Related papers: On Straight Words and Minimal Permutators in Finit…
Any permutation in the finite symmetric group can be written as a product of simple transpositions $s_i = (i~i+1)$. For a fixed permutation $\sigma \in \mathfrak{S}_n$ the products of minimal length are called reduced decompositions or…
This paper concerns the general problem of classifying the finite deterministic automata that admit a synchronizing (or reset) word. (For our purposes it is irrelevant if the automata has initial or final states.) Our departure point is the…
We explore a natural class of semigroups that have word problem decidable by finite state automata. Among the main results are invariance of this property under change of generators, invariance under basic algebraic constructions and…
Straight-line programs are a central tool in several areas of computer science, including data compression, algebraic complexity theory, and the algorithmic solution of algebraic equations. In the algebraic setting, where straight-line…
We study finite-state transducers and their power for transforming infinite words. Infinite sequences of symbols are of paramount importance in a wide range of fields, from formal languages to pure mathematics and physics. While finite…
This is Chapter 24 in the "AutoMathA" handbook. Finite automata have been used effectively in recent years to define infinite groups. The two main lines of research have as their most representative objects the class of automatic groups…
Semi-direct products of finite groups have permutation representations that are constructed from the permutation representations of their constituents. One can envision these in a metaphoric sense in which a rope is made from a bundle of…
A finitary automaton group is a group generated by an invertible, deterministic finite-state letter-to-letter transducer whose only cycles are self-loops at an identity state. We show that, for this presentation of finite groups, the…
The words separation problem, originally formulated by Goralcik and Koubek (1986), is stated as follows. Let $Sep(n)$ be the minimum number such that for any two words of length $\le n$ there is a deterministic finite automaton with…
The set of synchronizing words of a given $n$-state automaton forms a regular language recognizable by an automaton with $2^n - n$ states. The size of a recognizing automaton for the set of synchronizing words is linked to computational…
This is the second in a series of papers developing a theory of total positivity for loop groups. In this paper, we study infinite products of Chevalley generators. We show that the combinatorics of infinite reduced words underlies the…
A quasi-automatic semigroup is defined by a finite set of generators, a rational (regular) set of representatives, such that if a is a generator or neutral, then the graph of right multiplication by a on the set of representatives is a…
The word problem for discrete groups is well-known to be undecidable by a Turing Machine; more precisely, it is reducible both to and from and thus equivalent to the discrete Halting Problem. The present work introduces and studies a real…
This text, Chapter 23 in the "AutoMathA" handbook, is devoted to the study of rational subsets of groups, with particular emphasis on the automata-theoretic approach to finitely generated subgroups of free groups. Indeed, Stallings'…
We study automaton structures, i.e. groups, monoids and semigroups generated by an automaton, which, in this context, means a deterministic finite-state letter-to-letter transducer. Instead of considering only complete automata, we…
Semigroup theory is a branch of abstract algebra, and it provides mathematical tools for the theory of computation. Finite semigroups can describe state transition systems and thus they model physically realizable computers. Engineering…
Computational asymmetry, i.e., the discrepancy between the complexity of transformations and the complexity of their inverses, is at the core of one-way transformations. We introduce a computational asymmetry function that measures the…
The structure of transformation semigroups on a finite set is analyzed by introducing a hierarchy of functions mapping subsets to subsets. The resulting hierarchy of semigroups has a corresponding hierarchy of minimal ideals, or kernels.…
We consider the complexity of Green's relations when the semigroup is given by transformations on a finite set. Green's relations can be defined by reachability in the (right/left/two-sided) Cayley graph. The equivalence classes then…
A skew-morphism of a finite group $G$ is a permutation $\s$ on $G$ fixing the identity element, and for which there exists an integer function $\pi$ on $G$ such that $\s(xy)=\s(x)\s^{\pi(x)}(y)$ for all $x,y\in G$. It has been known that…