Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-generatedprecheck passaudited 2026-09-12
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

Acceptance by final state and by empty stack are equivalent for PDAs

Statement

For every PDA, the language it accepts by final state is accepted by some PDA by empty stack, and the language it accepts by empty stack is accepted by some PDA by final state.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A PDA M over Σ.

[L1]

By Acceptance by final state for a PDA, final-state acceptance means that some computation consumes the whole input and ends in an accepting state.

[L2]

By Acceptance by empty stack for a PDA, empty-stack acceptance means that some computation consumes the whole input and empties the stack.

Proof

technique · cases
1.1

For final-state to empty-stack, adjoin a fresh bottom marker B below the original stack and a fresh drain state d. Whenever the simulated machine reaches an accepting state after consuming all input, the new machine takes an ε-move to d and in state d repeatedly pops the entire remaining stack, including B. By [L1] and [L2], the new machine accepts exactly the same words, now by empty stack.

L1L2givenconstruct
1.2

For empty-stack to final-state, adjoin a fresh start state s, a fresh bottom marker B, and a fresh accepting state f. The new machine first pushes the old initial symbol above B, then simulates M, and the only way to enter f is by an ε-move that pops B after the simulated stack has become empty and the input has been fully consumed. By [L1] and [L2], this converts empty-stack acceptance into equivalent final-state acceptance.

L1L2givenconstruct
2.1

The two constructions from steps 1.1 and 1.2 prove both directions of the equivalence.

step 1.1step 1.2

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

3 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources