Finite Automata

Finite Automata

• Yet Another Method for Defining Languages

• FAs and Their Languages

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 Definition
• A finite automaton is a collection of three things:

1. A finite set of states, one of which is designated as the initial

state, called the start state, and some (maybe none) of
which are designated as final states.

2. An alphabet Σ of possible input letters.

3. A finite set of transitions that tell for each state and for each
letter of the input alphabet which state to go next.

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 How Does a Finite Automaton work?

• It works by being presented with an input string of letters that

it reads letter by letter starting from the leftmost letter.

• Beginning at the start state, the letters determine a sequence

of states.

• This sequence ends when the last input letter has been read

• We will use the term FA for the phrase “finite automaton”.

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 Example

Consider the following FA:

• The input alphabet has only the two letters a and b. (We
usually use this alphabet throughout the chapter.)

• There are only three states, x, y and z, where x is the start

state and z is the final state.

• The transition list for this FA is as follows:

– Rule 1: From state x and input a, go to state y.
– Rule 2: From state x and input b, go to state z.
– Rule 3: From state y and input a, go to state x.
– Rule 4: From state y and input b, go to state z.
– Rule 5: From state z and any input, stay at state z.
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 Example Contd.

• Let us examine what happens when the input string aaa is

presented to this FA.

• First input a: state x → y by Rule 1.

• Second input a: state y → x by Rule 3.

• Third input a: state x → y by Rule 1.

• We did not finish up in the final state z, and therefore have an

unsuccessful termination.
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 Example contd.

• The set of all strings that lead to a final state is called the language
defined by the finite automaton.

• Thus, the string aaa is not in the language defined by this FA.

• We may also say that the string aaa is not accepted by this FA, or the
string aaa is rejected by this FA.

• The set of all strings accepted is also called the language associated with
the FA.

• We also say, “This FA accepts the language L”, or “L is the language

accepted by this FA”, or “L is the language of the FA”, by which we mean
that all the words in L are accepted, and all the inputs accepted are words
in L

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 Example contd.

• It is not difficult to find the language accepted by this FA.

• If an input string is made up of only letter a’s then the action of the FA will
be to jump back and forth between state x and state y.

• To get to state z, it is necessary for the string to have the letter b in it. As
soon as a b is encountered, the FA jumps to state z. Once in state z, it is
impossible to leave. When the input string runs out, the FA will be in the
final state z.

• This FA will accept all strings that have the letter b in them. Hence, the
language accepted by this FA is defined by the regular expression
(a + b)*b(a + b)*

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 Abstract definition of FA

1. A finite set of states Q = {q0, q1, q2 q3 …} of

which q0 is start state.

2. A subset of Q called final state (s).

3. An alphabet ∑ = { x1, x2, x3, …}.

4. A transition function δ associating each pair

of state and letter with a state:
δ(q,xj) 9
 Transition Table

• The transition list can be summarized in a

table format in which each row is the name of
one of the states, and each column is a letter
of the input alphabet.
• For example, the transition table for the FA
above is

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 Transition Diagrams

• Pictorial representation of an FA gives us more of a feeling for the motion.

• We represent each state by a small circle.

• We draw arrows showing to which other states the different input letters will lead
us. We label these arrows with the corresponding input letters.

• If a certain letter makes a state go back to itself, we indicate this by a loop.

• We indicate the start state by a minus sign, or by labeling it with the word start.

• We indicate the final states by plus signs, or by labeling them with the word final.

• Sometimes, a start state is indicated by an arrow, and a final state is indicated by

drawing another circle around its circle.

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Transition Diagram (cont.)

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Transition Diagram (cont.)

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Transition Diagram (cont.)

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 Transition Diagrams contd.

• When we depict an FA as circles and arrows, we say that we

have drawn a directed graph.

• We borrow from Graph Theory the name directed edge, or

simply edge, for the arrow between states.

• Every state has as many outgoing edges as there are letters

in the alphabet.

• It is possible for a state to have no incoming edges or to have

many.
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 Example

• By convention, we say that the null string starts in the start

state and ends also in the start state for all FAs.
• Consider this FA:

• The language accepted by this FA is the set of all strings

except Λ.
The regular expression of this language is
(a + b)(a + b)* = (a + b)+
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 Example

• One of many FAs that accept all words is

• Here, the ± means that the same state is both

a start and a final state.
• The language for this machine is
(a + b)* 17
 Example

• There are FAs that accept no language. These

are of two types:
• The first type includes FAs that have no final
states, such as

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 Example

• The second type include FAs of which the final states can not
be reached from the start state.

• This may be either because the diagram is in two separate

components. In this case, we say that the graph is
disconnected, as in the example below:

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 Example

• Or it is because the final state has no incoming

edges, as shown below:

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