿ|w = (a+b)⁺}
Palindrome Example - 9889

b Consider the input strings (1) abba

a (2) abab
Z₀

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Consider the input strings abba .

Assume that the ε is present after and before every symbol. Ie.,

ε a ε b ε b ε a ε

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εaεbεbεaε

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Instantaneous Description (ID) of PDA

Instantaneous Description (ID) is an informal notation of how a
PDA “computes” a input string and make a decision that string is
accepted or rejected.
A ID is a triple (q, w, α), where:
q is the current state.
w is the remaining input (unconsumed input)
α is the stack contents, top at the left.

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Turnstile notation
⊢ sign is called a “turnstile notation” and represents one move.
⊢* sign represents a sequence of moves.
Eg: (p, b, T) ⊢ (q, w, α)
This implies that while taking a transition from state p to state q, the
input symbol ‘b’ is consumed, and the top of the stack ‘T’ is replaced
by a new string ‘α’
δ is a transition function which maps Q x {Σ ∪ ε} x Γ → Q x Γ*
• In a given state, PDA will read input symbol and stack symbol (top
of the stack) and move to a new state and change the symbol of
stack.
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Example : Define the pushdown automata for language {anbn | n > 0}

Let Q = { q0, q1 }
Σ = { a, b }
Γ = { A, Z₀ } . Consider the input string aaabbb.

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• Initially, the state of automata is q0 and symbol on stack is Z and

the input is aaabbb as shown in row 1.
• On reading ‘a’ (shown in bold in row 2), the state will remain q0 and
it will push symbol A on stack.
• On next ‘a’ (shown in row 3), it will push another symbol A on stack.
After reading 3 a’s, the stack will be AAAZ with A on the top.
• After reading ‘b’ (as shown in row 5), it will pop A and move to
state q1 and stack will be AAZ.
• When all b’s are read, the state will be q1 and stack will be Z. In row
8, on input symbol ‘∈’ and Z on stack, it will pop Z and stack will be
empty. This type of acceptance is known as acceptance by empty
stack.
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Important points
The above pushdown automaton is deterministic in nature
because there is only one move from a state on an input symbol
and stack symbol.
The non-deterministic pushdown automata can have more than
one move from a state on an input symbol and stack symbol.
It is not always possible to convert non-deterministic pushdown
automata to deterministic pushdown automata.
The push down automata can either be implemented using
acceptance by empty stack or acceptance by final state and one can
be converted to another.

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CLOSURE PROPERTIES OF CFL

1. Union : If L1 and If L2 are two context free languages, their union
L1 ∪ L2 will also be context free. For example,
• L1 = { aⁿbⁿcᵐ | m >= 0 and n >= 0 } and
• L2 = { aⁿbᵐcᵐ | n >= 0 and m >= 0 }
• L3 = L1 ∪ L2 = {aⁿbⁿcᵐ ∪ aⁿbᵐcᵐ | n >= 0, m >= 0 } is also context
free.
L1 says number of a’s should be equal to number of b’s and L2 says
number of b’s should be equal to number of c’s. Their union says
either of two conditions to be true. So it is also context free
language.
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2. Concatenation : If L1 and If L2 are two context free languages,

their concatenation L1.L2 will also be context free. For example,
L1 = { aⁿbⁿ | n >= 0 } and L2 = { cᵐdᵐ | m >= 0 }
L3 = L1.L2 = {aⁿbⁿcᵐdᵐ | m >= 0 and n >= 0} is also context free.
• L1 says number of a’s should be equal to number of b’s and L2 says
number of c’s should be equal to number of d’s.
• Their concatenation says first number of a’s should be equal to
number of b’s, then number of c’s should be equal to number of
d’s.
• So, we can create a PDA which will first push for a’s, pop for b’s,
push for c’s then pop for d’s. So it can be accepted by pushdown
automata, hence context free.
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3. Kleene Closure : If L1 is context free, its Kleene closure L1* will

also be context free. For example,
L1 = { aⁿbⁿ | n >= 0 }
L1* = { aⁿbⁿ | n >= 0 }* is also context free.
• So CFL are closed under Kleen Closure.
4. Intersection and complementation :
• If L1 and If L2 are two context free languages, their intersection
L1 ∩ L2 need not be context free.
• Similarly, complementation of context free language L1 which is
∑* – L1, need not be context free.
• So CFL are not closed under Intersection and Complementation.
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