patternMinor
TM that accepts all strings is recognizable or not?
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acceptsallrecognizablethatstringsnot
Problem
Lets say we have the following language $L = \{\text{$M$ is a TM such that $M$ accepts all strings}\}$, is this recognizable or not? I have a feeling it is unrecognizable, if this statement is correct could anyone provide me with a proof?
My current reasoning is that since the set of all strings is infinite, the "recognizer" TM will never be able to test all strings thus never be able to accept a given TM.
Please give me your thoughts on this.
My current reasoning is that since the set of all strings is infinite, the "recognizer" TM will never be able to test all strings thus never be able to accept a given TM.
Please give me your thoughts on this.
Solution
Your intuition is correct: your $L$ is unrecognizable. Here's a hint on how to proceed.
If we define $A_\text{TM}= \{(\langle M\rangle,w)\mid M \text{ accepts }w\}$, then it's known that its complement, $\overline{A_\text{TM}}$, is unreconizable so if we can construct a mapping reduction $\overline{A_\text{TM}}\le_M L$, then we'll have shown that $L$ is unrecognizable.
Define the mapping $f(\langle M\rangle, w)\rightarrow \langle N\rangle$ where the TM $N$ depends on $M$ and $w$ and is defined by
The key idea here is that if $M$ accepts $w$, then it will do so in $k$ moves, for some number $k$, so if $M$ accepts $w$, then $N$ will accept all and only those strings of length less than $k$, and so the language of $N$ will be $L(N) = \Sigma^{k-1}$. On the other hand, if $M$ doesn't accept $w$, then $N$ will accept all strings.
With this hint, you should be able to show that $(\langle M\rangle, w)\in \overline{A_\text{TM}}\Longleftrightarrow\langle N\rangle\in L$, which is the reduction we need.
If we define $A_\text{TM}= \{(\langle M\rangle,w)\mid M \text{ accepts }w\}$, then it's known that its complement, $\overline{A_\text{TM}}$, is unreconizable so if we can construct a mapping reduction $\overline{A_\text{TM}}\le_M L$, then we'll have shown that $L$ is unrecognizable.
Define the mapping $f(\langle M\rangle, w)\rightarrow \langle N\rangle$ where the TM $N$ depends on $M$ and $w$ and is defined by
N(x) =
run M on w for |x| moves
if M hasn't accepted yet,
acceptThe key idea here is that if $M$ accepts $w$, then it will do so in $k$ moves, for some number $k$, so if $M$ accepts $w$, then $N$ will accept all and only those strings of length less than $k$, and so the language of $N$ will be $L(N) = \Sigma^{k-1}$. On the other hand, if $M$ doesn't accept $w$, then $N$ will accept all strings.
With this hint, you should be able to show that $(\langle M\rangle, w)\in \overline{A_\text{TM}}\Longleftrightarrow\langle N\rangle\in L$, which is the reduction we need.
Code Snippets
N(x) =
run M on w for |x| moves
if M hasn't accepted yet,
acceptContext
StackExchange Computer Science Q#60502, answer score: 2
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