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 palindromic bispecial Sturmian words are precisely the maximal internal factors of primitive Christoffel words. We extend this result by showing that bispecial Sturmian words are precisely the maximal internal factors of 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.     

The context-splittable normal form for Church–Rosser language systems

In this paper the context-splittable normal form for rewriting systems defining Church–Rosser languages is introduced. Context-splittable rewriting rules look like rules of context-sensitive grammars with swapped sides. To be more precise, they have the form uvw→uxw with u,v,w being words, v being nonempty and x being a single letter or the empty word. It is proved that this normal form can be achieved for each Church–Rosser language and that the construction is effective. Some interesting consequences of this characterization are given, too.     

Periods in Extensions of Words

Let π(w) denote the minimum period of the word w,let w be a primitive word with period π(w) < |w|, and let z be a prefix of w. It is shown that if π(wz) = π(w), then |z| < π(w) − gcd (|w|, |z|). Detailed improvements of this result are also proven. Finally, we show that each primitive word w has a conjugate w′ = vu, where w = uv, such that π(w′) = |w′| and |u| < π(w). As a corollary we give a short proof of the fact that if u,v,w are words such that u ² is a prefix of v ², and v ² is a prefix of w ², and v is primitive, then |w| > 2|u|.     

A note on the Markoff condition and central words

We define Markoff words as certain factors appearing in bi-infinite words satisfying the Markoff condition. We prove that these words coincide with central words, yielding a new characterization of Christoffel words.     

Pseudo-cyclic renewal systems

A finite set W of words over an alphabet A is cyclic if, whenever u,v∈A^∗ and uv,vu∈W^∗, we have u,v∈W^∗. If it is only assumed that the property holds for all u,v∈A^∗ with a large length, then W is called pseudo-cyclic, that is, there is N∈N such that, whenever u,v∈A^∗ with |u|, |v|≥N and uv,vu∈W^∗, we have u,v∈W^∗. We analyze the class of pseudo-cyclic sets and describe how it is related to the open question which asks whether every irreducible shift of finite type is conjugate to a renewal system.     

Stability in L systems

Given an L System G, a word w is said to be k-stable in G if, once w occurs in a derivation, the derivation can proceed no more than k steps before the next occurence of w. The set of k-stable words in an L System is called the k-stable language of the system. The k-stable languages of the main classes of L Systems are characterized by the Adult languages of the corresponding classes. This work provides a new characterization of the Chomsky hierarchy in terms of totally parallel grammars, and some consequences of this characterization are explored.     

A note on pure codes

This study extends the understanding of two-element pure codes. Some characteristics of different length two-element pure codes are studied. It is shown that a language is a pure code which contains two distinct primitive words u and v with different lengths if and only if the regular expression u ⁺ v ⁺ of the two distinct words u and v is primitive.     

An extension of the Lyndon-Schützenberger result to pseudoperiodic words

One of the particularities of information encoded as DNA strands is that a string u contains basically the same information as its Watson-Crick complement, denoted here as θ(u). Thus, any expression consisting of repetitions of u and θ(u) can be considered in some sense periodic. In this paper, we give a generalization of Lyndon and Schützenberger’s classical result about equations of the form u^l=vⁿw^m, to cases where both sides involve repetitions of words as well as their complements. Our main results show that, for such extended equations, if l?5,n,m?3, then all three words involved can be expressed in terms of a common word t and its complement θ(t). Moreover, if l?5, then n=m=3 is an optimal bound. These results are established based on a complete characterization of all possible overlaps between two expressions that involve only some word u and its complement θ(u), which is also obtained in this paper.     

Special factors and the combinatorics of suffix and factor automata

The suffix automaton (resp. factor automaton) of a finite word w is the minimal deterministic automaton recognizing the set of suffixes (resp. factors) of w. We study the relationships between the structure of the suffix and factor automata and classical combinatorial parameters related to the special factors of w. We derive formulae for the number of states of these automata. We also characterize the languages L_SA and L_FA of words having respectively suffix automaton and factor automaton with the minimal possible number of states.     

Avoiding large squares in partial words

Well-known results on the avoidance of large squares in (full) words include the following: (1) Fraenkel and Simpson showed that we can construct an infinite binary word containing at most three distinct squares; (2) Entringer, Jackson and Schatz showed that there exists an infinite binary word avoiding all squares of the form xx such that |x|≥3, and that the bound 3 is optimal; (3) Dekking showed that there exists an infinite cube-free binary word that avoids all squares xx with |x|≥4, and that the bound of 4 is best possible. In this paper, we investigate these avoidance results in the context of partial words, or sequences that may have some undefined symbols called holes. Here, a square has the form uv with u and v compatible, and consequently, such a square is compatible with a number of full words that are squares over the given alphabet. We show that (1) holds for partial words with at most two holes. We prove that (2) extends to partial words having infinitely many holes. Regarding (3), we show that there exist binary partial words with infinitely many holes that avoid cubes and have only eleven full word squares compatible with factors of it. Moreover, this number is optimal, and all such squares xx satisfy |x|≤4.     

The super-connected property of recursive circulant graphs

In a graph G, a k-container C_k(u,v) is a set of k disjoint paths joining u and v. A k-container C_k(u,v) is k∗-container if every vertex of G is passed by some path in C_k(u,v). A graph G is k∗-connected if there exists a k∗-container between any two vertices. An m-regular graph G is super-connected if G is k∗-connected for any k with 1?k?m. In this paper, we prove that the recursive circulant graphs G(2^m,4), proposed by Park and Chwa [Theoret. Comput. Sci. 244 (2000) 35-62], are super-connected if and only if m≠2.     

Bandwidth on AT-free graphs

We study the classical Bandwidth problem from the viewpoint of parametrised algorithms. Given a graph G=(V,E) and a positive integer k, the Bandwidth problem asks whether there exists a bijective function β:{1,…,∣V∣}→V such that for every edge uv∈E, ∣β⁻¹(u)−β⁻¹(v)∣≤k. It is known that under standard complexity assumptions, no algorithm for Bandwidth with running time of the form f(k)n^O(1) exists, even when the input is restricted to trees. We initiate the search for classes of graphs where such algorithms do exist. We present an algorithm with running time n⋅2^O(klogk) for Bandwidth on AT-free graphs, a well-studied graph class that contains interval, permutation, and cocomparability graphs. Our result is the first non-trivial algorithm that shows fixed-parameter tractability of Bandwidth on a graph class on which the problem remains NP-complete.     

A combinatorial property of the factor poset of a word

We prove the following interesting combinatorial property of the poset of the factors of a word. Let w be a word and n=G_w+2, where G_w is the maximal length of a repeated factor of w. If v is any word such that the posets of the factors of v and of w up to length n are isomorphic, then v can be obtained by renaming the letters of w or of the reversal of w.     

A polynomial time algorithm for obtaining minimum edge ranking on two-connected outerplanar graphs

An edge ranking of a graph G is a labeling r of its edges with positive integers such that every path between two different edges eu, ev with the same rank r(eu)=r(ev) contains an intermediate edge ew with rank r(ew)>r(eu). An edge ranking of G is minimum if the largest rank k assigned is the smallest among all rankings of G. The edge ranking problem is to find a minimum edge ranking of given graph G. This problem is NP-hard and no polynomial time algorithm for solving it is known for non-trivial classes of graphs other than the class of trees. In this paper, we first show, on a general graph G, a relation between a minimum edge ranking of G and its minimal cuts, which ensures that we can obtain a polynomial time algorithm for obtaining minimum edge ranking of a given graph G if minimal cuts for each subgraph of G can be found in polynomial time and the number of those is polynomial. Based on this relation, we develop a polynomial time algorithm for finding a minimum edge ranking on a 2-connected outerplanar graph.     

Upper signed k-domination in a general graph

Let k be a positive integer, and let G=(V,E) be a graph with minimum degree at least k−1. A function f:V→{−1,1} is said to be a signed k-dominating function (SkDF) if _∑u∈N[v]f(u)?k for every v∈V. An SkDF f of a graph G is minimal if there exists no SkDF g such that g≠f and g(v)?f(v) for every v∈V. The maximum of the values of _∑v∈Vf(v), taken over all minimal SkDFs f, is called the upper signed k-domination numberΓkS(G). In this paper, we present a sharp upper bound on this number for a general graph.     

A Fan-type result on k-ordered graphs

For a positive integer k, a graph G is k-ordered hamiltonian if for every ordered sequence of k vertices there is a hamiltonian cycle that encounters the vertices of the sequence in the given order. In this paper, we show that if G is a ⌊3k/2⌋-connected graph of order n?100k, and d(u)+d(v)?n for any two vertices u and v with d(u,v)=2, then G is k-ordered hamiltonian. Our result implies the theorem of G. Chen et al. [Ars Combin. 70 (2004) 245-255] [1], which requires the degree sum condition for all pairs of non-adjacent vertices, not just those distance 2 apart.     

The twin domination number in generalized de Bruijn digraphs

Let G=(V,A) be a digraph. A set T of vertices of G is a twin dominating set of G if for every vertex v∈V?T, there exist u,w∈T (possibly u=w) such that arcs (u,v),(v,w)∈A. The twin domination numberγ^∗(G) of G is the cardinality of a minimum twin dominating set of G. In this paper we investigate the twin domination number in generalized de Bruijn digraphs GB(n,d). For the digraphs GB(n,d), we first establish sharp bounds on the twin domination number. Secondly, we give the exact values of the twin domination number for several types of GB(n,d) by constructing minimum twin dominating sets in the digraphs. Finally, we present sharp upper bounds for some special generalized de Bruijn digraphs.     

On a generalization of Christoffel words: epichristoffel words

Sturmian sequences are well-known as the ones having minimal complexity over a 2-letter alphabet. They are also the balanced sequences over a 2-letter alphabet and the sequences describing discrete lines. They are famous and have been extensively studied since the 18th century. One of the extensions of these sequences over a k-letter alphabet, with k≥3, is the episturmian sequences, which generalizes a construction of Sturmian sequences using the palindromic closure operation. There exists a finite version of the Sturmian sequences called the Christoffel words. They have been known since the works of Christoffel and have interested many mathematicians. In this paper, we introduce a generalization of Christoffel words for an alphabet with 3 letters or more, using the episturmian morphisms. We call them the epichristoffel words. We define this new class of finite words and show how some of the properties of the Christoffel words can be generalized naturally or not for this class.     

A linear time algorithm for finding an optimal degree-bounded subtree of an edge-weighted tree

Given an edge-weighted tree T=(V(T),E(T)) and its subtree T^′, for any v∈V(T), the distance d(v,T^′) is defined as the minimum weighted distance from v to any vertex in T^′. The distance d(T,T^′) is defined as the sum of all distances of the form d(v,T^′) where v∈V(T). We give an algorithm to find a T^′ that minimizes d(T,T^′) and for all w∈V(T^′), the degree degT^′(w) of w is not more than a prespecified bound db(w)(0?db(w)?degT(w)) at w. The worst-case running time of our algorithm is in O(|V(T)|).