Finite-State Techniques
Automata, Transducers and Bimachines

Covers the whole spectrum of finite-state methods, from theory to practical applications.

Stoyan Mihov (Author), Klaus U. Schulz (Author)

9781108485418, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 August 2019

314 pages, 46 b/w illus. 3 tables 45 exercises
23.4 x 15.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.57 kg

'… this volume is well written and very detailed. It is thus a nice reference for those results for the interested graduate or researcher …' Andreas Maletti, ZB Math Reviews

Finite-state methods are the most efficient mechanisms for analysing textual and symbolic data, providing elegant solutions for an immense number of practical problems in computational linguistics and computer science. This book for graduate students and researchers gives a complete coverage of the field, starting from a conceptual introduction and building to advanced topics and applications. The central finite-state technologies are introduced with mathematical rigour, ranging from simple finite-state automata to transducers and bimachines as 'input-output' devices. Special attention is given to the rich possibilities of simplifying, transforming and combining finite-state devices. All algorithms presented are accompanied by full correctness proofs and executable source code in a new programming language, C(M), which focuses on transparency of steps and simplicity of code. Thus, by enabling readers to obtain a deep formal understanding of the subject and to put finite-state methods to real use, this book closes the gap between theory and practice.

Part I. Formal Background: 1. Formal preliminaries
2. Monoidal finite-state automata
3. Classical finite-state automata and regular languages
4. Monoidal multi-tape automata and finite-state transducers
5. Deterministic transducers
6. Bimachines
Part II. From Theory to Practice: 7. The C(M) language
8. C(M) implementation of finite-state devices
9. The Aho–Corasick algorithm
10. The minimal deterministic finite-state automaton for a finite language
11. Constructing finite-state devices for text rewriting
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Natural language & machine translation [UYQL], Mathematical theory of computation [UYA], Programming & scripting languages: general [UMX], Mathematical logic [PBCD]