MTH 307: Discrete Structures II

(Theory of Computation)
Chapter 2: Finite State Automata
Part 1 - DFA
Dr. Maroun Abi Assaf

1
 Chapter 2 Finite State Automata
•Types of Finite State
Automata
• Deterministic automata (DFA): each move is uniquely determined.
Nondeterministic automata (NFA): the moves are not uniquely determined.
• An automata is called an accepter if its output response is limited to “yes” or “no”.
• An automata is called a transducer if it is capable of producing strings of symbols
as output.
2.1 Deterministic Finite State Automata
• Rule 1: At every state, there should be a transition for every
character of the alphabet
•Give two FSA examples (deter vs non-deter) with alphabet {a,b}

•Rule 2: At every state, there should not be two transitions with the
same character.
•Give two FSA examples (deter vs non-deter) with alphabet {a,b}

•Rule 3: There should not be epsilon transitions or empty transitions.

•Give two FSA examples (deter vs non-deter) with alphabet {a,b}
Definition 2.1
A deterministic finite state automaton or dfa
is defined by the quintuple
M  (Q, ,  , q0 , F )
where
Q is a finite set of internal states,
 is a finite set of symbols called the input
alphabet,
 : Q    Q is a function called
th e transition function,
q 0  Q is the initial state,
F  Q is a set of final states.

•Give a DFA example with alphabet {a,b}

 • Transition graphs
Deterministic finite state automaton
M  (Q,, δ, q0 , F)
Transition
0 0 1 function: δ ( q1 ,1)  q 2

q0 q1 q2 0
1
1
Initial state Final state

Example 2.1
The above transition graph represents the dfa
M  ({q0 , q1 , q2 },{0,1},δ , q0 , {q1}),
where δ is given by It accepts 01, 101,0111,11001,….
δ (q0 ,0)  q0, δ (q0 ,1)  q1,
But not 00, 100,1100,….
δ (q1 ,0)  q0, δ (q1 ,1)  q2,
δ (q2 ,0)  q2, δ (q2 ,0)  q1,
 To accept a string: all the input string is scanned and the last state is accepting

To reject a string: all the input string is scanned and the last state is non-
accepting

Definition 2.2
The language accepted by
a dfa M  (Q,,  , q0 F ) is
the set of all string on Σ
accepted by M. In formal notation,
L(M)  {w  * :  * (q0 , w)  F}.

Let w  a1a2  an .
If  (q1 , a1 )  q2 ,  (q2 , a2 )  q3 , ,  (qn , an )  qn 1 ,
then we write δ * (q1,w)  qn 1.
Especially,δ * (q,ε )  q.
Example 2.2 Consider the dfa in the following transition graph.
What is the accepted language?
a

q0 q1 q2 a,b
b a,b
Solution: Trap state

L  {a nb: n  0}
Example 2.3 Find a dfa that recognizes the set of all strings
on   {a, b} starting with the prefix ab.

Solution:

q0 a q1 b q2 a,b
b Trap state

q3 a,b
Example 2.4 Find a dfa that recognizes the set of all strings
on {0,1}, except those containing the substring 001.

1 0 0,1
1

ε
0 1 001
0 00
0

1 0 0,1
1
or
q0 q1 0 q2 1 q3
0
Definition 2.3 A language L is called regular if and only if there
exists some deterministic finite accepter M such that L = L(M).

Example 2.5 b a
Show that language L={awa: w  {a, b}* is regular.
a
q0 q2 a q3
b
b
a,b
Example 2.6 q1
Let L be the language in Example 2.5. Show that L  {aw1aaw2 a} is regular.
2

b a b a

a
q0 q2 a q3 a
q4 a q5
b b
b
a,b
q1
Example 2.6 Given the following DFA:

a, b

q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4

Show if the following strings are accepted or rejected:

-abba
-abb
-aba
-epsilon
Example 2.7 Given the following DFA:

a a, b

q0 b q1 a, b q2

Show if the following strings are accepted or rejected:

-aab
-bab
• A language that is not recognized by DFA

• Can you think of a language that is not regular?

• A language that is not regular is a language that cannot be recognized by any

DFA.