Abstract
A finite automaton (fa), or finite state automaton (fsa), is an abstract computing device that receives a string of symbols as input, reads this string one symbol at a time from left to right, and after reading the last symbol halts and signifies either acceptance or rejection of the input. At any point in its computation a fa is in one of a finite number of states. The computations of a fa are directed by a “program,” which is a finite set of instructions for changing from state to state as the automaton reads input symbols. A computation always begins in a designated state, the initial state. There is also a specified set of final states; if the fa ends up in one of these after reading the input, it is accepted; otherwise, it is rejected.
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© 1993 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Partee, B.H., Ter Meulen, A., Wall, R.E. (1993). Finite Automata, Regular Languages and Type 3 Grammars. In: Mathematical Methods in Linguistics. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, vol 30. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2213-6_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2213-6_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-277-2245-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2213-6
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