Computer science formal language

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the formal language theory concept where L concatenated with Σ* equals L, indicating that L is closed under concatenation with any string from the alphabet Σ. This implies that for any string w in L, the concatenation of w with any sequence of symbols from Σ also results in a string that remains in L. The participants explore the implications of this property, concluding that L must contain all possible extensions of its strings.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of formal languages and automata theory
  • Familiarity with the concepts of alphabets and concatenation in language theory
  • Knowledge of the notation Σ* and its significance in formal languages
  • Basic grasp of subsets and closure properties in mathematical contexts
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the properties of regular languages and their closure under concatenation
  • Explore the implications of closure properties in context-free languages
  • Learn about the Chomsky hierarchy and the classification of formal languages
  • Investigate examples of languages that exhibit the property LΣ* = L
USEFUL FOR

Students and professionals in computer science, particularly those focusing on theoretical computer science, formal language theory, and automata. This discussion is beneficial for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of language properties and closure operations.

francisg3
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Suppose L\sum* = L for an alphabet \sum . What can we say about the possible strings in L?




I know that the \sum* is a collection of all possible words of a language and I know that 'L' is a subset of \sum* . So L concatenated with \sum* needs to be equivalent to L. I am stumped.
 
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francisg3 said:
Suppose L\sum* = L for an alphabet \sum . What can we say about the possible strings in L?

I know that the \sum* is a collection of all possible words of a language and I know that 'L' is a subset of \sum* . So L concatenated with \sum* needs to be equivalent to L. I am stumped.

How about:

If w is a word in L, than w followed by zero or more symbols from ∑ is also a word in L?
 

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