NIST

undecidable language

(definition)

Definition: A language for which the membership cannot be decided by an algorithm --- equivalently, cannot be recognized by a Turing machine that halts for all inputs.

See also decidable language, undecidable problem, decidable problem.

Note: From Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, page 24-19, Copyright © 1999 by CRC Press LLC. Appearing in the Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering and Technology, Copyright © 2000 CRC Press LLC.

Author: CRC-A


Go to the Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures home page.

If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.

Entry modified 9 August 2004.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:40 2015.

Cite this as:
Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, CRC Press LLC, 1999, "undecidable language", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 9 August 2004. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/undecidableLanguage.html