Turing Machine

Unit 5

Dr. Mohammed Faisal

Dept. of CSE, College of Engineering & Technology
Samara University

Cosc 3101 1
 Foundations

The theory of computation

and the practical application
it made possible — the
computer — was developed
by an Englishman called
Alan Turing.

Cosc 3101 2
 The Turing Machine

In order to argue for this claim, he (4) At any time, the machine is in one
needed a clear concept of “mechanical of a finite number of internal
procedure.” states.
His idea — which came to be called (5) The machine has instructions that
the Turing machine — was this: determine what it does given its
internal state and the symbol it
(1) A tape of infinite length
encounters on the tape. It can
(2) Finitely many squares of  change its internal state;
the tape have a single
symbol from a finite  change the symbol on the
language. square;
 move forward;
(3) Someone (or something)
that can read the squares  move backward;
and write in them. (Read-Write Head)
 halt (i.e. stop).

Cosc 3101 3
Cosc 3101 4
 Can Machines Think?
In “Computing machinery and intelligence,” written in
1950, Turing asks whether machines can think.
He claims that this question is too vague, and proposes,
instead, to replace it with a different one.

That question is: Can machines pass the “imitation game”

(now called the Turing test)? If they can, they are intelligent.
Turing is thus the first to have offered a rigorous test for the
determination of intelligence quite generally.

Cosc 3101 5
 The Turing Test
The game runs as follows:
•You sit at a computer terminal and have an electronic
conversation.
•You don’t know who is on the other end; it could be a
person or a computer responding as it has been programmed
to do.
•If you can’t distinguish between a human being and a
computer from your interactions, then the computer is
intelligent.
Note that this is meant to be a sufficient condition of
intelligence only. There may be other ways to be intelligent.

Cosc 3101 6
 Turing Test
• An art of creating machines that perform functions requiring
intelligence when performed by people.
• Turing (1950) "Computing machinery and intelligence":
"Can machines think?"  "Can machines behave intelligently?"
• Operational test for intelligent behavior: the Imitation Game

Cosc 3101 7
 The Language Hierarchy

n n n ?
a b c ww ?

Context-Free Languages
n n R
a b ww
Regular Languages
a* a *b *
Cosc 3101 8
 Languages accepted by
Turing Machines
n n n
a b c ww

Context-Free Languages
n n R
a b ww
Regular Languages
a* a *b *
Cosc 3101 9
 A Turing Machine
Tape
...... ......

Read-Write head
Control Unit

Cosc 3101 10
 The Tape

No boundaries -- infinite length

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

Read-Write head

The head moves Left or Right

Cosc 3101 11
 ...... ......

Read-Write head

The head at each time step:

1. Reads a symbol
2. Writes a symbol
3. Moves Left or Right
Cosc 3101 12
Example: a  k , L
Time 0
...... a b a c ......

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

1. Reads a
2. Writes k
3. Moves Left
Cosc 3101 13
Example: b  f , R
Time 1
...... a b k c ......

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

1. Reads b
2. Writes f
3. Moves Right
Cosc 3101 14
 The Input String

Input string Blank symbol

......   a b a c    ......

head

Head starts at the leftmost position

of the input string
Cosc 3101 15
 Input string Blank symbol

......   a b a c    ......

head

Remark: the input string is never empty

Cosc 3101 16
 States & Transitions

Read Write
Move Left

q1 a  b, L q2

Move Right

q1 a  b, R q2
Cosc 3101 17
Example:
Time 1
......   a b a c    ......

q1

Time 2
......   a b b c    ......

q2

q1 a  b, R q2
Cosc 3101 18
Example:
Time 1
......   a b a c    ......

q1

Time 2
......   a b b c    ......

q2

q1 a  b, L q2
Cosc 3101 19
Example:
Time 1
......   a b a c    ......

q1

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

q2

q1   g, R q2
Cosc 3101 20
 Determinism
Turing Machines are deterministic

Allowed Not Allowed

a  b, R q2 a  b, R q2

q1 q1
q3 a  d, L q3
b  d, L

No lambda transitions allowed

Cosc 3101 21
 Partial Transition Function
Example:

......   a b a c    ......

q1

a  b, R q2 Allowed:

q1 No transition
for input symbol c
b  d, L q3
Cosc 3101 22
 Halting

The machine halts if there are

no possible transitions to follow

Cosc 3101 23
Example:

......   a b a c    ......

q1

a  b, R q2
No possible transition
q1
HALT!!!
b  d, L q3
Cosc 3101 24
 Final States

q1 q2 Allowed

q1 q2 Not Allowed

• Final states have no outgoing transitions

• In a final state the machine halts

Cosc 3101 25
 Turing machine as machine accepters

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
Cosc 3101 26
 Turing Machine Example

A Turing machine that accepts the language:

aa *

a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 27
 Time 0   a a a  

q0

a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 28
 Time 1   a a a  

q0

a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 29
 Time 2   a a a  

q0

a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 30
 Time 3   a a a  

q0

a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 31
 Time 4   a a a  

q1

a  a, R Halt & Accept

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 32
 Rejection Example

Time 0   a b a  

q0

a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1
Cosc 3101 33
 Time 1   a b a  

q0
No possible Transition
a  a, R Halt & Reject

  , L
q0 q1
Cosc 3101 34
 Infinite Loop Example
A Turing machine
for language aa * b(a  b) *

b  b, L
a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 35
 Time 0   a b a  

q0

b  b, L
a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 36
 Time 1   a b a  

q0

b  b, L
a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 37
 Time 2   a b a  

q0

b  b, L
a  a, R

  , L
q0 q1

Cosc 3101 38
 Time 2   a b a  
q0
Time 3   a b a  

Infinite loop
q0
Time 4   a b a  
q0

Time 5   a b a  
q0
Cosc 3101 39
 Because of the infinite loop:

•The final state cannot be reached

•The machine never halts

•The input is not accepted

Cosc 3101 40
 Formal Definitions
for
Turing Machines

Cosc 3101 41
Turing Machine: 7 Tuple

Input Tape
alphabet alphabet
States

M  (Q, , ,  , q0 , , F )

Transition Final
function states
Initial blank
Cosc 3101
state 42
 Standard Turing Machine

The machine we described is the standard:

• Deterministic

• Infinite tape in both directions

•Tape is the input/output file

Infinite Tape
 aab abb c ac a

Read-Write Head (Left or Right)

Cosc 3101 43
 Turing machine as
Transducers

Cosc 3101 44
 Example

The function f ( x, y )  x  y is computable

x, y are integers

Turing Machine:

Input string: x0 y unary

Output string: xy0 unary

Cosc 3101 45
 x y

Start  1 1  1 0 1  1 

q0
initial state

The 0 is the delimiter that

separates the two numbers

Cosc 3101 46
 x y

Start  1 1  1 0 1  1 

q0 initial state

x y

Finish  1 1  1 1 0 
q f final state
Cosc 3101 47
Turing machine for function f ( x, y )  x  y

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 48
 Execution Example: Time 0
x y
x  11 (2)
 1 1 0 1 1 
y  11 (2)
q0

Final Result
x y
 1 1 1 1 0 

q4
Cosc 3101 49
 Time 0  1 1 0 1 1 

q0

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 50
 Time 1  1 1 0 1 1 

q0

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 51
 Time 2  1 1 0 1 1 

q0

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 52
 Time 3  1 1 1 1 1 

q1

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 53
 Time 4  1 1 1 1 1 

q1

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 54
 Time 5  1 1 1 1 1 

q1

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 55
 Time 6  1 1 1 1 1 

q2

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 56
 Time 7  1 1 1 1 0 

q3

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 57
 Time 8  1 1 1 1 0 

q3

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 58
 Time 9  1 1 1 1 0 

q3

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 59
 Time 10  1 1 1 1 0 

q3

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 60
 Time 11  1 1 1 1 0 

q3

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
q4
Cosc 3101 61
 Time 12  1 1 1 1 0 

q4

1 1, R 1 1, R 1 1, L

q0 0  1, R q1   , L q2
1 0, L q3

  , R
HALT & accept q4
Cosc 3101 62
A limitation of Turing Machines:

Turing Machines are “hardwired”

they execute
only one program
Real Computers are re-programmable
Solution: Universal Turing Machine
Attributes:
• Reprogrammable machine
Cosc 3101
• Simulates any other Turing Machine 63
 Universal Turing Machine
•In the 1936 paper Turing proved that there are “general-
purpose” Turing machines that can compute whatever any
other Turing machine.
•This is done by coding the function of the special-purpose
machine as instructions of the other machine — that is by
“programming” it. This is called Turing’s theorem.
•In computer science, a universal Turing
machine (UTM) is a Turing machine that can
simulate an arbitrary Turing machine on arbitrary
input.
•The concept of the universal Turing machine is just the
concept of the computer as we know it.
Cosc 3101 64