665 research outputs found
Extremal properties of (epi)Sturmian sequences and distribution modulo 1
Starting from a study of Y. Bugeaud and A. Dubickas (2005) on a question in
distribution of real numbers modulo 1 via combinatorics on words, we survey
some combinatorial properties of (epi)Sturmian sequences and distribution
modulo 1 in connection to their work. In particular we focus on extremal
properties of (epi)Sturmian sequences, some of which have been rediscovered
several times
Enumeration and Structure of Trapezoidal Words
Trapezoidal words are words having at most distinct factors of length
for every . They therefore encompass finite Sturmian words. We give
combinatorial characterizations of trapezoidal words and exhibit a formula for
their enumeration. We then separate trapezoidal words into two disjoint
classes: open and closed. A trapezoidal word is closed if it has a factor that
occurs only as a prefix and as a suffix; otherwise it is open. We investigate
open and closed trapezoidal words, in relation with their special factors. We
prove that Sturmian palindromes are closed trapezoidal words and that a closed
trapezoidal word is a Sturmian palindrome if and only if its longest repeated
prefix is a palindrome. We also define a new class of words, \emph{semicentral
words}, and show that they are characterized by the property that they can be
written as , for a central word and two different letters .
Finally, we investigate the prefixes of the Fibonacci word with respect to the
property of being open or closed trapezoidal words, and show that the sequence
of open and closed prefixes of the Fibonacci word follows the Fibonacci
sequence.Comment: Accepted for publication in Theoretical Computer Scienc
On the Structure of Bispecial Sturmian Words
A balanced word is one in which any two factors of the same length contain
the same number of each letter of the alphabet up to one. Finite binary
balanced words are called Sturmian words. A Sturmian word is bispecial if it
can be extended to the left and to the right with both letters remaining a
Sturmian word. There is a deep relation between bispecial Sturmian words and
Christoffel words, that are the digital approximations of Euclidean segments in
the plane. In 1997, J. Berstel and A. de Luca proved that \emph{palindromic}
bispecial Sturmian words are precisely the maximal internal factors of
\emph{primitive} Christoffel words. We extend this result by showing that
bispecial Sturmian words are precisely the maximal internal factors of
\emph{all} Christoffel words. Our characterization allows us to give an
enumerative formula for bispecial Sturmian words. We also investigate the
minimal forbidden words for the language of Sturmian words.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1204.167
A Characterization of Bispecial Sturmian Words
A finite Sturmian word w over the alphabet {a,b} is left special (resp. right
special) if aw and bw (resp. wa and wb) are both Sturmian words. A bispecial
Sturmian word is a Sturmian word that is both left and right special. We show
as a main result that bispecial Sturmian words are exactly the maximal internal
factors of Christoffel words, that are words coding the digital approximations
of segments in the Euclidean plane. This result is an extension of the known
relation between central words and primitive Christoffel words. Our
characterization allows us to give an enumerative formula for bispecial
Sturmian words. We also investigate the minimal forbidden words for the set of
Sturmian words.Comment: Accepted to MFCS 201
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