On the boundaries of solvability and unsolvability in tag systems. Theoretical and Experimental Results

Several older and more recent results on the boundaries of solvability and unsolvability in tag systems are surveyed. Emphasis will be put on the significance of computer experiments in research on very small tag systems

Simplicity via Provability for Universal Prefix-free Turing Machines

Universality is one of the most important ideas in computability theory. There are various criteria of simplicity for universal Turing machines. Probably the most popular one is to count the number of states/symbols. This criterion is more complex than it may appear at a first glance. In this note we review recent results in Algorithmic Information Theory and propose three new criteria of simplicity for universal prefix-free Turing machines. These criteria refer to the possibility of proving various natural properties of such a machine (its universality, for example) in a formal theory, PA or ZFC. In all cases some, but not all, machines are simple

Complexity of Small Universal Turing Machines: A Survey

We survey some work concerned with small universal Turing machines, cellular automata, tag systems, and other simple models of computation. For example it has been an open question for some time as to whether the smallest known universal Turing machines of Minsky, Rogozhin, Baiocchi and Kudlek are efficient (polynomial time) simulators of Turing machines. These are some of the most intuitively simple computational devices and previously the best known simulations were exponentially slow. We discuss recent work that shows that these machines are indeed efficient simulators. In addition, another related result shows that Rule 110, a well-known elementary cellular automaton, is efficiently universal. We also discuss some old and new universal program size results, including the smallest known universal Turing machines. We finish the survey with results on generalised and restricted Turing machine models including machines with a periodic background on the tape (instead of a blank symbol), multiple tapes, multiple dimensions, and machines that never write to their tape. We then discuss some ideas for future work

The complexity of small universal Turing machines: a survey

We survey some work concerned with small universal Turing machines, cellular automata, tag systems, and other simple models of computation. For example it has been an open question for some time as to whether the smallest known universal Turing machines of Minsky, Rogozhin, Baiocchi and Kudlek are efficient (polynomial time) simulators of Turing machines. These are some of the most intuitively simple computational devices and previously the best known simulations were exponentially slow. We discuss recent work that shows that these machines are indeed efficient simulators. In addition, another related result shows that Rule 110, a well-known elementary cellular automaton, is efficiently universal. We also discuss some old and new universal program size results, including the smallest known universal Turing machines. We finish the survey with results on generalised and restricted Turing machine models including machines with a periodic background on the tape (instead of a blank symbol), multiple tapes, multiple dimensions, and machines that never write to their tape. We then discuss some ideas for future work

Small Turing universal signal machines

This article aims at providing signal machines as small as possible able to perform any computation (in the classical understanding). After presenting signal machines, it is shown how to get universal ones from Turing machines, cellular-automata and cyclic tag systems. Finally a halting universal signal machine with 13 meta-signals and 21 collision rules is presented

Small weakly universal Turing machines

We give small universal Turing machines with state-symbol pairs of (6,2), (3,3) and (2,4). These machines are weakly universal, which means that they have an infinitely repeated word to the left of their input and another to the right. They simulate Rule 110 and are currently the smallest known weakly universal Turing machines. Despite their small size these machines are efficient polynomial time simulators of Turing machines