APEX INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Theory of Computation(22CST-390)
Faculty: Rosevir Singh(E16685)

Universal Turing Machine

DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER

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Theory Of Computation: Course Objectives

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The Course aims to:
1.Demonstrate Knowledge of basic mathematical models of computation and describe how they relate to
formal languages.
2.Develop Understanding of what are limitations on what computers can do and learn examples of
unsolvable problems.
3.Teach that certain problems do not admit efficient algorithms and Identify such problems.

By: Rosevir Singh 2

COURSE OUTCOMES
On completion of this course, the students shall be able to:-

Describe fundamental concepts of formal languages, grammars, and automata theory,

CO1
including alphabets, languages, grammars, and the Chomsky hierarchy.
Understand the structure and behavior of finite automata, regular languages, context-
CO2 free languages, context-sensitive languages, and Turing machines, and demonstrate
their equivalences and applications.
Apply properties, theorems (Kleene's theorem, pumping lemma, Myhill-Nerode
CO3 theorem), and algorithms for minimization, parsing, and decision problems in
automata and formal language theory.
Analyze the computational power and limitations of different language classes and
CO4 automata, including undecidability and complexity distinctions between P, NP, and
NP-complete problems.
Evaluate computational problems using reductions, and construct proofs for
CO5 undecidability and complexity, leveraging concepts such as the Church-Turing thesis,
Cook’s theorem, and Rice's theorem.

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Unit3

• UNDECIDABILITY Church-Turing thesis, universal Turing machine, the

universal and diagonalization languages, reduction between
languages and Rice s theorem, undecidable problems about
languages
• BASIC INTRODUCTION TO COMPLEXITY Introductory ideas on Time
complexity of deterministic and nondeterministic Turing machines, P
and NP, NP- completeness, Cook’s Theorem, other NP -Complete
problems.
•

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Universal Turing Machine
The UTM was associated with Alan Turing back in 1936. Being a
theoretical device, it is able to run any Turing machine on its tape, an
idea that represents general computation. The idea created an
awakening of what could be done computationally, algorithmically, and
by machines. Because a single machine can execute any algorithm, the
UTM truly models the heart of modern computing systems and at the
same time explores the boundaries of what can be computed.

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• What is a Universal Turing Machine (UTM)?
• A Universal Turing Machine can be defined as a theoretical construction that can simulate
the behavior of other machines. This is done specifically by reading, apart from the input
tape it simulates, a description of how this very machine it is simulating would work, and
transition rules showing how it would respond to the input. This gives the UTM the
character of a general-purpose computational device that can execute any arbitrary
computable function. Universal Turing machines have hence been taken to provide the
means for the Church-Turing thesis anything computable can be computed by a Turing
machine. In this sense, the UTM is more properly considered to be a universal interpreter
that can run any algorithm specified by another machine.

• A Universal Turing Machine is a Turing Machine which when supplied with an appropriate
description of a Turing Machine M and an input string w, can simulate the computation of
w.

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Construction of UTM
Without loss of generality, we assume the following for M:
Q = {q1, q2, ….qn} where q1=initial state and q2=Final State
τ = {σ1, σ2,,…σn} where σ represent blanks
Select an encoding on which q1 is representable by 1, q2 by 11, and so on.
Similarly, σ1 is encoded as 1, σ2 as 11, etc.
Finally, let us represent R/W head directions by 1 for L (Left) and 11 for R(Right).
The symbol 0 will be used as a separator between 1s.
With this scheme, any transition of M can be given as : .

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• Implementation of UTM
• A UTM Mu then has an input alphabet = {0, 1} and the
structure of a multi-tape TM.
• Mu looks first at the contents of Tape 2 and Tape 3 to
determine the instantaneous description (ID) of M.

• It then consults Tape1 to see what M would do with this ID.

• Finally, Tape 2 and Tape 3 will be modified to reflect the

result of the move.

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• If no transition for a given ID is formed, Mu halts as M must:

• In either case, Mu behaves as M would.

• If M halts, when presented with string w then Mu will halt when presented with the
encoded M and the encoded string on its tape.

• Moreover, the final string Mu .s tape will be the encoding of the string.

• When M halts, Mu can tell if it is in the single accepting state and so moves to an accepting
state of its own ( or not).

• Conclusion
• The UTM in computer science was the conceptual basis, essentially a theoretical
framework upon which many conceptions about the nature of computation were erected.
This capability of the UTM to simulate any computable process underlines a universality
principle, one that informs modern computer design and the study of algorithms and
complexity theory. As a matter of fact, even though technology has advanced, UTM serves
to this day as the basis for modes of investigation into the limits of computation into areas
such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others. This has remained
relevant, shaping our understanding of current and future computational systems.

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Practice Questions:

• Compare a Universal Turing Machine with a non-universal Turing

machine in terms of functionality.
• Analyze the role of encoding in enabling a Universal Turing Machine
to simulate other machines.
• Design an encoding scheme for representing a Turing machine and its
input for a Universal Turing Machine.

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 References

• K.L.P MISHRA,“Introduction to computer Theory” .

• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/churchs-thesis-for-turing-machine/?
ref=ml_lbp
• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/universal-turing-machine/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tA5Q6V31mY
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2X1-huso
THANK YOU