Distributing Labels on Infinite Trees

Sturmian words are infinite binary words with many equivalent definitions: They have a minimal factor complexity among all aperiodic sequences; they are balanced sequences (the labels 0 and 1 are as evenly distributed as possible) and they can be constructed using a mechanical definition. All this properties make them good candidates for being extremal points in scheduling problems over two processors. In this paper, we consider the problem of generalizing Sturmian words to trees. The problem is to evenly distribute labels 0 and 1 over infinite trees. We show that (strongly) balanced trees exist and can also be constructed using a mechanical process as long as the tree is irrational. Such trees also have a minimal factor complexity. Therefore they bring the hope that extremal scheduling properties of Sturmian words can be extended to such trees, as least partially. Such possible extensions are illustrated by one such example.Comment: 30 pages, use pgf/tik

Palindromic complexity of trees

We consider finite trees with edges labeled by letters on a finite alphabet $\varSigma$. Each pair of nodes defines a unique labeled path whose trace is a word of the free monoid $\varSigma^*$. The set of all such words defines the language of the tree. In this paper, we investigate the palindromic complexity of trees and provide hints for an upper bound on the number of distinct palindromes in the language of a tree.Comment: Submitted to the conference DLT201

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

A remarkable sequence related to π\pi and 2\sqrt{2}

We prove that five ways to define entry A086377 in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences do lead to the same integer sequence

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