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Tables normalization
A permutation of states, or a permutation of symbols,
does not change the behavior of a Turing machine.
Suppose you get two Turing machines, taking the same
time to stop on an initially blank tape. How to know
whether these machines are essentially different,
or they are just the same machine up to a permutation
of states or symbols?
To settle this problem, you can normalize the table,
putting it in tree normal form (TNF).
Since we are interested by the behaviors of Turing machines on an initially blank tape, the simplest rule is the following one:
When the Turing machine is launched on a blank tape:So, normally, the first transition is A0 --> 1RB.
- it enters states in the following order: A, B, C, ...
- it writes symbols in the following order: 0, 1, 2, ...
As an example, we give below the tables of the Turing machines as found by Terry and Shawn Ligocki, and their normalized version as given in the present web pages.
Turing machines with 2 states and 4 symbols
| A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | B0 | B1 | B2 | B3 | sigma(M) | s(M) | |
| 3RB | 3RA | 3RA | 1LA | 3LB | 2RB | 2LH | 3LA | 2,050 | 3,932,964 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 2LA | 1RA | 1RA | 1LB | 1LA | 3RB | 1RH | 2,050 | 3,932,964 |
Turing machines with 2 states and 5 symbols
| A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | B0 | B1 | B2 | B3 | B4 | sigma(M) | s(M) | |
| 1RB | 4LA | 1LA | 2LA | 1RA | 3LA | 1RH | 1RA | 2RA | 4RB | 11,120 | 148,304,214 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 3LA | 4LA | 1RA | 1LA | 2LA | 1RH | 4RA | 3RB | 1RA | 11,120 | 148,304,214 |
| 4RB | 2LA | 4LA | 4RA | 3LA | 1LA | 4LA | 4RA | 3RB | 3LH | 3,685 | 16,268,767 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 3LA | 4LA | 1RA | 1LA | 2LA | 1RH | 1LA | 3RB | 1RA | 3,685 | 16,268,767 |
| 4LB | 1RH | 2RA | 0LB | 3LB | 2RA | 3LB | 3RB | 2LB | 1LB | 4,099 | 15,754,273 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 3RB | 2LA | 0RB | 1RH | 2LA | 4RB | 3LB | 2RB | 3RB | 4,099 | 15,754,273 |
Turing machines with 2 states and 6 symbols
| A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | A4 | A5 | B0 | B1 | B2 | B3 | B4 | B5 | sigma(M) | s(M) | |
| 1RB | 4LA | 1RA | 5LB | 1RA | 3LB | 1LB | 1LA | 5LA | 2LA | 2RB | 1RH | 15,828 | 493,600,387 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 2LA | 1RA | 1RA | 5LB | 4LB | 1LB | 1LA | 3RB | 4LA | 1RH | 3LA | 15,828 | 493,600,387 |
| 4RB | 4RA | 4RA | 1LA | 1LA | 1LB | 4LB | 2RB | 5LB | 3RA | 3LA | 1RH | 10,249 | 98,364,599 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 3LA | 3LA | 1RA | 1RA | 3LB | 1LB | 2LA | 2RA | 4RB | 5LB | 1RH | 10,249 | 98,364,599 |
| 5RB | 5RA | 3RH | 1RB | 3LA | 1LA | 4LB | 1RB | 4LH | 2RA | 5LB | 5LA | 10,574 | 94,842,383 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 3LA | 4LA | 1RA | 3RB | 1RH | 2LB | 1LA | 1LB | 3RB | 5RA | 1RH | 10,574 | 94,842,383 |
Turing machines with 3 states and 4 symbols
| A0 | A1 | A2 | A3 | B0 | B1 | B2 | B3 | C0 | C1 | C2 | C3 | sigma(M) | s(M) | |
| 1RB | 2LC | 0LC | 0RA | 3LC | 2RC | 1LB | 0RC | 1RA | 0LB | 1RH | 0RB | 17,323 | 262,759,288 | |
| TNF: | 1RB | 3LC | 0RA | 0LC | 2LC | 3RC | 0RC | 1LB | 1RA | 0LB | 0RB | 1RH | 17,323 | 262,759,288 |
Turing machines with 4 states and 3 symbols
| A0 | A1 | A2 | B0 | B1 | B2 | C0 | C1 | C2 | D0 | D1 | D2 | sigma(M) | s(M) | |
| 0RB | 1RH | 2LD | 2LA | 2RD | 2RC | 2RB | 2RC | 1LC | 2LA | 1RB | 2LC | 15,008 | 250,096,776 | |
| TNF: | 0RB | 1LD | 1RH | 1LA | 1RC | 1RD | 1RB | 2LC | 1RC | 1LA | 1LC | 2RB | 15,008 | 250,096,776 |