5-Abelian cubes are avoidable on binary alphabets

A k-abelian cube is a word uvw, where the factors u, v, and w are either pairwise equal, or have the same multiplicities for every one of their factors of length at most k. Previously it has been shown that k-abelian cubes are avoidable over a binary alphabet for k &gt;= 8. Here it is proved that this holds for k &gt;= 5.</p

Avoiding Abelian powers in binary words with bounded Abelian complexity

The notion of Abelian complexity of infinite words was recently used by the three last authors to investigate various Abelian properties of words. In particular, using van der Waerden's theorem, they proved that if a word avoids Abelian $k$-powers for some integer $k$, then its Abelian complexity is unbounded. This suggests the following question: How frequently do Abelian $k$-powers occur in a word having bounded Abelian complexity? In particular, does every uniformly recurrent word having bounded Abelian complexity begin in an Abelian $k$-power? While this is true for various classes of uniformly recurrent words, including for example the class of all Sturmian words, in this paper we show the existence of uniformly recurrent binary words, having bounded Abelian complexity, which admit an infinite number of suffixes which do not begin in an Abelian square. We also show that the shift orbit closure of any infinite binary overlap-free word contains a word which avoids Abelian cubes in the beginning. We also consider the effect of morphisms on Abelian complexity and show that the morphic image of a word having bounded Abelian complexity has bounded Abelian complexity. Finally, we give an open problem on avoidability of Abelian squares in infinite binary words and show that it is equivalent to a well-known open problem of Pirillo-Varricchio and Halbeisen-Hungerb\"uhler.Comment: 16 pages, submitte

Hardness of Detecting Abelian and Additive Square Factors in Strings

We prove 3SUM-hardness (no strongly subquadratic-time algorithm, assuming the 3SUM conjecture) of several problems related to finding Abelian square and additive square factors in a string. In particular, we conclude conditional optimality of the state-of-the-art algorithms for finding such factors. Overall, we show 3SUM-hardness of (a) detecting an Abelian square factor of an odd half-length, (b) computing centers of all Abelian square factors, (c) detecting an additive square factor in a length-$n$ string of integers of magnitude $n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$, and (d) a problem of computing a double 3-term arithmetic progression (i.e., finding indices $i \ne j$ such that $(x_i+x_j)/2=x_{(i+j)/2}$) in a sequence of integers $x_1,\dots,x_n$ of magnitude $n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$. Problem (d) is essentially a convolution version of the AVERAGE problem that was proposed in a manuscript of Erickson. We obtain a conditional lower bound for it with the aid of techniques recently developed by Dudek et al. [STOC 2020]. Problem (d) immediately reduces to problem (c) and is a step in reductions to problems (a) and (b). In conditional lower bounds for problems (a) and (b) we apply an encoding of Amir et al. [ICALP 2014] and extend it using several string gadgets that include arbitrarily long Abelian-square-free strings. Our reductions also imply conditional lower bounds for detecting Abelian squares in strings over a constant-sized alphabet. We also show a subquadratic upper bound in this case, applying a result of Chan and Lewenstein [STOC 2015].Comment: Accepted to ESA 202

Relations on words

In the first part of this survey, we present classical notions arising in combinatorics on words: growth function of a language, complexity function of an infinite word, pattern avoidance, periodicity and uniform recurrence. Our presentation tries to set up a unified framework with respect to a given binary relation. In the second part, we mainly focus on abelian equivalence, $k$-abelian equivalence, combinatorial coefficients and associated relations, Parikh matrices and $M$-equivalence. In particular, some new refinements of abelian equivalence are introduced

Decision Algorithms for Ostrowski-Automatic Sequences

We extend the notion of automatic sequences to a broader class, the Ostrowski-automatic sequences. We develop a procedure for computationally deciding certain combinatorial and enumeration questions about such sequences that can be expressed as predicates in first-order logic. In Chapter 1, we begin with topics and ideas that are preliminary to this work, including a small introduction to non-standard positional numeration systems and the relationship between words and automata. In Chapter 2, we define the theoretical foundations for recognizing addition in a generalized Ostrowski numeration system and formalize the general theory that develops our decision procedure. Next, in Chapter 3, we show how to implement these ideas in practice, and provide the implementation as an integration to the automatic theorem-proving software package -- Walnut. Further, we provide some applications of our work in Chapter 4. These applications span several topics in combinatorics on words, including repetitions, pattern-avoidance, critical exponents of special classes of words, properties of Lucas words, and so forth. Finally, we close with open problems on decidability and higher-order numeration systems and discuss future directions for research

Deciding Properties of Automatic Sequences

In this thesis, we show that several natural questions about automatic sequences can be expressed as logical predicates and then decided mechanically. We extend known results in this area to broader classes of sequences (e.g., paperfolding words), introduce new operations that extend the space of possible queries, and show how to process the results. We begin with the fundamental concepts and problems related to automatic sequences, and the corresponding numeration systems. Building on that foundation, we discuss the general logical framework that formalizes the questions we can mechanically answer. We start with a first-order logical theory, and then extend it with additional predicates and operations. Then we explain a slightly different technique that works on a monadic second- order theory, but show that it is ultimately subsumed by an extension of the first-order theory. Next, we give two applications: critical exponent and paperfolding words. In the critical exponent example, we mechanically construct an automaton that describes a set of rational numbers related to a given automatic sequence. Then we give a polynomial-time algorithm to compute the supremum of this rational set, allowing us to compute the critical exponent and many similar quantities. In the paperfolding example, we extend our mechanical procedure to the paperfolding words, an uncountably infinite collection of infinite words. In the following chapter, we address abelian and additive problems on automatic sequences. We give an example of a natural predicate which is provably inexpressible in our first-order theory, and discuss alternate methods for solving abelian and additive problems on automatic sequences. We close with a chapter of open problems, drawn from the earlier chapters

Overlap-Free Words and Generalizations

The study of combinatorics on words dates back at least to the beginning of the 20th century and the work of Axel Thue. Thue was the first to give an example of an infinite word over a three letter alphabet that contains no squares (identical adjacent blocks) xx. This result was eventually used to solve some longstanding open problems in algebra and has remarkable connections to other areas of mathematics and computer science as well. This thesis will consider several different generalizations of Thue's work. In particular we shall study the properties of infinite words avoiding various types of repetitions. In Chapter 1 we introduce the theory of combinatorics on words. We present the basic definitions and give an historical survey of the area. In Chapter 2 we consider the work of Thue in more detail. We present various well-known properties of the Thue-Morse word and give some generalizations. We examine Fife's characterization of the infinite overlap-free words and give a simpler proof of this result. We also present some applications to transcendental number theory, generalizing a classical result of Mahler. In Chapter 3 we generalize a result of Seebold by showing that the only infinite 7/3-power-free binary words that can be obtained by iterating a morphism are the Thue-Morse word and its complement. In Chapter 4 we continue our study of overlap-free and 7/3-power-free words. We discuss the squares that can appear as subwords of these words. We also show that it is possible to construct infinite 7/3-power-free binary words containing infinitely many overlaps. In Chapter 5 we consider certain questions of language theory. In particular, we examine the context-freeness of the set of words containing overlaps. We show that over a three-letter alphabet, this set is not context-free, and over a two-letter alphabet, we show that this set cannot be unambiguously context-free. In Chapter 6 we construct infinite words over a four-letter alphabet that avoid squares in any arithmetic progression of odd difference. Our constructions are based on properties of the paperfolding words. We use these infinite words to construct non-repetitive tilings of the integer lattice. In Chapter 7 we consider approximate squares rather than squares. We give constructions of infinite words that avoid such approximate squares. In Chapter 8 we conclude the work and present some open problems

Privileged Words and Sturmian Words

This dissertation has two almost unrelated themes: privileged words and Sturmian words. Privileged words are a new class of words introduced recently. A word is privileged if it is a complete first return to a shorter privileged word, the shortest privileged words being letters and the empty word. Here we give and prove almost all results on privileged words known to date. On the other hand, the study of Sturmian words is a well-established topic in combinatorics on words. In this dissertation, we focus on questions concerning repetitions in Sturmian words, reproving old results and giving new ones, and on establishing completely new research directions. The study of privileged words presented in this dissertation aims to derive their basic properties and to answer basic questions regarding them. We explore a connection between privileged words and palindromes and seek out answers to questions on context-freeness, computability, and enumeration. It turns out that the language of privileged words is not context-free, but privileged words are recognizable by a linear-time algorithm. A lower bound on the number of binary privileged words of given length is proven. The main interest, however, lies in the privileged complexity functions of the Thue-Morse word and Sturmian words. We derive recurrences for computing the privileged complexity function of the Thue-Morse word, and we prove that Sturmian words are characterized by their privileged complexity function. As a slightly separate topic, we give an overview of a certain method of automated theorem-proving and show how it can be applied to study privileged factors of automatic words. The second part of this dissertation is devoted to Sturmian words. We extensively exploit the interpretation of Sturmian words as irrational rotation words. The essential tools are continued fractions and elementary, but powerful, results of Diophantine approximation theory. With these tools at our disposal, we reprove old results on powers occurring in Sturmian words with emphasis on the fractional index of a Sturmian word. Further, we consider abelian powers and abelian repetitions and characterize the maximum exponents of abelian powers with given period occurring in a Sturmian word in terms of the continued fraction expansion of its slope. We define the notion of abelian critical exponent for Sturmian words and explore its connection to the Lagrange spectrum of irrational numbers. The results obtained are often specialized for the Fibonacci word; for instance, we show that the minimum abelian period of a factor of the Fibonacci word is a Fibonacci number. In addition, we propose a completely new research topic: the square root map. We prove that the square root map preserves the language of any Sturmian word. Moreover, we construct a family of non-Sturmian optimal squareful words whose language the square root map also preserves.This construction yields examples of aperiodic infinite words whose square roots are periodic.Siirretty Doriast

Avoidability of Additive Cubes over Alphabets of Four Numbers

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