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1959•IBM Journal of Research and DevelopmentRequires access

Finite Automata and Their Decision Problems

M. O. Rabin, D. Scott

Open publisher page 1,899 citations

Abstract

Finite automata are considered in this paper as instruments for classifying finite tapes. Each one-tape automaton defines a set of tapes, a two-tape automaton defines a set of pairs of tapes, et cetera. The structure of the defined sets is studied. Various generalizations of the notion of an automaton are introduced and their relation to the classical automata is determined. Some decision problems concerning automata are shown to be solvable by effective algorithms; others turn out to be unsolvable by algorithms.

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What this paper is about

Finite automata are considered in this paper as instruments for classifying finite tapes. Each one-tape automaton defines a set of tapes, a two-tape automaton defines a set of pairs of tapes, et cetera. The structure of the defined sets is studied. Various generalizations of the notion of an automaton are introduced and their relation to the classical automata is determined. Some decision problems concerning automata are shown to be solvable by effective algorithms; others turn out to be unsolvable by algorithms.

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OpenAlex reports 1899 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

Finite automata are considered in this paper as instruments for classifying finite tapes. Each one-tape automaton defines a set of tapes, a two-tape automaton defines a set of pairs of tapes, et cetera. The structure of the defined sets is studied. Various generalizations of the notion of an automaton are introduced and their relation to the classical automata is determined. Some decision problems concerning automata are shown to be solvable by effective algorithms; others turn out to be unsolvable by algorithms.

Key concepts: Automaton, Deterministic automaton, Two-way deterministic finite automaton, ω-automaton, Timed automaton, Set (abstract data type), Büchi automaton, Finite-state machine

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