On deterministic 1-limited 5′ → 3′ sensing Watson–Crick finite-state transducers

Finite automata and finite state transducers belong to the bases of (theoretical) computer science with many applications. On the other hand, DNA computing and related bio-inspired paradigms are relatively new fields of computing. Watson–Crick automata are in the intersection of the above fields. These finite automata have two reading heads as they read the upper and lower strands of the input DNA molecule, respectively. In 5′ → 3′ Watson–Crick automata the two reading heads move in the same biochemical direction, that is, from the 5′ end of the strand to the direction of the 3′ end. However, in the double-stranded DNA, the DNA strands are directed in opposite way to each other, therefore 5′ → 3′ Watson–Crick automata read the input from the two extremes. In sensing 5′ → 3′ automata the automata sense if the two heads are at the same position, moreover, the computing process is finished at that time. Based on this class of automata, we define WK transducers such that, at each transition, exactly one input letter is being processed, and exactly one output letter is written on a normal output tape. Some special cases are defined and analyzed, e.g., when only one of the reading heads is being used and when the transducer has only one state. We also show that the minimal transducer is uniquely defined if the transducer is deterministic and it has marked output, i.e., the output letter written in a step identifies the reading head that is used in that transition. We have also used the functions ‘processing order’ and ‘reading heads’ to analyze these transducers.

One-relation languages and code generators

We investigate the open problem to characterize whether the infinite power of a given language is generated by an ω-code. In case the given language is a code (i.e. zero-relation language), the problem was solved. In this work, we solve the problem for the class of one-relation languages.

Bottom-Up derivatives of tree expressions

In this paper, we extend the notion of (word) derivatives and partial derivatives due to (respectively) Brzozowski and Antimirov to tree derivatives using already known inductive formulae of quotients. We define a new family of extended regular tree expressions (using negation or intersection operators), and we show how to compute a Brzozowski-like inductive tree automaton; the fixed point of this construction, when it exists, is the derivative tree automaton. Such a deterministic tree automaton can be used to solve the membership test efficiently: the whole structure is not necessarily computed, and the derivative computations can be performed in parallel. We also show how to solve the membership test using our (Bottom-Up) partial derivatives, without computing an automaton.

Complexity issues of perfect secure domination in graphs

Let G = (V, E) be a simple, undirected and connected graph. A dominating set S is called a secure dominating set if for each u ∈ V \ S, there exists v ∈ S such that (u, v) ∈ E and (S \{v}) ∪{u} is a dominating set of G. If further the vertex v ∈ S is unique, then S is called a perfect secure dominating set (PSDS). The perfect secure domination number γps(G) is the minimum cardinality of a perfect secure dominating set of G. Given a graph G and a positive integer k, the perfect secure domination (PSDOM) problem is to check whether G has a PSDS of size at most k. In this paper, we prove that PSDOM problem is NP-complete for split graphs, star convex bipartite graphs, comb convex bipartite graphs, planar graphs and dually chordal graphs. We propose a linear time algorithm to solve the PSDOM problem in caterpillar trees and also show that this problem is linear time solvable for bounded tree-width graphs and threshold graphs, a subclass of split graphs. Finally, we show that the domination and perfect secure domination problems are not equivalent in computational complexity aspects.

Synchronizing series-parallel deterministic finite automata with loops and related problems

We study the problem DFA-SW of determining if a given deterministic finite automaton A possesses a synchronizing word of length at most k for automata whose (multi-)graphs are TTSPL, i.e., series-parallel, plus allowing some self-loops. While DFA-SW remains NP-complete on TTSPL automata, we also find (further) restrictions with efficient (parameterized) algorithms. We also study the (parameterized) complexity of related problems, for instance, extension variants of the synchronizing word problem, or the problem of finding smallest alphabet-induced synchronizable sub-automata.

On restarting automata with auxiliary symbols and small window size

Here we show that for monotone RWW- (and RRWW-) automata, window size two is sufficient, both in the nondeterministic as well as in the deterministic case. For the former case, this is done by proving that each context-free language is already accepted by a monotone RWW-automaton of window size two. In the deterministic case, we first prove that each deterministic pushdown automaton can be simulated by a deterministic monotone RWW-automaton of window size three, and then we present a construction that transforms a deterministic monotone RWW-automaton of window size three into an equivalent automaton of the same type that has window size two. Furthermore, we study the expressive power of shrinking RWW- and RRWW-automata the window size of which is just one or two. We show that for shrinking RRWW-automata that are nondeterministic, window size one suffices, while for nondeterministic shrinking RWW-automata, we already need window size two to accept all growing context-sensitive languages. In the deterministic case, shrinking RWW- and RRWW-automata of window size one accept only regular languages, while those of window size two characterize the Church-Rosser languages.

Digging input-driven pushdown automata

Input-driven pushdown automata (IDPDA) are pushdown automata where the next action on the pushdown store (push, pop, nothing) is solely governed by the input symbol. Nowadays such devices are usually defined such that popping from the empty pushdown does not block the computation but continues it with empty pushdown. Here, we consider IDPDAs that have a more balanced behavior concerning pushing and popping. Digging input-driven pushdown automata (DIDPDA) are basically IDPDAs that, when forced to pop from the empty pushdown, dig a hole of the shape of the popped symbol in the bottom of the pushdown. Popping further symbols from a pushdown having a hole at the bottom deepens the current hole furthermore. The hole can only be filled up by pushing symbols previously popped. We study the impact of the new behavior of DIDPDAs on their power and compare their capacities with the capacities of ordinary IDPDAs and tinput-driven pushdown automata which are basically IDPDAs whose input may be preprocessed by length-preserving finite state transducers. It turns out that the capabilities are incomparable. We address the determinization of DIDPDAs and their descriptional complexity, closure properties, and decidability questions.

Upper bound for palindromic and factor complexity of rich words

A finite word w of length n contains at most n + 1 distinct palindromic factors. If the bound n + 1 is attained, the word w is called rich. An infinite word w is called rich if every finite factor of w is rich. Let w be a word (finite or infinite) over an alphabet with q > 1 letters, let Facw(n) be the set of factors of length n of the word w, and let Palw(n) ⊆ Facw(n) be the set of palindromic factors of length n of the word w. We present several upper bounds for |Facw(n)| and |Palw(n)|, where w is a rich word. Let δ = [see formula in PDF]. In particular we show that |Facw(n)| ≤ (4q2n)δ ln 2n+2. In 2007, Baláži, Masáková, and Pelantová showed that |Palw(n)|+|Palw(n+1)| ≤ |Facw(n+1)|-|Facw(n)|+2, where w is an infinite word whose set of factors is closed under reversal. We prove this inequality for every finite word v with |v| ≥ n + 1 and v(n + 1) closed under reversal.