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We consider a measure of similarity for infinite words that generalizes the notion of asymptotic or natural density of subsets of natural numbers from number theory. We show that every overlap-free infinite binary word, other than the…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2014-05-23 Chen Fei Du , Jeffrey Shallit

A \emph{square} is a word of the form $uu$, where $u$ is a nonempty finite word. Given a finite word $w$ of length $n$, let $[w]$ denote the corresponding \emph{circular word}, i.e., the set of all cyclic rotations of $w$. We study the…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2026-05-13 Shuo Li , Yuan Song

We completely characterize the words that can be avoided in infinite squarefree ternary words.

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Narad Rampersad

Rich words are characterized by containing the maximum possible number of distinct palindromes. Several characteristic properties of rich words have been studied; yet the analysis of repetitions in rich words still involves some interesting…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2019-11-15 Aseem Raj Baranwal , Jeffrey Shallit

The complexity function of an infinite word $w$ on a finite alphabet $A$ is the sequence counting, for each non-negative $n$, the number of words of length $n$ on the alphabet $A$ that are factors of the infinite word $w$. The goal of this…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2018-02-26 Carlos Gustavo Moreira , Christian Mauduit

In the present paper we show that there exist infinitely many consecutive square-free numbers of the form $n^2+1$, $n^2+2$. We also establish an asymptotic formula for the number of such square-free pairs when $n$ does not exceed given…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2022-07-01 S. I. Dimitrov

Entringer, Jackson, and Schatz conjectured in 1974 that every infinite cubefree binary word contains arbitrarily long squares. In this paper we show this conjecture is false: there exist infinite cubefree binary words avoiding all squares…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Narad Rampersad , Jeffrey Shallit , Ming-wei Wang

Richomme asked the following question: what is the infimum of the real numbers $\alpha$ > 2 such that there exists an infinite word that avoids $\alpha$-powers but contains arbitrarily large squares beginning at every position? We resolve…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2009-04-14 James D. Currie , Narad Rampersad

We start by considering binary words containing the minimum possible numbers of squares and antisquares (where an antisquare is a word of the form $x \overline{x}$), and we completely classify which possibilities can occur. We consider…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2019-04-22 Tim Ng , Pascal Ochem , Narad Rampersad , Jeffrey Shallit

The lexicographically least square-free infinite word on the alphabet of non-negative integers with a given prefix $p$ is denoted $L(p)$. When $p$ is the empty word, this word was shown by Guay-Paquet and Shallit to be the ruler sequence.…

We introduce the notion of topological entropy of a formal languages as the topological entropy of the minimal topological automaton accepting it. Using a characterization of this notion in terms of approximations of the Myhill-Nerode…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2018-10-16 Friedrich Martin Schneider , Daniel Borchmann

Carpi (1993) and Lepisto (1994) proved independently that smooth words are cube-free for the alphabet {1, 2}, but nothing is known on whether for the other 2-letter alphabets, smooth words are k-power-free for some suitable positive integer…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2011-08-10 Yunbao Huang

In the paper we can prove that every integer can be written as the sum of two integers, one perfect square and one squarefree. We also establish the asympotic formula for the number of representations of an integer in this form. The result…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2020-10-30 Jorge Urroz

The additive square problem is a relatively famous open problem in the area of combinatorics on words: Does there exist an infinite word over a finite alphabet, such that no two consecutive blocks of the same length have the same sum? In…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-06-27 Ingrid Vukusic

Free words are elements of a free monoid, generated over an alphabet via the binary operation of concatenation. Casually speaking, a free word is a finite string of letters. Henceforth, we simply refer to them as words. Motivated by recent…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2015-09-16 Danny Rorabaugh

An infinite word x is said to be quasiperiodic if there exists a finite word q such that x is covered by occurrences of q (such a q is called a quasiperiod of x). Using the notion of derivation, we show that this definition is not…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Thierry Monteil , Solomon Marcus

The happy function $H: \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ sends a positive integer to the sum of the squares of its digits. A number $x$ is said to be happy if the sequence $\{H^n(x)\}^\infty_{n=1}$ eventually reaches one. A basic open…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2015-03-03 Justin Gilmer

It is known that there are infinite words over finite alphabets with Abelian repetition threshold arbitrarily close to 1; however, the construction previously used involves huge alphabets. In this note we give a short cyclic morphism…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2023-12-29 James D. Currie , Narad Rampersad

We give upper and lower bounds on the number of graphs of fixed degree which have a positive density of triangles. In particular, we show that there are very few such graphs, when compared to the number of graphs without this restriction.…

Mathematical Physics · Physics 2015-06-26 Pierre Collet , Jean-Pierre Eckmann

In this paper, we investigate the combinatorial and density properties of infinite words generated by Fibonacci-type morphisms, focusing on their subword structure, palindrome density, and extremal statistical behaviors. Using the morphism…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2026-01-21 Duaa Abdullah , Jasem Hamoud