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Concept

Pumping Lemma

Technique

A proof technique used to show that a given language is not regular, or not context-free, by demonstrating that any sufficiently long string in the language can be split into parts that can be repeated, or pumped, in a way that produces a string outside the language.

Facts
Origin Year
1959 1
Core Principle
Any sufficiently long string in a regular language can have a middle section repeated any number of times and stay in the language. 1
Connections

In Field

Sources
1. Pumping lemma for regular languages - Wikipedia
  • Section: History
    The pumping lemma was first proven by Michael Rabin and Dana Scott in 1959
  • Lead paragraph
    have a middle section of the string repeated an arbitrary number of times
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