Turing Machines

• Invented by Alan Turing in 1936.

• A simple mathematical model of a

general purpose computer.

• It is capable of performing any calculation

which can be performed by any
computing machine.
The Language Hierarchy

n n n
a b c ? ww ?

Context-Free Languages

a nb n
R
ww
Regular Languages
a a*b
* *
 Languages accepted by
Turing Machines
n n
a b c n
ww
Context-Free Languages

a nb n
R
ww NDPA

Regular Languages
Finite
a a*b Automata
* *
 A Turing Machine
Tape
...... ......

Read-Write head
Control Unit
 The Tape
No boundaries -- infinite length
...... ......

Read-Write head

The head moves Left or Right

 ...... ......

Read-Write head

The head at each time perform the

following steps:

1. Reads a symbol
2. Writes a symbol
3. Moves Left or Right
Example:
Time 0
...... a b a c ......

Time 1
...... a b k c ......

1. Reads a

2. Writes k
 Time 1
...... a b k c ......

Time 2
...... a f k c ......

1. Reads
b f
2.
3. Writes
Moves Right
 The Input String
Input string Blank symbol

...... a b a c ......

head
Head starts at the leftmost position
of the input string
Are treated as left and right brackets for the
input written on the tape.
States & Transitions
Read Write
Move Left

a b,
q1 q2
L

Move Right

a b,
q1 q2
R
Example:
Time 1
...... a b a c ......

q1
curren
t state

a b,
q1 q2
R
 Time 1
...... a b a c ......

q1

...... Time 2 ......

a b b c

q2
a b,
q1 q2
R
Example:
Time 1
...... a b a c ......

q1

...... Time ......

a b2 b c

q2
a b,
q1 q2
L
Example:
Time 1
...... a b a c ......

q1

Time 2
...... a b b c g ......

q2
g,
q1 q2
R
 Determinism
Turing Machines are deterministic

Allowed Not
Allowed
a b, R q2 q2
a b, R
q1 q1
b d, q3 a d, q3
L L
No lambda transitions allowed
 Partial Transition Function
Example:

...... a b a c ......

q1

a b, Allowed:
q2
R No transition
q1
for input symbol c
b d, q3
 Halting

The machine halts if there are

no possible transitions to follow
Example:

...... a b a c ......

q1

a b, q2
R No possible transition
q1
HALT!!!
b d, q3
 Final States
q1 q2 Allowed

q1 q2 Not
Allowed

• Final states have no outgoing transitions

• In a final state the machine halts

 Acceptance
If machine halts
Accept Input
in a final state

If machine halts
in a non-final state
Reject Input or
If machine enters
an infinite loop
 Turing Machine Example
A Turing machine that accepts the language:
aa *

a a, R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 0 a a a

q0

a a,
R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 1 a a a

q0

a a,
R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 2 a a a

q0

a a,
R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 3 a a a

q0

a a,
R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 4 a a a

q1

a a, Halt & Accept

R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Rejection Example

Time 0 a b a

q0

a, qR ,
0 q
L
1
Time 1 a b a

q0

No possible Transition
a a, Halt & Reject
R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Infinite Loop Example

b b,
L
a a,
R ,
q0 q
L
1
Time 0 a b a

q0

b b, L
a a, R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 1 a b a

q0

b b, L
a a, R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 2 a b a

q0

b b, L
a a, R

q0 ,
q
L
1
Time 2 a b a

q0
Time 3 a b a

q0
Time 4 a b a

q0
Time 5 a b a

... Infinite Loop q0

Because of the infinite loop:

• The final state cannot be reached

•The machine never halts

•The input is not accepted

 Another Turing Machine
Example
n n
Turing machine for the language {a b }

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 0 a a b b

q0

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 1 x a b b

q1

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 2 x a b b

q1

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 3 x a y b

q2

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 4 x a y b

q2

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 5 x a y b

q0

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 6 x x y b

q1

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 7 x x y b

q1

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 8 x x y y

q2

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 9 x x y y

q2

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 10 x x y y

q0

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 11 x x y y

q3

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 12 x x y y

q3

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Time 13 x x y y

q4

Halt & Accept

q4 y y, y y,
y y, R L
R ,
a a, R a a,
y, R q aL
q3 y 0 x, b y,L q
q 2
R L
1
x x,
Observation:

If we modify the
machine for the language n n
{a b }

we can easily construct

a machine for the language n n n
{a b c }
Formal Definitions
for
Turing Machines
Transition Function

c d,
q1 L q2

(q1,c) (q2 , d,
L)
Turing Machine:
Input Tape
alphabet alphabet
States

M (Q, , , , q0 , , F )

A partial
Final
Transition
states
function Initial
Blank : a special symbol
state Of
 Configuration
c a b a

q1

Instantaneous description: ca q1 ba
 Time 4 Time 5
x a y b x a y b

q2 q0

A Move: q2 xayb  x q0
ayb
 Time 4 Time 5
x a y b x a y b

q2 q0

Time 6 Time 7
x x y b x x y b

q1 q1

q2 xayb  x q0 ayb  xx q1 yb  xxy q1 b

 Equivalent notation

q2 xayb  x q0 ayb  xx q1 yb  xxy q1

b

Equivalent notation: q2 xayb  xxy q1 b

Initial configuration: q0 w

Input string

w
a a b b

q0
 The Accepted Language
For any Turing Machine M

L(M {w : q0 w  x1 q f x2}
)

Initial state Final state

Standard Turing Machine
The machine we described is the
standard:

• Deterministic

• Infinite tape in both directions

•Tape is the input/output file

Design a Turing machine to recognize all
strings in which 010 is present as a
substring. 0,0,R

0,0,R 1,1,R 0,0,R

q0 q1 q2 H

1,1,R
1,1, R
DFA for the previous language
0

0 1 0
q0 q1 q2

1
1

0,1
Turing machine for odd no of 1’s

1, 1 , R
1, b , R

1, b , R
Recursively Enumerable
and
Recursive

Languages
Definition:
A language is recursively
enumerable
if some Turing machine accepts it
Let L be a recursively enumerable language

and M the Turing Machine that accepts it

For string w :

if w L then M halts in a final state

L then M halts in a non-final state

if w
or loops forever
Definition:
A language is recursive
if some Turing machine accepts it
and halts on any input string

In other words:
A language is recursive if there is
a membership algorithm for it
Let L be a recursive language

and M the Turing Machine that accepts it

For string w :

if w L then M halts in a final state

L
if w then M halts in a non-final state
We will prove:

1. There is a specific language

which is not recursively enumerable
(not accepted by any Turing Machine)

2. There is a specific language

which is recursively enumerable
but not recursive
Non Recursively Enumerable

Recursively Enumerable

Recursive