About the p-paperfolding words

AbstractLet p be an integer greater than or equal to 2. The aim of this paper is to study the language associated to a p-paperfolding sequence. It is known that the number of factors of length n of a 2-paperfolding sequence (i.e. its complexity function) is P(n) = 4n for n ⩾ 7. It is also known that the language of all the factors of all 2-paperfolding sequences is not context-free and that its generating function is transcendental.We show that the complexity function of a p-paperfolding sequence is either strictly subaffine or ultimately linear. The first case never happens if p = 2 or 3. In the second case, the complexity function is either P(n) = 2n or P(n) = 4n for n large enough. We give a simple necessary and sufficient condition for the number of special factors to be p-automatic. We finally show that, for any given p, the language of all factors of all p-paperfolding sequences is not context-free, and that the associated generating series is not algebraic

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

(Logarithmic) densities for automatic sequences along primes and squares

In this paper we develop a method to transfer density results for primitive automatic sequences to logarithmic-density results for general automatic sequences. As an application we show that the logarithmic densities of any automatic sequence along squares $(n^2)_{n\geq 0}$ and primes $(p_n)_{n\geq 1}$ exist and are computable. Furthermore, we give for these subsequences a criterion to decide whether the densities exist, in which case they are also computable. In particular in the prime case these densities are all rational. We also deduce from a recent result of the third author and Lema\'nczyk that all subshifts generated by automatic sequences are orthogonal to any bounded multiplicative aperiodic function.Comment: 38 page

Sequences of linear arithmetical complexity

AbstractArithmetical complexity of infinite sequences is the number of all words of a given length whose symbols occur in the sequence at positions which constitute arithmetical progressions. We show that uniformly recurrent sequences whose arithmetical complexity grows linearly are precisely Toeplitz words of a specific form

Critical Exponents and Stabilizers of Infinite Words

This thesis concerns infinite words over finite alphabets. It contributes to two topics in this area: critical exponents and stabilizers. Let w be a right-infinite word defined over a finite alphabet. The critical exponent of w is the supremum of the set of exponents r such that w contains an r-power as a subword. Most of the thesis (Chapters 3 through 7) is devoted to critical exponents. Chapter 3 is a survey of previous research on critical exponents and repetitions in morphic words. In Chapter 4 we prove that every real number greater than 1 is the critical exponent of some right-infinite word over some finite alphabet. Our proof is constructive. In Chapter 5 we characterize critical exponents of pure morphic words generated by uniform binary morphisms. We also give an explicit formula to compute these critical exponents, based on a well-defined prefix of the infinite word. In Chapter 6 we generalize our results to pure morphic words generated by non-erasing morphisms over any finite alphabet. We prove that critical exponents of such words are algebraic, of a degree bounded by the alphabet size. Under certain conditions, our proof implies an algorithm for computing the critical exponent. We demonstrate our method by computing the critical exponent of some families of infinite words. In particular, in Chapter 7 we compute the critical exponent of the Arshon word of order n for n ≥ 3. The stabilizer of an infinite word w defined over a finite alphabet Σ is the set of morphisms f: Σ*→Σ* that fix w. In Chapter 8 we study various problems related to stabilizers and their generators. We show that over a binary alphabet, there exist stabilizers with at least n generators for all n. Over a ternary alphabet, the monoid of morphisms generating a given infinite word by iteration can be infinitely generated, even when the word is generated by iterating an invertible primitive morphism. Stabilizers of strict epistandard words are cyclic when non-trivial, while stabilizers of ultimately strict epistandard words are always non-trivial. For this latter family of words, we give a characterization of stabilizer elements. We conclude with a list of open problems, including a new problem that has not been addressed yet: the D0L repetition threshold