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We consider the value 1 problem for probabilistic automata over finite words: it asks whether a given probabilistic automaton accepts words with probability arbitrarily close to 1. This problem is known to be undecidable. However, different…
We show that the minimization of visibly pushdown automata is NP-complete. This result is obtained by introducing immersions, that recognize multiple languages (over a usual, non-visible alphabet) using a common deterministic transition…
We consider the following problem: given that a finite automaton $M$ of $N$ states accepts at least one $k$-power-free (resp., overlap-free) word, what is the length of the shortest such word accepted? We give upper and lower bounds which,…
We give a new characterization of primitive permutation groups tied to the notion of completely reachable automata. Also, we introduce sync-maximal permutation groups tied to the state complexity of the set of synchronizing words of certain…
Hyper-minimization is a state reduction technique that allows a finite change in the semantics. The theory for hyper-minimization of deterministic weighted tree automata is provided. The presence of weights slightly complicates the…
Minimizing finite automata, proving trace equivalence of labelled transition systems or representing sofic subshifts involve very similar arguments, which suggests the possibility of a unified formalism. We propose finite states…
The state complexity, respectively, nondeterministic state complexity of a regular language $L$ is the number of states of the minimal deterministic, respectively, of a minimal nondeterministic finite automaton for $L$. Some of the most…
Traditionally, finite automata theory has been used as a framework for the representation of possibly infinite sets of strings. In this work, we introduce the notion of second-order finite automata, a formalism that combines finite automata…
The main results of this paper is to give a complete characterization of the automaticity of one-relator semigroups with length less than or equal to three. Let $S=sgp\langle A|u=v\rangle$ be a semigroup generated by a set…
In this paper we combine the algebraic properties of Mealy machines generating self-similar groups and the combinatorial properties of the corresponding deterministic finite automata (DFA). In particular, we relate bounded automata to…
A finite deterministic (semi)automaton $\mathcal{A} =(Q,\Sigma,\delta)$ is $k$-compressible if there is some word $w\in \Sigma^+$ such that the image of its state set $Q$ under the natural action of $w$ is reduced by at least $k$ states.…
A complete deterministic finite automaton in which every non-empty subset of the state set occurs as the image of the whole state set under the action of a suitable input word is called completely reachable. We characterize completely…
This paper establishes a lower bound on the number of states necessary in the worst case to simulate an $n$-state two-way nondeterministic finite automaton (2NFA) by a one-way unambiguous finite automaton (UFA). It is proved that for every…
The simulation of deterministic pushdown automata defined over a one-letter alphabet by finite state automata is investigated from a descriptional complexity point of view. We show that each unary deterministic pushdown automaton of size s…
The problem of dictionary matching is a classical problem in string matching: given a set S of d strings of total length n characters over an (not necessarily constant) alphabet of size sigma, build a data structure so that we can match in…
We prove that, paying a polynomial increase in size only, every unrestricted two-way nondeterministic finite automaton (2NFA) can be complemented by a 1-limited automaton (1-LA), a nondeterministic extension of 2NFAs still characterizing…
Cerny's conjecture is a longstanding open problem in automata theory. We study two different concepts, which allow to approach it from a new angle. The first one is the triple rendezvous time, i.e., the length of the shortest word mapping…
Sorting is a fundamental algorithmic pre-processing technique which often allows to represent data more compactly and, at the same time, speeds up search queries on it. In this paper, we focus on the well-studied problem of sorting and…
Consider a complete communication network on $n$ nodes, each of which is a state machine. In synchronous 2-counting, the nodes receive a common clock pulse and they have to agree on which pulses are "odd" and which are "even". We require…
In this paper we investigate the special automata over finite rank free groups and estimate asymptotic characteristics of sets they accept. We show how one can decompose an arbitrary regular subset of a finite rank free group into disjoint…