NTM Handout Toc

NONDETERMINISTIC
TURING MACHINES
Abhijit Das
Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
March 26, 2020
FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

Nondeterminism
• By definition, Turing machines are deterministic.

• TM = DTM = Deterministic Turing machine.
• NTM = Nondeterministic Turing machine.
• An NTM has δ (p, a) = {(q1 , b1 , d1 ), (q2 , b2 , d2 ), . . . , (qk , bk , dk )} for some k > 0.
• If k = 0, the machine gets stuck.
• If k > 2, the machine chooses one of the k moves nondeterministically.
• The maximum value of k over all combinations of p and a is called the (maximum)
fanout. Denote the maximum fanout by f .
• The machine accepts if and only if some sequence of nondeterministic choices lets
the machine reach the accept state.
• Other nondeterministic choices may lead to the stuck or a looping condition or even
to the reject state.
Computation Histories
• Each sequence of choices gives a computation history.

• A history may terminate in the accept/reject state or
in any other state in the stuck condition.
• Looping leads to an infinite history.
• The NTM accepts an input if and only if there is a finite computation history ending
in the accept state.
• Explicit reject: All computation histories are finite, and none ends in the accept state.
• Implicit reject: No accepting history along with one or more infinite histories.
• A specific reject state is not needed for an NTM (even if total).
• The language of an NTM is the set of all input strings it accepts.
• An NTM is called total if all histories on all inputs are finite.
• All histories start with the initial configuration, and form a (potentially infinite)
computation tree of configurations.
A Nondeterministic Compositeness Test
• A two-tape NTM for {an | n is composite}.
• Input an is supplied to the first tape.
• Initial check: Try to copy two a’s from the first tape
to the second. If the attempt fails (n = 0, 1) or
if no other symbol is left in the input (n = 2), reject and halt.
• If the machine is here, both the heads are pointing to the third cell (third a in the first
tape and the first blank cell in the second tape).
• Non-deterministic copying stage: If there are more a’s left in the input, make a
non-deterministic choice.
• Copy another a to the second tape, and move both the heads right.
• Go to the division stage.
• Division stage: Suppose d number of a’s are copied to the second tape.
• Check whether the first head points to a blank cell (d = n). If so, reject and halt.
• Otherwise, repeatedly subtract d from n. If some subtraction run erases the entire first
tape, accept and halt. If some subtraction run prematurely ends, reject and halt.
Encoding Configurations
• The future work of a Turing machine (DTM/NTM) depends on:

• State of the finite control.
• Content of the tape.
• The position of the head.
• A configuration is specified as the string (p, uav), where p ∈ Q, u, v ∈ Γ∗ , and a ∈ Γ.

The underline represents the position of the head.
• We assume that Q ∩ Γ = 0.
/
• Then the configuration can be encoded as the string upav ∈ (Q ∪ Γ)∗ .
• The initial configuration on input w is s ⊲ w.
• An accepting configuration is utav for any u, a, v.

Simulation of an NTM by a DTM
Theorem
For every NTM N, there exists a DTM D with L (D) = L (N).
Theorem
For every total NTM N, there exists a total DTM D with L (D) = L (N).

C0
C1 C2 C3
C4 C5 C6
C7 C8 C9 C10 C11

C0
Finite
C1 C2 C3 Control
C4 C5 C6 # C0 # C1 # C2 # C3 # C4 # C5 # C6 # C7 # C8 #
# C9 # C5 # C5 #
C7 C8 C9 C10 C11

Simulation of an NTM N by a DTM D
• D has the information of N in its finite control.

• D is a two-tape machine.
• The first tape is used to implement a queue of configurations of N.
• The second tape is used to compute next configurations of N.
• The configurations are separated by a separator #.
• One of the configurations is active denoted by a marker on the preceding #.
• The input w of N is given on the first tape of D.

• D uses the second tape to generate C0 = s ⊲ w.
• D replaces w by #C0 # on the first tape.
• D then enters a loop.

Simulation of an NTM N by a DTM D
• D locates the current active configuration Ci .

• If there is no active configuration, D rejects and halts.
• Otherwise, D finds from Ci the state p of N and the tape symbol a scanned by the
head of N.
• If p = t, D accepts and halts.
• D consults the transition table of N to identify
δN (p, a) = {(q1 , b1 , d1 ), (q2 , b2 , d2 ), . . . , (qk , bk , dk )}.
• D makes k copies of Ci to the second tape.
• D converts each copy by a transition possibility.
• D then copies the new configurations at the end of the first step.
• Finally, D moves the active marker from the current # to the next #.
More about the Simulation
• D makes a breadth-first traversal in the computation tree of N.

• If N is total, then D is total too.
• Let n be the number of steps in the longest computation history
of N on some input.
• Let f > 2 be the maximum fanout of N.
f n+1 −1
• D needs to generate at most 1 + f + f 2 + · · · + f n = f −1 configurations of N.
• The running time of N is taken as n.
• The running time of D is O(lf n ), where l is the longest configuration of N.
• It is not known whether the exponential slowdown of the simulation can be avoided in
all cases.

Tutorial Exercises
1. Determine the (nondeterministic) running time of the compositeness test.

2. Why cannot the nondeterministic compositeness be used to accept the language
{ap | p is a prime}.
3. Design an NTM to accept each the following languages.
(a) {ww | w ∈ {0, 1}∗ }.
(b) {wxyxz | w, x, y, z ∈ {0, 1}∗ , |x| = 100}.
(c) {wxyxz | w, x, y, z ∈ {0, 1}∗ , |x| > 100}.
4. Suppose that the simulator D uses its first tape as a stack of configurations of N. Will
the simulation work? Justify.

Tutorial Exercises
5. A TM M has a two-way infinite tape. Initially, all cells on the tape are blank. Only
one cell is storing the symbol #. The head of M is pointing to a blank. The task of M
is to locate the cell storing #. Propose a strategy for doing this
(a) if M is an NTM, and
(b) if M is a DTM.
(c) Compare the nondeterministic and deterministic running times.

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NONDETERMINISTIC

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

March 26, 2020

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

• By definition, Turing machines are deterministic.

• Each sequence of choices gives a computation history.

• The future work of a Turing machine (DTM/NTM) depends on:

• A configuration is specified as the string (p, uav), where p ∈ Q, u, v ∈ Γ∗ , and a ∈ Γ.

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

• D has the information of N in its finite control.

• The input w of N is given on the first tape of D.

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

• D locates the current active configuration Ci .

• D makes a breadth-first traversal in the computation tree of N.

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

1. Determine the (nondeterministic) running time of the compositeness test.

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

FLAT, Spring 2020 Abhijit Das

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