Succinctness of two-way probabilistic and quantum finite automata

We prove that two-way probabilistic and quantum finite automata (2PFA's and 2QFA's) can be considerably more concise than both their one-way versions (1PFA's and 1QFA's), and two-way nondeterministic finite automata (2NFA's). For this purpose, we demonstrate several infinite families of regular languages which can be recognized with some fixed probability greater than ${1/2}$ by just tuning the transition amplitudes of a 2QFA (and, in one case, a 2PFA) with a constant number of states, whereas the sizes of the corresponding 1PFA's, 1QFA's and 2NFA's grow without bound. We also show that 2QFA's with mixed states can support highly efficient probability amplification. The weakest known model of computation where quantum computers recognize more languages with bounded error than their classical counterparts is introduced.Comment: A new version, 21 pages, late

Interference Automata

We propose a computing model, the Two-Way Optical Interference Automata (2OIA), that makes use of the phenomenon of optical interference. We introduce this model to investigate the increase in power, in terms of language recognition, of a classical Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) when endowed with the facility of optical interference. The question is in the spirit of Two-Way Finite Automata With Quantum and Classical States (2QCFA) [A. Ambainis and J. Watrous, Two-way Finite Automata With Quantum and Classical States, Theoretical Computer Science, 287 (1), 299-311, (2002)] wherein the classical DFA is augmented with a quantum component of constant size. We test the power of 2OIA against the languages mentioned in the above paper. We give efficient 2OIA algorithms to recognize languages for which 2QCFA machines have been shown to exist, as well as languages whose status vis-a-vis 2QCFA has been posed as open questions. Finally we show the existence of a language that cannot be recognized by a 2OIA but can be recognized by an $O(n^3)$ space Turing machine.Comment: 19 pages. A preliminary version appears under the title "On a Model of Computation based on Optical Interference" in Proc. of the 16-th Australasian Workshop on Combinatorial Algorithms (AWOCA'05), pp. 249-26

Two-tape finite automata with quantum and classical states

{\it Two-way finite automata with quantum and classical states} (2QCFA) were introduced by Ambainis and Watrous, and {\it two-way two-tape deterministic finite automata} (2TFA) were introduced by Rabin and Scott. In this paper we study 2TFA and propose a new computing model called {\it two-way two-tape finite automata with quantum and classical states} (2TQCFA). First, we give efficient 2TFA algorithms for recognizing languages which can be recognized by 2QCFA. Second, we give efficient 2TQCFA algorithms to recognize several languages whose status vis-a-vis 2QCFA have been posed as open questions, such as $L_{square}=\{a^{n}b^{n^{2}}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$. Third, we show that $\{a^{n}b^{n^{k}}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$ can be recognized by {\it $(k+1)$-tape deterministic finite automata} ($(k+1)$TFA). Finally, we introduce {\it $k$-tape automata with quantum and classical states} ($k$TQCFA) and prove that $\{a^{n}b^{n^{k}}\mid n\in \mathbf{N}\}$ can be recognized by $k$TQCFA.Comment: 25 page

On two-way communication in cellular automata with a fixed number of cells

The effect of adding two-way communication to k cells one-way cellular automata (kC-OCAs) on their size of description is studied. kC-OCAs are a parallel model for the regular languages that consists of an array of k identical deterministic finite automata (DFAs), called cells, operating in parallel. Each cell gets information from its right neighbor only. In this paper, two models with different amounts of two-way communication are investigated. Both models always achieve quadratic savings when compared to DFAs. When compared to a one-way cellular model, the result is that minimum two-way communication can achieve at most quadratic savings whereas maximum two-way communication may provide savings bounded by a polynomial of degree k