English

Structure and growth of $\mathbb{R}$-bonacci words

Combinatorics 2025-08-26 v4 Discrete Mathematics

Abstract

A binary word is called qq-decreasing, for q>0q>0, if inside this word each of length-maximal (in the local sense) occurrences of a factor of the form 0a1b0^a1^b, a>0a>0, satisfies qa>bq \cdot a > b. We bijectively link qq-decreasing words with certain prefixes of the cutting sequence of the line y=qxy=qx. We show that for any real positive qq the number of qq-decreasing words of length nn grows as CqΦ(q)nC_q \cdot \Phi(q)^n for some constant CqC_q which depends on qq but not on nn. From previous works, it is already known that Φ(1)\Phi(1) is the golden ratio, Φ(2)\Phi(2) is equal to the tribonacci constant, Φ(k)\Phi(k) is (k+1)(k+1)-bonacci constant. We prove that the function Φ(q)\Phi(q) is strictly increasing, discontinuous at every positive rational point, and exhibits a fractal structure related to the Stern-Brocot tree and Minkowski's question mark function.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2310.01213,
  title  = {Structure and growth of $\mathbb{R}$-bonacci words},
  author = {Sergey Dovgal and Sergey Kirgizov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.01213},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

19 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables