Editing State space (computer science) (section)

{{Short description|Set of all possible values of a system}}
{{redirect|State space}}
{{More footnotes|date=February 2012}}
[[File:Vacuum World.tif|thumb|Vacuum World, a [[shortest path problem]] with a finite state space]]

In [[computer science]], a '''state space''' is a [[discrete space]] representing the set of all possible configurations of a system.<ref name=MISSD/> It is a useful abstraction for reasoning about the behavior of a given system and is widely used in the fields of [[artificial intelligence]] and [[game theory]].

For instance, the [[toy problem]] Vacuum World has a discrete finite state space in which there are a limited set of configurations that the vacuum and dirt can be in. A "counter" system, where states are the [[natural numbers]] starting at 1 and are incremented over time<ref name=CMUINF/> has an infinite discrete state space. The angular position of an undamped [[pendulum]]<ref name=MIDYNS/> is a continuous (and therefore infinite) state space.