An isoperimetric inequality for word overlap
Combinatorics
2026-03-04 v2
Abstract
Let and be sets of words of length over some finite alphabet. Suppose that no suffix of a word in coincides with a prefix of a word in . Then we show that the product of densities of and is upper bounded by . This bound is asymptotically sharp.
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