Turing machine

[ toor-ing muh-sheen, tyoor- ]

noun

, Mathematics.

1. a hypothetical device with a set of logical rules of computation: the concept is used in mathematical studies of the computability of numbers and in the mathematical theories of automata and computers.

Turing machine

noun

1. a hypothetical universal computing machine able to modify its original instructions by reading, erasing, or writing a new symbol on a moving tape of fixed length that acts as its program. The concept was instrumental in the early development of computer systems

Turing machine

1. An abstract model of a computing device, used in mathematical studies of computability. A Turing machine takes a tape with a string of symbols on it as an input, and can respond to a given symbol by changing its internal state, writing a new symbol on the tape, shifting the tape right or left to the next symbol, or halting. The inner state of the Turing machine is described by a finite state machine . It has been shown that if the answer to a computational problem can be computed in a finite amount of time, then there exists an abstract Turing machine that can compute it.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Turing machine¹

After Alan M. Turing (1912–54), English mathematician, who described such a machine in 1936

Example Sentences

In the early 1980s, the American physicist Paul Benioff published a paper demonstrating that a quantum-mechanical model of a Turing machine—a computer—was theoretically possible.

From Scientific American

In the 1940's a secret Turing machine was used to break German military codes so German submarines could be sunk and the crews drowned.

From New York Times

The quantum states of the atoms in the lattice embody a Turing machine, containing the information for each step of a computation to find the material's spectral gap.

From Nature

We must move beyond the idea of a computer as a fast but otherwise traditional 'Turing machine', churning through calculations bit by bit in a sequential, precise and reproducible manner.

From Nature

Even today, it’s difficult to have a serious discussion about information technology without eventually hitting on Turing machines, Turing tests or some other concept that he invented.

From Forbes