Turing machine

American  

[toor-ing muh-sheen, tyoor-] / ˈtʊər ɪŋ məˌʃin, ˈtyʊər- /

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.

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Turing machine British  

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

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Turing machine Scientific  

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.

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Etymology

Origin of Turing machine

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

Example Sentences

Image: Bank of England The table and mathematical formulae come from Turing’s seminal 1936 paper “On Computable Numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem,” which introduced the concept of the Turing Machine.

From The Verge • Mar. 25, 2021

His conceptual notions, such as the Universal Turing Machine, provided the basis for serious analysis of computability and decidability.

From BBC • Jun. 18, 2012

Hence his device acquired a new and even grander name: the Universal Turing Machine.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a 1935 math paper, he created the "Universal Turing Machine," hypothesizing that a machine could mechanically solve all mathematical problems.

From Time Magazine Archive