Unit 1-Lecture 9：State Machine

1 Definition

• A state machine is nothing more than a binary relation on a set, except that the elements of the set are called “states,”
• The relation is called the transition relation, and an arrow in the graph of the transition relation is called a transition.

2 The Invariant Principle

• A preserved invariant of a state machine is a predicate, P , on states, such that whenever P(q) is true of a state, q, and q $\to$ r for some state, r, then P(r) holds.
• The Invariant Principle:
  If a preserved invariant of a state machine is true for the start state, then it is true for all reachable states.
• The Invariant Principle is nothing more than the Induction Principle reformulated in a convenient form for state machines.

3 Two required properties to verify a program

• Partial correctness:
  Partial correctness means that when there is a result, it is correct, but the process might not always produce a result, perhaps because it gets stuck in a loop.
• Termination:
  Termination is that the process does always produce some final value.
• Partial correctness can commonly be proved using the Invariant Principle.
• Termination can commonly be proved using the Well Ordering Principle.

4 Derived Variables

• Strickly decreasing and weakly decreasing.
• If f is a strictly decreasing N-valued derived variable of a state machine, then the length of any execution starting at state q is at most f(q).
• If there exists a strictly decreasing derived variable whose range is a well ordered set, then every execution terminates

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Reference

[1] Lehman E, Leighton F H, Meyer A R. Mathematics for Computer Science[J]. 2015.