Turing Machines

• Definition
• Examples
𝐿= {0 ∨𝑛 ≥ 0 }
𝑛
2
δ (q₁ , ⎵) (qreject , ⎵ , R)
(q₂ , ⎵ , R)
=
δ (q₁ , 0) =

δ (q₂ , ⎵) (qaccept , ⎵ , R)
δ (q₁ , x) = (qreject , x , R)
=
δ (q₂ , 0) = (q₃ , x , R)

δ (q₃ , ⎵) (q₅ , ⎵ , L)
δ (q₂ , x) = (q₂ , x , R)
=
δ (q₃ , 0) = (q₄ , 0 , R)
δ (q₃ , x) = (q₃ , x , R)
…
δ (q₅ , x) = (q₅ , x , L)
 Build a TM that recognizes

Idea: Compare the left and right sides symbol-by-symbol,

crossing them out afterwards
Build a TM that recognizes
1 0 0 1 # 1 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # 1 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # 1 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # 1 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _

𝛿 ( 𝑞1 , _ ) =( 𝑞 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 , 𝑅 )
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x 0 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x 0 1 # x 0 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x 0 1 # x x 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x 0 1 # x x 0 1 _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _
Build a TM that recognizes
x x x x # x x x x _ _

1 0 0 1 # 1 0 0 1 1 _

x x x x # x x x x 1 _
 Build a TM that recognizes

1 0 x x # 1 0 0 x x _

x x x 1 # x x x x 1 _
Some important notions
• Turing Machine
• Description of a TM
• Configuration of TM
• Halting of TM
• Recognition and Deciding
• Recursively enumerable and Recursive languages
Turing machines

• A 7-tuple (Q, Σ, Γ, δ, q0, qaccept, qreject)

• For simplicity, we can omit qreject and the corresponding arrows
Describing Turing machines
• Formal description
• Defines the elements of the tuple , either by listing them or by a state
transition diagram
• Implementation description
• Describes in English prose what the Turing machine does
• Where it moves head, what gets written on the tape, etc.
• Details of states and transition function are omitted
• High-level description
• Describes an algorithm, ignoring the implementation details
• Details of how the machine manages its tape or head are omitted
Configuration of TM
• TM current state
• Contents of the tape
• Position of the head
Configuration of TM
• Given input, the initial configuration is:

• If , then the configuration after the 1st step is:

• To denote that cfg is directly followed the cfg we write:

• A typical workflow of a TM:

• To denote that cfg is indirectly followed the cfg we write:

Halting of a TM
A run of Turing machine on word has 3 possible outcomes:

• TM eventually arrives at the state

• TM eventually arrives at the state

• TM loops eternally and never stops

or maybe
Languages recognized / decided by
TM
Languages recognized / decided by
TM

or is undefined
“Improvements” for TM
• Additional transition
• Two-side-infinite tape
• Multiple tapes
• Nondeterministic behavior
Variants of TM
• Allowed transitions {L,R} vs {L,N,R}
• N transition can be replaced by two transitions (R,L)
Variants of TM
• Allowed transitions {L,R} vs {L,N,R}
• N transition can be replaced by two transitions (R,L)

• Doubly-infinite tape vs singly-infinite tape

a b c a b _ _ _ …

… _ _ a b c a b _ _ _ …
Every (doubly-infinite) TM can be simulated by a TM that
never moves its head to the left of the starting position

• Add a special symbol

• When starting, TM writes in the first cell and shifts all other content
to the right, then goes to the first position and simulates
• If finds itself on , then insert _
a b c a b _ _ _ …
and shift all input to the right,
then continue simulating
∗ a b c a b _ _ …
∗ x b a a b _ _ …

∗ _ x b a a b _ … ∗ _ x b a a b _ …
Every (doubly-infinite) TM can be simulated by a TM that
never moves its head to the left of the starting position

• Add a special symbol

• When starting, TM writes in the first cell and shifts all other content
to the right, then goes to the first position and simulates
• If finds itself on , then insert _
a b c a b _ _ _ …
and shift all input to the right,
then continue simulating
∗ x b a a b _ _ _ a b _ _ _
∗ a b c a b _ _ …
…

∗ _ x b a a b _ _ _ a b …_ …
∗ a x b a a b a …

∗ _ x b a a b _ _ a b _ …_ …
 Simulating a doubly-infinite tape by
a
singly-infinite one
• Note: to shift all content to the right, the TM has to know where the
content ends (and the infinite sequence of _ _ _ _ … starts)
• This can be solved by never writing _ on the tape but some other
symbol that is treated like _
∗x b a a b _ _ … ∗x b a a b _ _ c c b b _ _ …

∗ x b a a b _ …
∗_ x b a a b _ c c b b _ _ … Wrong

∗x b a a b c c b b _ _ … ∗ _ x b a a b _ _ c c b b _ _ … Right
Multi-tape TM 𝑞0
• Has multiple tapes and heads
• The additional tapes are empty at … ¿_ a b c _ _ …

the start
… ¿_ _ _ _ _ _ …
• TM sees all the symbols under the
heads simultaneously and can … ¿_ _ _ _ _ _ …
move the heads independently
… ¿_ _ _ _ _ _ …
Multi-tape TM 𝑞9
• Has multiple tapes and heads
• The additional tapes are empty at … ¿_ a b c _ _ …

the start
… ¿_ a _ _ _ _ …
• TM sees all the symbols under the
heads simultaneously and can … ¿_ _ _ _ _ _ …
move the heads independently
… ¿_ c _ _ _ _ …
Multi-tape TM 𝑞4
• Has multiple tapes and heads
• The additional tapes are empty at … ¿_ a b c d _ …

the start
… ¿_ _ a a _ _ …
• TM sees all the symbols under the
heads simultaneously and can … ¿d a 1 _ _ _ …
move the heads independently
… ¿_ 1 1 0 _ _ …
Multi-tape TM
• Every -tape TM can be simulated with a 1-tape TM
Nondeterministic TM
• Similarly, as deterministic vs nondeterministic finite automata
• At any point in a computation, the machine may proceed according to
several possibilities

• If any branch of the computation leads to the accept state, the

machine accepts its input
Nondeterministic TM
• Every nondeterministic Turing machine has an equivalent
deterministic Turing machine.
 0______ 11_____

_______ 1______ 0 0 0_ _ _ _
00_____ 0 0 1_ _ _ _
11101____ 01_____
10_____
Enumeration of languages
Enumerators run , see if accepts/rejects
𝑥 ∈ 𝐿, 𝑥 ∉ 𝐿

• Loosely defined, an enumerator

is a Turing machine with an
attached printer. The Turing
machine can use that printer as
an output device to print strings.
Every time the Turing machine
wants to add a string to the list,
it sends the string to the printer.

𝑥1 ¿ 𝑥 2 ¿ 𝑥 3 ¿ … ¿

𝐿= { 𝑥 1 , 𝑥 2 , 𝑥 3 , … }
Enumerators
or is undefined
A language is Turing-recognizable
if and only if
some enumerator enumerates it.
Church-Turing thesis
• Definition of algorithm / computation
• Several different models of computation / algoritms
• Turing machine (one-tape/multi-tape, deterministic/nondeterministic)
• Lambda calculus
• Markov’s normal algorithms
• Programming languages (C++, C#, Python, Java, Pascal, LISP, etc.)
• …
• All these models turn out to be equivalent
• Algorithms in one model can be simulated in other models
• CT thesis: a function on the natural numbers can be calculated by an effective method if
and only if it is computable by a Turing machine