Theory of Automata

Finite Automata

Faryal Saud
Contents

 Finite Automata - Introduction

 Examples
 Model & Definition
 Abstract/Formal Definition
 Transition Table & Transition Diagrams
 FAs & their languages
 Discrete Finite Automata

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 Finite Automata (FA) -
Introduction
 Finite State Automata (FSA) or Finite State Machine (FSM)
 An FA is a model of a system with discrete inputs and outputs

 The system can be in any ONE of a finite number of the

internal configurations or States.

 The states of the system summarizes the information
concerning the past inputs that is needed to determine the
behavior of the system on subsequent inputs.
 The system is changing the state as a result of new inputs.

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Examples

 ON/OFF switch
 Control mechanism of an Elevator
 It has finite set of states, the floors, to move to
 It has finite set of inputs,
 the call buttons on each floor and
 the floor buttons in the carriage
 The system only knows the current state/floor it is on
 After receiving an input the control determines the next
state/floor to move to and the direction of the movement in
relation to the current floor.

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A News Paper wending
Machine
Input to machine consists of Nickels(5), Dimes(10) and Quarters(25)


When 30 cents are inserted, the cover may be opened and a news


paper removed
 If total of coins exceed 30 cents, the machine accepts the over payment
and does not give change.
 Machine has no additional memory, however it knows that an additional
5 cents will unlatch the cover when 25 cents has previously been
inserted.
 What is the language of the machine?
 All strings of n, d, q representing sum of 30 cents or more
 What are possible states?
 Need 30 cents, needs 25 cents, ----, needs 5 cents, needs 0 cent, to open the
latch
 What is the final state?
 need 0 cents

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 d d d d d d

n n n
n n n
0
30 25 20 15 10 5

q N, d, q

q
q q
q
q

News Paper Wending Machine FA

Model

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The Model

  = {n, d , q}
 Q = { 0, 5,10, 15, 20, 25, 30)
 F={0}  n d q

 S = { 30 } 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0
10 5 0 0
15 10 5 0
20 15 10 0
25 20 15 0
30 25 20 5

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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?
 Finite Automaton (FA) works by being presented with an input
string of letters that it reads letter by letter starting from the
leftmost letter of the input;
 Beginning at the start state, the letters read from input
determine a sequence of states and guide the movement of
the control along the path in the FA.
 This sequence of states ends when the last input letter has
been read and the movement of the control stops.
 If the current state in which control happen to be one of the
final states, the input is accepted as valid string from the
language of the FA.

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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/Formal 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) = xk

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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 concentric circles.

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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 – Null String as an
Input
 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)*

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Example

 There are FAs that accept no language. These are of two

types:
1. The first type includes FAs that have no final states, such as

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Example

2. The second type include FAs of which the final states can not
be reached from the start state.
1. 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

2. Or it is because the final state has no incoming edges, as

shown below:

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FA and their Languages

 We will study FA from two different angles:

1. Given a language, can we build a machine for it?

2. Given a machine, can we deduce its language?

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Example
 Let us build a machine that accepts the language of all words over
the alphabet Σ = {a, b} with an even number of letters.

 A mathematician could approach this problem by counting the total

number of letters from left to right. A computer scientist would solve
the problem differently since it is not necessary to do all the
counting:

 Use a Boolean flag, named E, initialized with the value TRUE.

Every time we read a letter, we reverse the value of E until we have
exhausted the input string. We then check the value of E. If it is
TRUE, then the input string is in the language; if FALSE, it is not.

 The FA for this language should require only 2 states:

– State 1: E is TRUE. This is the start and also final state.
– State 2: E is FALSE.

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Example Contd.

 So the FA is pictured as follows:

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Example

 Let us build a FA that accepts all the words in the language

a(a + b)*

 This is the language of all strings that begin with the letter a.

 Starting at state x, if we read a letter b, we go to a dead-end

state y. A dead-end state is one that no string can leave once
it has entered.

 If the first letter we read is an a, then we go to the state z,

which is also a final state.

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Example

 The machine looks like this:

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Example

 Let’s build a machine that accepts all words containing a

triple letter, either aaa or bbb, and only those words.

 From the start state, the FA must have a path of three edges,
with no loop, to accept the word aaa. So, we begin our FA
with the following:

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Example Contd.

 For similar reason, there must be a path for bbb, that has no
loop, and uses entirely differently states. If the b-path shares
any states with the a-path, we could mix a’s and b’s to get to
the final state. However, the final state can be shared.

 So, our FA should now look like:

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Example Contd.

 If we are moving along the a-path and we read a b before the

third a, we need to jump to the b-path in progress and vice
versa. The final FA then looks like this:

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Example

 Consider the FA below. We would like to examine what

language this machine accepts.

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Example
 There are only two ways to get to the final state 4 in this FA: One
is from state 2 and the other is from state 3.
 The only way to get to state 2 is by reading an a while in either
state 1 or state 3. If we read another a we will go to the final state
4.
 Similarly, to get to state 3, we need to read the input letter b
while in either state 1 or state 2. Once in state 3, if we read
another b, we will go to the final state 4.
 Thus, the words accepted by this machine are exactly those
strings that have a double letter aa or bb in them. This language
is defined by the regular expression

(a + b)*(aa + bb)(a + b)*

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Example

 Consider the FA below. What is the language accepted by

this machine?

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Example

 Starting at state 1, if we read a word beginning with an a, we

will go straight to the final state 3. We will stay in state 3 as
long as we continue to read only a’s. Hence, all words of the
form aa are accepted by this FA.

 What if we began with some a’s that take us to state 3 and

then we read a b? This will bring us to state 2. To get back to
the final state 3, we must proceed to state 4 and then state 3.
This trip requires two more b’s.

 Notice that in states 2, 3, and 4, all a’s that are read are
ignored; and only b’s cause a change of state.

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 Summarizing what we know: If an input string starts with an a
followed by some b’s, then it must have 3 b’s to return to the
final state 3, or 6 b’s to make the trip twice, or 9 b’s, or 12 b’s
and so on.

 In other words, an input string starting with an a and having a

total number of b’s divisible by 3 will be accepted. If an input
string starts with an a but has a total number of b’s not
divisible by 3, then it is rejected because its path will end at
either state 2 or 4.

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Example Contd.

 What happens to an input string that begins with a b?

 Such an input string will lead us to state 2. It then needs two more b’s to
get to the final state 3. These b’s can be separated by any number of
a’s. Once in state 3, it needs no more b’s, or 3 more b’s, or 6 more b’s
and so on.

 All in all, an input string, whether starting with an a or a b, must have a

total number of b’s divisible by 3 to be accepted.

 The language accepted by this machine therefore can be defined by the

regular expression

(a + ba*ba*b)+ = (a + ba*ba*b)(a + ba*ba*b)*

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Example EVEN-EVEN revisited

 Consider the FA below.

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Example EVEN-EVEN revisited
Contd.
 There are 4 edges labeled a. All the a-edges go either from one
of the upper two states (states 1 and 2) to one of the lower two
states (states 3 and 4), or else form one of the lower two states
to one of the upper two states.
 Thus, if we are north and we read an a, we go south. If we are
south and we read an a, we go north.

 If a string gets accepted by this FA, we can say that the string
must have had an even number of a’s in it. Every a that took us
south was balanced by some a that took us back north.
 So, every word in the language of this FA has an even number of
a’s in it. Also, we can say that every input string with an even
number of a will finish its path in the north (ie., state 1 or state 2).

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Example EVEN-EVEN revisited
Contd.
 Therefore, all the words in the language accepted by this FA
must have an even number of a’s and an even number of b’s.
So, they are in the language EVEN-EVEN.

 Notice that all input strings that end in state 2 have an even
number of a’s but an odd number of b’s. All strings that end in
state 3 have an even number of b’s but an odd number of a’s.
All strings that end in state 4 have an odd number of a’s and
an odd number of b’s. Thus, every word in the language
EVEN - EVEN must end in state 1 and therefore be accepted.

 Hence, the language accepted by this FA is EVEN-EVEN.

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FA – at least three a’s and at
least two b’s

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FA – even number of a’s and
each a is followed by atleast
one b

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FA – exacttly two a’s and at
least two b’s

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DFA
 DFA is the FA we have covered so far.

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