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Pumping Lemma Example 1
Prove that L = {anbn: n
0} is not
regular.
- We don't know m, but assume there is one.
- Choose a string w = anbn where n > m, so that any
prefix of length m consists entirely of a's.
- We don't know the decomposition of w into xyz, but since |xy|
m, xy must
consist entirely of a's. Moreover, y cannot be empty.
- Choose i = 0. This has the effect of dropping |y| a's out of the string,
without affecting the number of b's. The resultant string has fewer a's than
b's, hence does not belong to L. Therefore L is not regular.
Q.E.D.
Copyright © 1996 by David Matuszek
Last modified Feb 18, 1996