Related papers: A note on the Markoff condition and central words
Markoff triples are parametrized uniquely by Christoffel words.
We introduce a family of modules, called Markoff modules, generated by a cluster-mutation-like iterative process. We show that these modules are combinatorially similar to Christoffel words. Furthermore, we construct a bijective map between…
The elements of Markoff triples are given by coefficients in certain matrix products defined by Christoffel words, and the Markoff injectivity conjecture, a long-standing open problem (also known as the uniqueness conjecture), is then…
Motivated by the theory of trapezoidal words, whose sequences of cardinality of factors by length are symmetric, we introduce a bivariate variant of this symmetry. We show that this symmetry characterizes Christoffel words, and establish…
In this paper, we consider infinite words that arise as fixed points of primitive substitutions on a finite alphabet and finite colorings of their factors. Any such infinite word exhibits a "hierarchal structure" that will allow us to…
Initially stated in terms of Beatty sequences, the Fraenkel conjecture can be reformulated as follows: for a $k$-letter alphabet A, with a fixed $k \geq 3$, there exists a unique balanced infinite word, up to letter permutations and shifts,…
In this paper, we characterize by lexicographic order all finite Sturmian and episturmian words, i.e., all (finite) factors of such infinite words. Consequently, we obtain a characterization of infinite episturmian words in a "wide sense"…
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…
Strong typicality and the Markov lemma have been used in the proofs of several multiterminal source coding theorems. Since these two tools can be applied to finite alphabets only, the results proved by them are subject to the same…
Central, standard, and Christoffel words are three strongly interrelated classes of binary finite words which represent a finite counterpart of characteristic Sturmian words. A natural arithmetization of the theory is obtained by…
We introduce and study natural derivatives for Christoffel and finite standard words, as well as for characteristic Sturmian words. These derivatives, which are realized as inverse images under suitable morphisms, preserve the…
Perfectly clustering words are one of many possible generalizations of Christoffel words. In this article, we propose a factorization of a perfectly clustering word on a $n$ letters alphabet into a product of $n-1$ palindromes with a letter…
We study how much injective morphisms can increase the repetitiveness of a given word. This question has a few possible variations depending on the meaning of ``repetitiveness''. We concentrate on fractional exponents of finite words and…
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…
We define a family of natural decompositions of Sturmian words in Christoffel words, called *reversible Christoffel* (RC) factorizations. They arise from the observation that two Sturmian words with the same language have (almost always)…
In this paper, we extend the notion of Lyndon word to transfinite words. We prove two main results. We first show that, given a transfinite word, there exists a unique factorization in Lyndon words that are densely non-increasing, a…
We characterize binary words that have exactly two unbordered conjugates and show that they can be expressed as a product of two palindromes.
We exhibit combinatorial results on Christoffel words and binary balanced words that are motivated by their geometric interpretation as approximations of digital segments. We give a closed formula for counting the exact number of balanced…
The Markoff injectivity conjecture states that $w\mapsto\mu(w)_{12}$ is injective on the set of Christoffel words where $\mu:\{\mathtt{0},\mathtt{1}\}^*\to\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ is a certain homomorphism and $M_{12}$ is the entry above…
Borel and Reutenauer (2006) showed, \emph{inter alia}, that a word $w$ of length $n>1$ is conjugate to a Christoffel word if and only if for $k=0,1, \dots , n-1$, $w$ has $k+1$ distinct circular factors of length $k$. Sturmian words are the…