On the covering dimension of the set of solutions of some nonlinear equations

We prove an abstract theorem whose sole hypothesis is that the degree of a certain map is nonzero and whose parametric equations are studied using cohomological mconclusions imply sharp, multidimensional continuation results. Applications are given to nonlinear partial differential equations

A characterization of balanced episturmian sequences

It is well known that Sturmian sequences are the aperiodic sequences that are balanced over a 2-letter alphabet. They are also characterized by their complexity: they have exactly $(n+1)$ factors of length $n$. One possible generalization of Sturmian sequences is the set of infinite sequences over a $k$-letter alphabet, $k \geq 3$, which are closed under reversal and have at most one right special factor for each length. This is the set of episturmian sequences. These are not necessarily balanced over a $k$-letter alphabet, nor are they necessarily aperiodic. In this paper, we characterize balanced episturmian sequences, periodic or not, and prove Fraenkel's conjecture for the class of episturmian sequences. This conjecture was first introduced in number theory and has remained unsolved for more than 30 years. It states that for a fixed $k> 2$, there is only one way to cover $\Z$ by $k$ Beatty sequences. The problem can be translated to combinatorics on words: for a $k$-letter alphabet, there exists only one balanced sequence up to letter permutation that has different letter frequencies

The thematic interpretation of plural nominalizations

Nominalizations, in German as well as in other languages, are systematically polysemous, a fact that has been widely discussed in the linguistic literature [...]. In this paper, I will discuss certain asymmetries concerning the interpretation of the postnominal genitive [...]

A Discrete Fourier Kernel and Fraenkel's Tiling Conjecture

The set B_{p,r}^q:=\{\floor{nq/p+r} \colon n\in Z \} with integers p, q, r) is a Beatty set with density p/q. We derive a formula for the Fourier transform \hat{B_{p,r}^q}(j):=\sum_{n=1}^p e^{-2 \pi i j \floor{nq/p+r} / q}. A. S. Fraenkel conjectured that there is essentially one way to partition the integers into m>2 Beatty sets with distinct densities. We conjecture a generalization of this, and use Fourier methods to prove several special cases of our generalized conjecture.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures (now with minor revisions and clarifications

Measurable realizations of abstract systems of congruences

An abstract system of congruences describes a way of partitioning a space into finitely many pieces satisfying certain congruence relations. Examples of abstract systems of congruences include paradoxical decompositions and $n$-divisibility of actions. We consider the general question of when there are realizations of abstract systems of congruences satisfying various measurability constraints. We completely characterize which abstract systems of congruences can be realized by nonmeager Baire measurable pieces of the sphere under the action of rotations on the $2$-sphere. This answers a question of Wagon. We also construct Borel realizations of abstract systems of congruences for the action of $\mathsf{PSL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ on $\mathsf{P}^1(\mathbb{R})$. The combinatorial underpinnings of our proof are certain types of decomposition of Borel graphs into paths. We also use these decompositions to obtain some results about measurable unfriendly colorings.Comment: minor correction

Uniformly balanced words with linear complexity and prescribed letter frequencies

We consider the following problem. Let us fix a finite alphabet A; for any given d-uple of letter frequencies, how to construct an infinite word u over the alphabet A satisfying the following conditions: u has linear complexity function, u is uniformly balanced, the letter frequencies in u are given by the given d-uple. This paper investigates a construction method for such words based on the use of mixed multidimensional continued fraction algorithms.Comment: In Proceedings WORDS 2011, arXiv:1108.341