The Turing machine, invented by Alan Turing in 1936, is a philosophical construct that laid the foundation for modern software and hardware systems. It uses a set of controls for input and output data, processes data using established rules, and can process any coherent group of symbols. While its physical function was impractical, its ideas were fundamental to performing any set of calculations and could be adapted to perform virtually any type of computation imaginable. Adaptations on Turing machine principles include quantum and probabilistic Turing machines, which offer superior parallel processing capabilities.
A Turing machine is a philosophical construct about how a computer might work, invented in 1936 by Alan Turing, a famous 20th century English mathematician and logician. The ideas behind the Turing machine are the basis for all modern software and hardware systems in existence since the 20th century, although the actual concepts created by Turing were never used to build an actual device at the time and were invented before that digital computers existed in any real form. The principles upon which a Turing machine works include a set of controls for input and output data, the machine to process the data in some form, and a set of established rules for how this data is processed by the machine.
The genius behind Alan Turing’s discovery was that any coherent group of symbols representing meaningful information, such as mathematical symbols or letters that make up a language, could be processed mechanically by a machine if equipped with an adequate set of rules for processing them. This would involve creating mechanical devices that could be asked logical questions for complex problems and quickly provide unbiased answers. The Turing machine was a precursor in this sense to a computer algorithm, which is a compiled list of computer instructions that central processing units (CPUs) in computers rely on to function as of 2011.
The Turing machine’s design was simplistic by modern 21st century computing standards, and its physical function was impractical as far as its implementation was concerned, but the ideas upon which it was built had a solid foundation. The machine consisted of a tape or tape with symbols imprinted on it, which could be read by a head as the tape was passed over it. When the symbols were read, they invoked certain states in the machine, which directed the tape’s motion and affected the output values produced by the machine. The analog to modern computer systems in 2011 would be that the tape represents computer software code or algorithms, the reader is the CPU, and the output would be display and broadcast systems such as monitors, speakers, and printers, network traffic, and other.
The ideas behind the Turing machine were seen as a fundamental function for performing any set of calculations and could also be compared to how the human brain works. Turing himself and others of his time believed that Turing’s machine could be adapted to perform virtually any type of computation imaginable and act as a universal machine to solve all human problems. The problem that arose early on with the concept, however, is known as the Turing tarpit and refers to the fact that while any self-consistent set of symbols can be processed by a Turing machine, making that machine produce meaningful answers to questions it relies entirely on increasingly complex and multi-layered sets of processing rules.
Computer science soon ran into problems with how software and hardware systems based on Turing machine principles could get bogged down in meaningless calculations known as program loops. Logical limitations have led to adaptations on Turing machine principles, such as that of quantum and probabilistic Turing machines. A Turing machine uses the idea of multiple tapes running in the machine at the same time to produce different results in parallel, which are then weighted against each other based on how likely the result is to be more accurate. Such machines would arrive at conclusions similar to how fuzzy logic software operates in advanced control systems as of 2011.
A quantum computer based on the Turing machine principle would have a tape of infinite length with cells of symbols in a perpetual undetermined state until read. This would provide a form of parallel processing that would be vastly superior to the data processing procedures used in computers as of 2011. Quantum Turing machines offer the ability to store multiple values in individual memory cells until accessed, which computers based on standard logic can’t do.
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