English

Minimum size of insertion/deletion/substitution balls

Combinatorics 2025-03-11 v1

Abstract

Let n,q,t,s,pn,q,t,s,p be non-negative integers where nsn\geq s and q1q\geq 1. For xAqn{0,1,,q1}n\mathbf{x}\in A_{q}^{n}\triangleq\{ 0,1,\ldots,q-1 \}^{n}, let the tt-insertion ss-deletion pp-substitution ball of x\mathbf{x}, denoted by Bt,s,p(x)\mathcal{B}_{t,s,p}(\mathbf{x}), be the set of sequences in Aqn+tsA_{q}^{n+t-s} which can be obtained from x\mathbf{x} by performing tt insertions, ss deletions, and at most pp substitutions. We establish that for any xAqn\mathbf{x}\in A_{q}^{n}, Bt,s,p(x)i=0t+p(n+tsi)(q1)i|\mathcal{B}_{t,s,p}(\mathbf{x})|\geq\sum_{i=0}^{t+p}\binom{n+t-s}{i}(q-1)^{i}, with equality holding if and only if t=s=0s=p=0s+pnr(x)=1t=s=0\vee s=p=0\vee s+p\geq n\vee r(\mathbf{x})=1. Here, r(x)r(\mathbf{x}) denotes the number of runs in x\mathbf{x}, and a run in x\mathbf{x} is a maximum continuous subsequence of identical symbols.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2503.07132,
  title  = {Minimum size of insertion/deletion/substitution balls},
  author = {Yuhang Pi and Zhifang Zhang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.07132},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:13:43.731Z