English

An isoperimetric inequality for word overlap

Combinatorics 2026-03-04 v2

Abstract

Let AA and BB be sets of words of length nn over some finite alphabet. Suppose that no suffix of a word in AA coincides with a prefix of a word in BB. Then we show that the product of densities of AA and BB is upper bounded by (1+o(1))/(en)(1+o(1))/(en). This bound is asymptotically sharp.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.20143,
  title  = {An isoperimetric inequality for word overlap},
  author = {Dmitrii Zakharov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.20143},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

6 pages, updated with an asymptotically sharp bound; see end of introduction for additional credit

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:48:21.924Z