How can create a Turing machine that checks whether or not an input string is a well-defined regular expression? For example, it recognizes a language that consists of string over {0,1} and the symbols used to write down REs (U,*,+, ...)
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$\begingroup$ Your title does not match your question. Please clarify. $\endgroup$– reinierpostAug 3, 2021 at 8:47
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Using a fixed alphabet $\Sigma$, one can define regular expressions over $\Sigma$ inductively:
- $\varnothing$ and each $a \in \Sigma$ are regular expressions.
- if $r$ and $e$ are regular expressions then so are $(r + e)$, $(r \cdot e)$, and $r^\ast$.
From there it is easy to define a context-free grammar for all regular expressions over $\Sigma$ with the following productions:
- $S \to \varnothing \mid a$ for all $a \in \Sigma$
- $S \to (S + S) \mid (S \cdot S) \mid S^\ast$
Hence, a Turing machine that accepts exactly these expressions only need to simulate a pushdown automaton that accepts the language of the grammar, which is essentially just checking whether there is a closing ) for each ( and there are never more ) than ( in each prefix, which is a standard exercise in each course or textbook on formal languages.
