Argument
Automata theory
Overview
Automata theory is the study of abstract machines and automata, as well as the computational problems that can be solved using them. It is a theory in theoretical computer science with close connections to cognitive science and mathematical logic. The word automata comes from the Greek word αὐτόματος, which means "self-acting, self-willed, self-moving". An automaton (automata in plural) is an abstract self-propelled computing device which follows a predetermined sequence of operations automatically. An automaton with a finite number of states is called a finite automaton (FA) or finite-state machine (FSM). The figure on the right illustrates a finite-state machine, which is a well-known type of automaton. This automaton consists of states (represented in the figure by circles) and transitions (represented by arrows). As the automaton sees a symbol of input, it makes a transition (or jump) to another state, according to its transition function, which takes the previous state and current input symbol as its arguments.
Automata theory is closely related to formal language theory. In this context, automata are used as finite representations of formal languages that may be infinite. Automata are often classified by the class of formal languages they can recognize, as in the Chomsky hierarchy, which describes a nesting relationship between major classes of automata. Automata play a major role in the theory of computation, compiler construction, artificial intelligence, parsing and formal verification.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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An abstractive hierarchy is called ‘finite’ if it stops at a finite grade of complexity. It is called ‘infinite’ if it includes members belonging respectively to all degrees of complexity. It is to be noted that the base of an abstractive hierarchy may contain any number of members, finite or infinite. Further, the infinity of the number of the members of the base has nothing to do with the question as to whether…
Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the modern world
States what Automata theory is.
The logical basis of the theory alone belongs to philosophy, and alone will occupy us to-night. The way the problem of continuity enters into philosophy is, broadly speaking, the following: Space and time are treated by mathematicians as consisting of points and instants, but they also have a property, easier to feel than to define, which is called continuity, and is thought by many philosophers to be destroyed when…
Bertrand Russell, Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy
States what Automata theory is.
We look here only to the necessity of the connection of events in a time-series as it is developed according to the physical law, whether the subject in which this development takes place is called automaton materiale when the mechanical being is moved by matter, or with Leibnitz spirituale when it is impelled by ideas; and if the freedom of our will were no other than the latter (say the psychological and…
Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Practical Reason
States what Automata theory is.
Philosophers who discussed Automata theory
Related ideas
- Formal language
- Artificial intelligence
- Greek language
- Effective method
- John von Neumann
- Dana Scott
- Konrad Zuse
- Mathematical logic
- Marvin Minsky
- Natural language
- Noam Chomsky
- Probability
- Symbol (formal)
- Formal verification
- Set theory
- Stephen Cole Kleene
- Theory of computation
- Turing machine
- Theoretical computer science
- Artificial life
- Cognitive science
- Norbert Wiener
- Computational complexity
- Context-free grammar
Place in the tradition
Part of Epiphenomenalism.