CS3452-THEORY OF

COMPUTATION
 Automata

• The term "Automata" is derived from the Greek word

"αὐτόματα" which means "self-acting". An automaton
(Automata in plural) is an abstract self- computing
device which follows a predetermined sequence of
operations automatically.

• An automaton with a finite number of states is called

a Finite Automata (FA) or Finite State
Machine (FSM).
 Formal definition of a Finite Automaton

• An automaton can be represented by a 5-tuple (Q,

∑, δ, q0, F), where −
• Q is a finite set of states.
• ∑ is a finite set of symbols, called the alphabet of
the automaton.
• δ is the transition function.
• q0 is the initial state from where any input is
processed (q0 ∈ Q).
• F is a set of final state/states of Q (F ⊆ Q).
 Related Terminologies
Alphabet
Definition − An alphabet is any finite set of
symbols.
• Example − ∑ = {a, b, c, d} is an alphabet set where
‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, and ‘d’ are symbols.
String
Definition − A string is a finite sequence of
symbols taken from ∑.
• Example − ‘cabcad’ is a valid string on the alphabet
set ∑ = {a, b, c, d}
Length of a String
Definition − It is the number of symbols present
in a string. (Denoted by |S|).
• Examples −
– If S = ‘cabcad’, |S|= 6
– If |S|= 0, it is called an empty string (Denoted
by λ or ε)
Kleene Star
Definition − The Kleene star, ∑*, is a unary
operator on a set of symbols or strings, ∑, that gives the
infinite set of all possible strings of all possible lengths
over ∑ including λ.
Representation − ∑* = ∑0 ∪ ∑1 ∪ ∑2 ∪……. where

∑p is the set of all possible strings of length p.

• Example − If ∑ = {a, b}, ∑* = {λ, a, b, aa, ab, ba, bb,

………..}
Kleene Closure / Plus
Definition − The set ∑+ is the infinite set of all
possible strings of all possible lengths over ∑ excluding λ.
Representation − ∑+ = ∑1 ∪ ∑2 ∪ ∑3 ∪…….
• ∑+ = ∑* − { λ }
• Example − If ∑ = { a, b } , ∑+ = { a, b, aa, ab, ba, bb,
………..}
 Language

• Definition − A language is a subset of ∑* for

some alphabet ∑. It can be finite or infinite.
• Example − If the language takes all possible
strings of length 2 over ∑ = {a, b}, then
L = { ab, aa, ba, bb }
Finite Automaton can be classified into two types
• Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA)
• Non-deterministic Finite Automaton (NDFA /
NFA)
Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA)
• In DFA, for each input symbol, one can determine the state to
which the machine will move. Hence, it is
called Deterministic Automaton. As it has a finite number of
states, the machine is called Deterministic Finite
Machine or Deterministic Finite Automaton.
Formal Definition of a DFA
• A DFA can be represented by a 5-tuple (Q, ∑, δ, q 0, F) where
−
• Q is a finite set of states.
• ∑ is a finite set of symbols called the alphabet.
• δ is the transition function where δ: Q × ∑ → Q
• q0 is the initial state from where any input is processed (q 0 ∈
Q).
• F is a set of final state/states of Q (F ⊆ Q).
 Graphical Representation of a DFA

A DFA is represented by digraphs called state diagram.

• The small circle represent the states.
• The arcs labeled with an input alphabet show the
transitions.
• The initial state is denoted by an empty single
incoming arc.
• The final state is indicated by double circles.
Example
• Let a deterministic finite automaton be →
• Q = {a, b, c},
• ∑ = {0, 1},
• q0 = {a},
• F = {c}, and
• Transition function δ as shown by the following table −

Present State Next State for Next State for

Input 0 Input 1

a a b

b c a

c b c
Its graphical representation would be as follows
In NDFA, for a particular input symbol, the machine can move to any
combination of the states in the machine. In other words, the exact state to
which the machine moves cannot be determined. Hence, it is called Non-
deterministic Automaton. As it has finite number of states, the machine is
called Non-deterministic Finite Machine or Non-deterministic Finite
Automaton.
• Formal Definition of an NDFA
• An NDFA can be represented by a 5-tuple (Q, ∑, δ, q0, F) where −
• Q is a finite set of states.
• ∑ is a finite set of symbols called the alphabets.
• δ is the transition function where δ: Q × ∑ → 2Q
• (Here the power set of Q (2Q) has been taken because in case of NDFA,
from a state, transition can occur to any combination of Q states)
• q0 is the initial state from where any input is processed (q0 ∈ Q).
• F is a set of final state/states of Q (F ⊆ Q).
 Graphical Representation of an NDFA: (same as DFA)

• Example
• Let a non-deterministic finite automaton be →
• Q = {a, b, c}
• ∑ = {0, 1}
• q0 = {a}
• F = {c}
• The transition function δ as shown below −
Present State Next State for Input Next State for Input
0 1

a a, b b

b c a, c

c b, c c
 Example
Let us consider the DFA From the DFA, the acceptable strings can be derived.

Strings accepted by the above DFA: {0, 00, 11, 010,

101, ...........}
Strings not accepted by the above DFA: {1, 011, 111, ........}
 Problem Statement

• Let X = (Qx, ∑, δx, q0, Fx) be an NDFA which

accepts the language L(X). We have to design
an equivalent DFA Y = (Qy, ∑, δy, q0, Fy) such
that L(Y) = L(X). The following procedure
converts the NDFA to its equivalent DFA −
 Algorithm

• Input − An NDFA
• Output − An equivalent DFA
• Step 1 − Create state table from the given NDFA.
• Step 2 − Create a blank state table under possible input alphabets
for the equivalent DFA.
• Step 3 − Mark the start state of the DFA by q0 (Same as the
NDFA).
• Step 4 − Find out the combination of States {Q0, Q1,... , Qn} for
each possible input alphabet.
• Step 5 − Each time we generate a new DFA state under the input
alphabet columns, we have to apply step 4 again, otherwise go to
step 6.
• Step 6 − The states which contain any of the final states of the
NDFA are the final states of the equivalent DFA.
q δ(q,0) δ(q,1)

a {a,b,c,d,e} {d,e}

b {c} {e}

c ∅ {b}

d {e} ∅

e ∅ ∅
Using the above algorithm, we find its equivalent DFA. The state table of the DFA
is shown in below.

q δ(q,0) δ(q,1)

[a] [a,b,c,d,e] [d,e]

[a,b,c,d,e] [a,b,c,d,e] [b,d,e]

[d,e] [e] ∅

[b,d,e] [c,e] [e]

[e] ∅ ∅

[c, e] ∅ [b]

[b] [c] [e]

[c] ∅ [b]
The state diagram of the DFA is as follows
 DFA Minimization using Myphill-Nerode Theorem

Algorithm
• Input − DFA
• Output − Minimized DFA
• Step 1 − Draw a table for all pairs of states (Qi, Qj) not
necessarily connected directly [All are unmarked initially]
• Step 2 − Consider every state pair (Qi, Qj) in the DFA where
Qi ∈ F and Qj ∉ F or vice versa and mark them. [Here F is the
set of final states]
• Step 3 − Repeat this step until we cannot mark anymore states −
• If there is an unmarked pair (Qi, Qj), mark it if the pair {δ (Qi,
A), δ (Qi, A)} is marked for some input alphabet.
• Step 4 − Combine all the unmarked pair (Qi, Qj) and make them
a single state in the reduced DFA.
Step 1 − We draw a table for all pair of states.

a b c D e f

f
• Step 2 − We mark the state pairs.

a b c D e f

c ✔ ✔

d ✔ ✔

e ✔ ✔

f ✔ ✔ ✔
• Step 3 − We will try to mark the state pairs, with green colored
check mark, transitively. If we input 1 to state ‘a’ and ‘f’, it
will go to state ‘c’ and ‘f’ respectively. (c, f) is already marked,
hence we will mark pair (a, f). Now, we input 1 to state ‘b’ and
‘f’; it will go to state ‘d’ and ‘f’ respectively. (d, f) is already
marked, hence we will mark pair (b, f).
a b c D e f

c ✔ ✔

d ✔ ✔

e ✔ ✔

f ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
• After step 3, we have got state combinations {a, b} {c, d} {c,
e} {d, e} that are unmarked.
• We can recombine {c, d} {c, e} {d, e} into {c, d, e}
• Hence we got two combined states as − {a, b} and {c, d, e}
• So the final minimized DFA will contain three states {f}, {a,
b} and {c, d, e}
 DFA Minimization using Equivalence Theorem

If X and Y are two states in a DFA, we can combine

these two states into {X, Y} if they are not
distinguishable. Two states are distinguishable, if there
is at least one string S, such that one of δ (X, S) and δ
(Y, S) is accepting and another is not accepting. Hence,
a DFA is minimal if and only if all the states are
distinguishable.
• Step 1 − All the states Q are divided in two partitions
− final states and non-final states and are denoted
by P0. All the states in a partition are 0 th equivalent.
Take a counter k and initialize it with 0.
• Step 2 − Increment k by 1. For each partition in P k,
divide the states in Pk into two partitions if they are k-
distinguishable. Two states within this partition X and
Y are k-distinguishable if there is an input S such
that δ(X, S) and δ(Y, S) are (k-1)-distinguishable.
• Step 3 − If Pk ≠ Pk-1, repeat Step 2, otherwise go to
Step 4.
• Step 4 − Combine kth equivalent sets and make them
the new states of the reduced DFA.
q δ(q,0) δ(q,1)

a b C

b a D

c e F

d e F

e e F

f f F
• Let us apply the above algorithm to the above
DFA −
• P0 = {(c,d,e), (a,b,f)}
• P1 = {(c,d,e), (a,b),(f)}
• P2 = {(c,d,e), (a,b),(f)}
• Hence, P1 = P2.
• There are three states in the reduced DFA. The
reduced DFA is as follows −
Q δ(q,0) δ(q,1)

(a, b) (a, b) (c,d,e)

(c,d,e) (c,d,e) (f)

(f) (f) (f)