Recent applications to biomolecular science and DNA computing have created a new audience for automata theory and formal languages. This is the only introductory book to cover such applications. It begins with a clear and readily understood exposition of the fundamentals that assumes only a background in discrete mathematics. The first five chapters give a gentle but rigorous coverage of basic ideas as well as topics not found in other texts at this level, including codes, retracts and semiretracts. Chapter 6 introduces combinatorics on words and uses it to describe a visually inspired approach to languages. The final chapter explains recently-developed language theory coming from developments in bioscience and DNA computing. With over 350 exercises (for which solutions are available), many examples and illustrations, this text will make an ideal contemporary introduction for students; others, new to the field, will welcome it for self-learning.

Automata theory has come into prominence in recent years with a plethora of applications in fields ranging from verification to XML processing and file compression. In fact, the 2007 Turing Award was awarded to Clarke, Emerson and Sifakis for their pioneering work on model-checking techniques. To the best of our knowledge, there is no single book that covers the vast range of applications of automata theory targeted at a mature student audience. This book is intended to fill that gap and can be used as an intermediate-level textbook. It begins with a detailed treatment of foundational material not normally covered in a beginner's course in automata theory, and then rapidly moves on to applications. The book is largely devoted to verification and model checking, and contains material that is at the cutting edge of verification technology. It will be an invaluable reference for software practitioners working in this area.

It is with great pleasure that I present this fourth vol ume in the series "Advanced Applications in Pattern Recognition." It would be difficult to find two authors better versed in the design and application of parallel image processing systems, due to both their own many years of pioneering in the field and their encyclopedic knowledge of what is going on in uni versity and industrial laboratories around the world. The monograph is unique in its parallel presentation of orthogonal and hexagonal dissections, and the wealth of graphic illustration of algorithmic procedures for processing and analyz ing images in the various known implementations of parallel im age-processing architectures. This volume should find a place on the bookshelf of every practitioner of pattern recognition, image processing, and compu ter graphics. Morton Nadler General Editor vii PREFACE This book endeavors to introduce the reader to the subject of cellular logic and cellular automata and is devoted particu larly to those parts dealing with the manipulation of pictorial data. The study of cellular automata owes much to the pioneer ing work of John von Neumann during the 1950s. Von Neumann was interested in general problems in the behavior of computing structures and was immensely impressed by the complexity and performance of the human brain, which he felt must point to wards successful designs for automatic computing machines.

A step-by-step development of the theory of automata, languages and computation. Intended for use as the basis of an introductory course at both junior and senior levels, the text is organized so as to allow the design of various courses based on selected material. It features basic models of computation, formal languages and their properties; computability, decidability and complexity; a discussion of modern trends in the theory of automata and formal languages; design of programming languages, including the development of a new programming language; and compiler design, including the construction of a complete compiler. Alexander Meduna uses clear definitions, easy-to-follow proofs and helpful examples to make formerly obscure concepts easy to understand. He also includes challenging exercises and programming projects to enhance the reader's comprehension, and many 'real world' illustrations and applications in practical computer science.

For upper level courses on Automata. Combining classic theory with unique applications, this crisp narrative is supported by abundant examples and clarifies key concepts by introducing important uses of techniques in real systems. Broad-ranging coverage allows instructors to easily customise course material to fit their unique requirements.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Language and Automata Theory and Applications, LATA 2019, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in March 2019. The 31 revised full papers presented together with 5 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 98 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: Automata; Complexity; Grammars; Languages; Graphs, trees and rewriting; and Words and codes.

This book was originally written in 1969 by Berkeley mathematician John Rhodes. It is the founding work in what is now called algebraic engineering, an emerging field created by using the unifying scheme of finite state machine models and their complexity to tie together many fields: finite group theory, semigroup theory, automata and sequential machine theory, finite phase space physics, metabolic and evolutionary biology, epistemology, mathematical theory of psychoanalysis, philosophy, and game theory. The author thus introduced a completely original algebraic approach to complexity and the understanding of finite systems. The unpublished manuscript, often referred to as "The Wild Book," became an underground classic, continually requested in manuscript form, and read by many leading researchers in mathematics, complex systems, artificial intelligence, and systems biology. Yet it has never been available in print until now. This first published edition has been edited and updated by Chrystopher Nehaniv for the 21st century. Its novel and rigorous development of the mathematical theory of complexity via algebraic automata theory reveals deep and unexpected connections between algebra (semigroups) and areas of science and engineering. Co-founded by John Rhodes and Kenneth Krohn in 1962, algebraic automata theory has grown into a vibrant area of research, including the complexity of automata, and semigroups and machines from an algebraic viewpoint, and which also touches on infinite groups, and other areas of algebra. This book sets the stage for the application of algebraic automata theory to areas outside mathematics. The material and references have been brought up to date bythe editor as much as possible, yet the book retains its distinct character and the bold yet rigorous style of the author. Included are treatments of topics such as models of time as algebra via semigroup theory; evolution-complexity relations applicable to both ontogeny and evolution; an approach to classification of biological reactions and pathways; the relationships among coordinate systems, symmetry, and conservation principles in physics; discussion of "punctuated equilibrium" (prior to Stephen Jay Gould); games; and applications to psychology, psychoanalysis, epistemology, and the purpose of life. The approach and contents will be of interest to a variety of researchers and students in algebra as well as to the diverse, growing areas of applications of algebra in science and engineering. Moreover, many parts of the book will be intelligible to non-mathematicians, including students and experts from diverse backgrounds.