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3.1.5: Unary Representation of Numbers

  • Page ID
    121733
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    Turing machines work on sequences of symbols written on their tape. Depending on the alphabet a Turing machine uses, these sequences of symbols can represent various inputs and outputs. Of particular interest, of course, are Turing machines which compute arithmetical functions, i.e., functions of natural numbers. A simple way to represent positive integers is by coding them as sequences of a single symbol \(\TMstroke\). If \(n \in \Nat\), let \(\TMstroke^n\) be the empty sequence if \(n = 0\), and otherwise the sequence consisting of exactly \(n\) \(\TMstroke\)’s.

    Definition \(\PageIndex{1}\): Computation

    A Turing machine \(M\) computes the function \(f\colon \Nat^n \to \Nat\) iff \(M\) halts on input \[\TMstroke^{k_1} \TMblank \TMstroke^{k_2} \TMblank \dots \TMblank \TMstroke^{k_n}\nonumber\] with output \(\TMstroke^{f(k_1, \dots, k_n)}\).

    Example \(\PageIndex{1}\)

    Addition: Build a machine that, when given an input of two non-empty strings of \(\TMstroke\)’s of length \(n\) and \(m\), computes the function \(f(n,m) = n + m\).

    We want to come up with a machine that starts with two blocks of strokes on the tape and halts with one block of strokes. We first need a method to carry out. The input strokes are separated by a blank, so one method would be to write a stroke on the square containing the blank, and erase the first (or last) stroke. This would result in a block of \(n + m\) \(\TMstroke\)’s. Alternatively, we could proceed in a similar way to the doubler machine, by erasing a stroke from the first block, and adding one to the second block of strokes until the first block has been removed completely. We will proceed with the former example.

    12.5.1_additionmachine.png

    Problem \(\PageIndex{1}\)

    Trace through the configurations of the machine for input \(\tuple{3,5}\).

    Problem \(\PageIndex{2}\)

    Subtraction: Design a Turing machine that when given an input of two non-empty strings of strokes of length \(n\) and \(m\), where \(n > m\), computes the function \(f(n,m) = n - m\).

    Problem \(\PageIndex{3}\)

    Equality: Design a Turing machine to compute the following function: \[\fn{equality}(x,y) = \begin{cases} \text{1} & \text{if $x = y$} \\ \text{0} & \text{if $x \neq y$} \end{cases}\nonumber\] where \(x\) and \(y\) are integers greater than \(0\).

    Problem \(\PageIndex{4}\)

    Design a Turing machine to compute the function \(\min(x,y)\) where \(x\) and \(y\) are positive integers represented on the tape by strings of \(\TMstroke\)’s separated by a \(\TMblank\). You may use additional symbols in the alphabet of the machine.

    The function \(\min\) selects the smallest value from its arguments, so \(\min(3,5)=3\), \(\min(20,16)=16\), and \(\min(4,4)=4\), and so on.


    This page titled 3.1.5: Unary Representation of Numbers is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Richard Zach et al. (Open Logic Project) .

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