Turing machine

name for a theoretical machine that can make simple input/output actions which are used to in mathematical proofs

Turing machines are extremely basic abstract symbol-manipulating devices which, despite their simplicity, can be adapted to simulate the logic of any computer that could possibly be constructed. They were described in 1936 by Alan Turing. Though they were intended to be technically feasible, Turing machines were not meant to be a practical computing technology, but a thought experiment about the limits of mechanical computation; thus they were not actually constructed. Studying their abstract properties yields many insights into computer science and complexity theory.
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Noun
1. a hypothetical computer with an infinitely long memory tape
(hypernym) computer, computing machine, computing device, data processor, electronic computer, information processing system

A simple mechanical device consisting solely of a tape, a read/write head, and a finite state machine. Turing was able to show that this machine is able to perform all the operations a person working with a logical system would be able to perform.
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A mathematical model of a device that changes its internal state and reads from, writes on, and moves a potentially infinite tape, all in accordance with its present state, thereby constituting a model for computer-like behavior.