Two-Way Automata Making Choices Only at the Endmarkers

The question of the state-size cost for simulation of two-way nondeterministic automata (2NFAs) by two-way deterministic automata (2DFAs) was raised in 1978 and, despite many attempts, it is still open. Subsequently, the problem was attacked by restricting the power of 2DFAs (e.g., using a restricted input head movement) to the degree for which it was already possible to derive some exponential gaps between the weaker model and the standard 2NFAs. Here we use an opposite approach, increasing the power of 2DFAs to the degree for which it is still possible to obtain a subexponential conversion from the stronger model to the standard 2DFAs. In particular, it turns out that subexponential conversion is possible for two-way automata that make nondeterministic choices only when the input head scans one of the input tape endmarkers. However, there is no restriction on the input head movement. This implies that an exponential gap between 2NFAs and 2DFAs can be obtained only for unrestricted 2NFAs using capabilities beyond the proposed new model. As an additional bonus, conversion into a machine for the complement of the original language is polynomial in this model. The same holds for making such machines self-verifying, halting, or unambiguous. Finally, any superpolynomial lower bound for the simulation of such machines by standard 2DFAs would imply LNL. In the same way, the alternating version of these machines is related to L =? NL =? P, the classical computational complexity problems.Comment: 23 page

Two-wayness: Automata and Transducers

This PhD is about two natural extensions of Finite Automata (FA): the 2-way fa (2FA) and the 2-way transducers (2T). It is well known that 2FA s are computably equivalent to FAs, even in their nondeterministic (2nfa) variant. However, in the field of descriptional complexity, some questions remain. Raised by Sakoda and Sipser in 1978, the question of the cost of the simulation of 2NFA by 2DFA (the deterministic variant of 2FA) is still open. In this manuscript, we give an answer in a restricted case in which the nondeterministic choices of the simulated 2NFA may occur at the boundaries of the input tape only (2ONFA). We show that every 2ONFA can be simulated by a 2DFA of subexponential (but superpolynomial) size. Under the assumptions L=NL, this cost is reduced to the polynomial level. Moreover, we prove that the complementation and the simulation by a halting 2ONFA is polynomial. We also consider the anologous simulations for alternating devices. Providing a one-way write-only output tape to FAs leads to the notion of transducer. Contrary to the case of finite automata which are acceptor, 2-way transducers strictly extends the computational power of 1-way one, even in the case where both the input and output alphabets are unary. Though 1-way transducers enjoy nice properties and characterizations (algebraic, logical, etc. . . ), 2-way variants are less known, especially the nondeterministic case. In this area, this manuscript gives a new contribution: an algebraic characterization of the relations accepted by two-way transducers when both the input and output alphabets are unary. Actually, it can be reformulated as follows: each unary two-way transducer is equivalent to a sweeping (and even rotating) transducer. We also show that the assumptions made on the size of the alphabets are required, that is, sweeping transducers weakens the 2-way transducers whenever at least one of the alphabet is non-unary. On the path, we discuss on the computational power of some algebraic operations on word relations, introduced in the aim of describing the behavior of 2-way transducers or, more generally, of 2-way weighted automata. In particular, the mirror operation, consisting in reversing the input word in order to describe a right to left scan, draws our attention. Finally, we study another kind of operations, more adapted for binary word relations: the composition. We consider the transitive closure of relations. When the relation belongs to some very restricted sub-family of rational relations, we are able to compute its transitive closure and we set its complexity. This quickly becomes uncomputable when higher classes are considered

Power of Counting by Nonuniform Families of Polynomial-Size Finite Automata

Lately, there have been intensive studies on strengths and limitations of nonuniform families of promise decision problems solvable by various types of polynomial-size finite automata families, where "polynomial-size" refers to the polynomially-bounded state complexity of a finite automata family. In this line of study, we further expand the scope of these studies to families of partial counting and gap functions, defined in terms of nonuniform families of polynomial-size nondeterministic finite automata, and their relevant families of promise decision problems. Counting functions have an ability of counting the number of accepting computation paths produced by nondeterministic finite automata. With no unproven hardness assumption, we show numerous separations and collapses of complexity classes of those partial counting and gap function families and their induced promise decision problem families. We also investigate their relationships to pushdown automata families of polynomial stack-state complexity.Comment: (A4, 10pt, 21 pages) This paper corrects and extends a preliminary report published in the Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Fundamentals of Computation Theory (FCT 2023), Trier, Germany, September 18-24, 2023, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 14292, pp. 421-435, Springer Cham, 202

Converting Nondeterministic Two-Way Automata into Small Deterministic Linear-Time Machines

In 1978 Sakoda and Sipser raised the question of the cost, in terms of size of representations, of the transformation of two-way and one-way nondeterministic automata into equivalent two-way deterministic automata. Despite all the attempts, the question has been answered only for particular cases (e.g., restrictions of the class of simulated automata or of the class of simulating automata). However the problem remains open in the general case, the best-known upper bound being exponential. We present a new approach in which unrestricted nondeterministic finite automata are simulated by deterministic models extending two-way deterministic finite automata, paying a polynomial increase of size only. Indeed, we study the costs of the conversions of nondeterministic finite automata into some variants of one-tape deterministic Turing machines working in linear time, namely Hennie machines, weight-reducing Turing machines, and weight-reducing Hennie machines. All these variants are known to share the same computational power: they characterize the class of regular languages

On Equivalence and Uniformisation Problems for Finite Transducers

Transductions are binary relations of finite words. For rational transductions, i.e., transductions defined by finite transducers, the inclusion, equivalence and sequential uniformisation problems are known to be undecidable. In this paper, we investigate stronger variants of inclusion, equivalence and sequential uniformisation, based on a general notion of transducer resynchronisation, and show their decidability. We also investigate the classes of finite-valued rational transductions and deterministic rational transductions, which are known to have a decidable equivalence problem. We show that sequential uniformisation is also decidable for them