LARA

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revision Previous revision
Last revision Both sides next revision
sav08:turing_machines [2008/04/03 11:32]
vkuncak
sav08:turing_machines [2008/04/03 11:45]
vkuncak
Line 1: Line 1:
 ====== Turing Machines ====== ====== Turing Machines ======
  
 +(Informal reminder.)
 +
 +Turing machine has
 +  * finite set of control states
 +  * finite tape alphabet
 +  * transition rules: in given state, when reading given symbol on tape, write given symbol and move left or right
 +
 +The language accepted by Turing machine is the set of inputs starting from which turing machine halts in an accepting state.
 +
 +On a given input machine can:
 +  * halt and accept
 +  * halt and reject
 +  * infinitely loop
 +
 +Every well-defined procedure for computing a set of elements can be expressed using Turing machine.
 +
 +Moreover, translations from related formalisms:
 +  * random-access machines
 +  * recursive functions
 +  * programming languages
 +
 +There exists an algorithm = There exists a Turing machine
 +
 +**Theorem:​** There is no algorithm for deciding, given a description of a Turing machine $M$, and an input $w$ to the Turing machine, whether $M$ will halt on $w$.
 +
 +Informally: an interpreter (for a sufficiently expressive programming language) cannot determine whether a given program will terminate on a given input.
  
 ===== References ===== ===== References =====