Theory of Computation Lectures

Theory of Computation by Frank Stephan

Frank Stephan's detailed lecture notes on the theory of computation cover quite a wide spectrum of issues. The document starts with the basics of sets and regular expressions, then goes ahead to grammars and the Chomsky hierarchy, helping one in understanding the structure of languages. Then it discusses finite automaton and nondeterministic finite automata, giving all details about the processing of strings by these models. The notes also treat the composition of languages, normal forms, and algorithms used in computation. Membership testing, whether deterministic or nondeterministic, is also explained, together with the proof of how models of computation handle language recognition. Finally, the approach is important when considering complexity, the problems that turn out undecidable, showing thus the intrinsic limits of computation. This is an important resource concerning formal languages, automata theory, and basic bounds of computability.

Author(s): Frank Stephan

176 Pages

Lecture Notes of Introduction to the Theory of Computation

Authored by Margaret Fleck and Sariel Har Peled, this is a wide set of lecture notes on the theory of computation. These start with the very basic objects such as strings and deterministic finite automata (DFAs) before moving up to regular expressions and nondeterministic automata. This course covers formal language theory, including some advanced topics such as Turing machines, decidability, and several language-related problems. It is intended that these notes afford a comprehensively broad yet deep exploration of the formal languages, automata, and computability material with an excellent bibliography that creates interest among students and researchers.

Author(s): Margaret Fleck and Sariel Har Peled

345 Pages

Introduction to the Theory of Computing

Introduction to the Theory of Computing is a course that undertakes an intensive study of the underpinnings of the theory of computation. Beginning with mathematical foundations, the course moves into regular operations and expressions, and then into proofs on languages being nonregular and other further treatments on regular languages. Other important topics include parse trees, ambiguity, Chomsky normal form, pushdown automata, and Turing machines. Further, the PDF discusses various types of Turing machines, the stack machine model, and undecidable languages, making it a great starting point in the topic of computability.

Author(s): University of Waterloo

227 Pages

Models of Computation by John E. Savage

This book, written for graduates, covers general subjects on computational models, logic circuits, and memory machines, with advanced subjects being parallel computation, circuit complexity, and space-time trade-offs; therefore, it's a very thorough course on computational models and their complexities.

Author(s): John E. Savage, Brown University

698 Pages

Introduction to Computational Theory Lecture Notes

These broad-ranging notes introduce some of the fundamental concepts in the theory of computation. The set starts with a brief introduction to formal languages and their classification, including regular languages and sets. In these notes, finite automata are introduced, discussing their structure and role in recognizing regular languages. This is followed by Context-Free Grammars and Pushdown Automata, focusing on the role in defining and recognizing context-free languages. This will cover Turing Machines, the original model of computation; a review of the Chomsky Hierarchy from a perspective on the various levels of languages about their power of generation. The conclusion deals with an overview of Complexity Theory, mainly dealing with the P and NP problems. It gives insight into the computational complexity in general and into the famous P vs NP questions.

Author(s): BYU Computer Science Department

NA Pages

Introduction to Theory of Computation Lecture Notes

These lecture notes give an introduction to the more fundamental parts of the theory of computation and begin by presenting finite automata: starting with deterministic and nondeterministic finite automata, their equivalence, and practical implications of these concepts. The lecture notes include sections on regular expressions and their relationship to finite automata, non-regular languages, and the Pumping Lemma to prove non-regularity. Myhill-Nerode Theorem: For understanding recognition of languages. The notes go further to present context-free languages, including their ambiguity and properties of closure. The pumping lemma for context-free languages is also discussed, while decidable and recognizable languages are informed by a deep underpinning in computational theory.

Author(s): Mahesh Viswanathan

NA Pages