Characterization and Complexity Results on Jumping Finite Automata

TL;DR

This paper characterizes the language class of jumping finite automata using shuffle expressions, surveys related concepts, and explores computational complexity and algorithms for parsing and related tasks.

Contribution

It introduces a formal characterization of jumping finite automata languages and analyzes their computational complexity and algorithmic aspects.

Findings

Languages characterized by shuffle expressions

Survey of equivalent notions in literature

Results on computational hardness and parsing algorithms

Abstract

In a jumping finite automaton, the input head can jump to an arbitrary position within the remaining input after reading and consuming a symbol. We characterize the corresponding class of languages in terms of special shuffle expressions and survey other equivalent notions from the existing literature. Moreover, we present several results concerning computational hardness and algorithms for parsing and other basic tasks concerning jumping finite automata.