On a complete set of generators for dot-depth two

AbstractA complete set of generators for Straubing's dot-depth-two monoids has been characterized as a set of quotients of the form A∗/∼(n,m), where n and m denote positive integers, A∗ denotes the free monoid generated by a finite alphabet A, and ∼(n,m) denote congruences related to a version of the Ehrenfeucht—Fraïssé game. This paper studies combinatorial properties of the ∼(n,m)'s and in particular the inclusion relations between them. Several decidability and inclusion consequences are discussed

Efficient Enumeration of Non-Equivalent Squares in Partial Words with Few Holes

International audienceA partial word is a word with holes (also called don't cares: special symbols which match any symbol). A p-square is a partial word matching at least one standard square without holes (called a full square). Two p-squares are called equivalent if they match the same sets of full squares. Denote by psquares(T) the number of non-equivalent p-squares which are subwords of a partial word T. Let PSQUARES k (n) be the maximum value of psquares(T) over all partial words of length n with k holes. We show asympthotically tight bounds: c1 · min(nk 2 , n 2) ≤ PSQUARES k (n) ≤ c2 · min(nk 2 , n 2) for some constants c1, c2 > 0. We also present an algorithm that computes psquares(T) in O(nk 3) time for a partial word T of length n with k holes. In particular, our algorithm runs in linear time for k = O(1) and its time complexity near-matches the maximum number of non-equivalent p-squares

Trees, congruences and varieties of finite semigroups

AbstractA classification scheme for regular languages or finite semigroups was proposed by Pin through tree hierarchies, a scheme related to the concatenation product, an operation on languages, and to the Schützenberger product, an operation on semigroups. Starting with a variety of finite semigroups (or pseudovariety of semigroups) V, a pseudovariety of semigroups ♦u(V) is associated to each tree u. In this paper, starting with the congruence γA generating a locally finite pseudovariety of semigroups V for the finite alphabet A, we construct a congruence u (γA) in such a way to generate ♦u(V) for A. We give partial results on the problem of comparing the congruences u (γA) or the pseudovarieties ♦u(V). We also propose case studies of associating trees to semidirect or two-sided semidirect products of locally finite pseudovarieties

On Minimal Sturmian Partial Words

Partial words, which are sequences that may have some undefined positions called holes, can be viewed as sequences over an extended alphabet A_diamond=A cup {diamond}$where {diamond} stands for a hole and matches (or is compatible with every letter in A. The subword complexity of a partial word w, denoted by p_w(n), is the number of distinct full words (those without holes) over the alphabet that are compatible with factors of length n of w. A function f: N -> N is (k,h)-feasible if for each integer N geq 1, there exists a k-ary partial word w with h holes such that p_w(n) = f(n) for all n, 1 = 3$holes. Finally, we give upper bounds on the lengths of minimal partial words with respect to f(n)=2n$ which are tight for h=0, 1 or 2

A new approach to the periodicity lemma on strings with holes

We first give an elementary proof of the periodicity lemma for strings containing one hole (variously called a "wild card", a "don't-care" or an "indeterminate letter" in the literature). The proof is modelled on Euclid's algorithm for the greatest common divisor and is simpler than the original proof given in [J. Berstel, L. Boasson, Partial words and a theorem of Fine and Wilf, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 218 (1999) 135-141]. We then study the two-hole case, where our result agrees with the one given in [F. Blanchet-Sadri, Robert A. Hegstrom, Partial words and a theorem of Fine and Wilf revisited, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 270 (1-2) (2002) 401-419] but is more easily proved and enables us to identify a maximum-length prefix or suffix of the string to which the periodicity lemma does apply. Finally, we extend our result to three or more holes using elementary methods, and state a version of the periodicity lemma that applies to all strings with or without holes. We describe an algorithm that, given the locations of the holes in a string, computes maximum-length substrings to which the periodicity lemma applies, in time proportional to the number of holes. Our approach is quite different from that used by Blanchet-Sadri and Hegstrom, and also simpler

Equations and dot-depth one,

Abstract: This paper studies the fine structure of the Straubing hierarchy of star-free languages. Sequences of equations are defined and are shown to be sufficiently strong to characterize completely the monoid varieties of a natural subhierarchy of level one. In a few cases, it is also shown that those sequences of equations are equivalent to finite ones. Extensions to a natural sublevel of level two are discussed. Article: 1. Introduction This paper deals with the problem of the decidability of the different levels of the Straubing hierarchy of starfree languages. The problem is a central one in the theory of regular languages. Its study is justified by its recognized connections with logic and the theory of complexity. More specifically, this paper is concerned with the problem of finding equations for Straubing's varieties of monoids. Literature review Let A be a given finite alphabet. The regular languages over A are those subsets of A*, the free monoid generated by A, constructed from the finite languages over A by the boolean operations, the concatenation product and the star. The star-free languages are those regular languages which can be obtained from the finite languages by the boolean operations and the concatenation product only. According to Schützenberger [14