175,817 research outputs found
On the growth of linear languages
AbstractIt is well known that the growth of a context-free language is either polynomial or exponential. However no algorithm for such an alternative is known. In this article we determine such an algorithm for the subclass of unambiguous linear languages
Deciding Regularity of Hairpin Completions of Regular Languages in Polynomial Time
The hairpin completion is an operation on formal languages that has been
inspired by the hairpin formation in DNA biochemistry and by DNA computing. In
this paper we investigate the hairpin completion of regular languages.
It is well known that hairpin completions of regular languages are linear
context-free and not necessarily regular. As regularity of a (linear)
context-free language is not decidable, the question arose whether regularity
of a hairpin completion of regular languages is decidable. We prove that this
problem is decidable and we provide a polynomial time algorithm.
Furthermore, we prove that the hairpin completion of regular languages is an
unambiguous linear context-free language and, as such, it has an effectively
computable growth function. Moreover, we show that the growth of the hairpin
completion is exponential if and only if the growth of the underlying languages
is exponential and, in case the hairpin completion is regular, then the hairpin
completion and the underlying languages have the same growth indicator
Groups and semigroups with a one-counter word problem
We prove that a finitely generated semigroup whose word problem is a one-counter language has a linear growth function. This provides us with a very strong restriction on the structure of such a semigroup, which, in particular, yields an elementary proof of a result of Herbst, that a group with a one-counter word problem is virtually cyclic. We prove also that the word problem of a group is an intersection of finitely many one-counter languages if and only if the group is virtually abelian
On groups and counter automata
We study finitely generated groups whose word problems are accepted by
counter automata. We show that a group has word problem accepted by a blind
n-counter automaton in the sense of Greibach if and only if it is virtually
free abelian of rank n; this result, which answers a question of Gilman, is in
a very precise sense an abelian analogue of the Muller-Schupp theorem. More
generally, if G is a virtually abelian group then every group with word problem
recognised by a G-automaton is virtually abelian with growth class bounded
above by the growth class of G. We consider also other types of counter
automata.Comment: 18 page
On the Commutative Equivalence of Context-Free Languages
The problem of the commutative equivalence of context-free and regular languages is studied. In particular conditions ensuring that a context-free language of exponential growth is commutatively equivalent with a regular language are investigated
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