Deterministic
Finite Automata
And Regular Languages
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 1
Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA)
Input
String
Output
“Accept”
Finite
or
Automaton
“Reject”
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 2
Transition Graph
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
initial accepting
state state
transition
state
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 3
Initial Configuration
Input String
a b b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 4
Reading the Input
a b b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 5
a b b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 6
a b b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 7
a b b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 8
Input finished
a b b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
accept
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 9
Rejection
a b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 10
a b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 11
a b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 12
a b a
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 13
Input finished
a b a
a, b
reject
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 14
Another Rejection
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 15
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
reject
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 16
Another Example
a a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 17
a a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 18
a a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 19
a a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 20
Input finished
a a b
a a,b
accept
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 21
Rejection Example
b a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 22
b a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 23
b a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 24
b a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 25
Input finished
b a b
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
reject
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 26
Language Accepted by DFA
DFA M
Definition:
The language L M contains
all input strings accepted by M
L M = { strings that bring M
to an accepting state}
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 27
Example
L M abba M
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
accept
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 28
Example
L M , ab, abba M
a, b
q5
b a a a, b
b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
accept accept accept
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 29
Example
L M {a b : n 0}
n
a a,b
q0 b q1 a, b q2
accept trap state
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 30
Formal Definition
Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA)
M Q, , , q0 , F
Q : set of states
: input alphabet
: transition function
q0 : initial state
F : set of accepting states
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 31
Input Alphabet
a, b
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 32
Set of States Q
Q q0 , q1, q2 , q3 , q4 , q5
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 33
Initial State q0
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 34
Set of Accepting States F
F q4
a, b
q5
a a, b
b a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 35
Transition Function
:Q Q
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 36
q0 , a q1
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 37
q0 , b q5
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 38
q2 , b q3
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 39
Transition Function
a b
q0 q1 q5 For every state and
q1 q5 q2 Symbol, there is a transition
q2 q5 q3
q3 q4 q5 a, b
q4 q5 q5
q5 q5 q5 q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 40
Extended Transition Function *
* : Q * Q
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 41
* q0 , ab q2
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 42
* q0 , abba q4
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 43
* q0 , abbbaa q5
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 44
Observation: if there is a walk from q to q
with label w then
* q , w q
q w q
w 1 2 k
1 2 k
q q
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 45
Example: There is a walk from q0 to q5
with label abbbaa
* q0 , abbbaa q5
a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 46
Recursive Definition
* q, q
* q, w ( * (q, w), )
q w q1 q
* q , w q
* q, w (q1, )
(q1, ) q
* q, w ( * (q, w), )
* q, w q1
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 47
* q0 , ab
* (q0 , a ), b
* q0 , , a , b
q0 , a , b
q1 , b
q2 a, b
q5
b a a, b
a b
q0 a q1 b q2 b q3 a q4
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 48
Language Accepted by DFA
For a DFA M Q, , , q0 , F
Language accepted by M :
L M w * : * q0 , w F
q0 w q q F
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 49
Observation
Language rejected by M :
L M w * : * q0 , w F
q0 w q q F
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 50
Example
L M = { all strings with prefix ab }
a, b
q0 a q1 b q2
b a accept
q3 a, b
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 51
Example
L M = { all strings without
substring 001 }
1 0 0,1
1
0 1
0 00 001
0
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 52
Example
L( M ) awa : w a, b *
a
b
b
q0 a q2 q3
b a
q4
a, b
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 53
Regular Languages
Definition:
A language L is regular if there is
DFA M such that L L M
Observation:
All languages accepted by all DFAs
form the family of regular languages
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 54
Examples of regular languages:
abba , ab, abba
awa : w a, b * {a nb : n 0}
{ all strings with prefix ab }
{ all strings without substring 001 }
There exist automata that accept these
languages (see previous slides).
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 55
There exist languages that are not Regular:
n n
Example: L {a b : n 0}
There is no DFA that accepts such a language
(we will prove this later in the class)
Fall 2005 Costas Busch - RPI 56
