In theoretical computer science, automata theory is the study of abstract 'mathematical' machines or systems and the computational problems that can be solved using these machines. These abstract machines are called automata. ("Automata", Wikipedia)
From Wikipedia,
Automata, or automata theory, is the study of mathematical objects called abstract machines or automata and the computational problems that can be solved using them. Automata comes from the Greek word αὐτόματα meaning "self-acting".
