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Henk Don

Publications and source records attributed to Henk Don.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2023

Extremal Binary PFAs with Small Number of States

The largest known reset thresholds for DFAs are equal to $(n-1)^2$, where $n$ is the number of states. This is conjectured to be the maximum possible. PFAs (with partial transition function) can have exponentially large reset thresholds. This is still true if we restrict to binary PFAs. However, asymptotics do not give conclusions for fixed $n$. We prove that the maximal reset threshold for binary PFAs is strictly greater than $(n-1)^2$ if and only if $n\geq 6$. These results are mostly based on the analysis of synchronizing word lengths for a certain family of binary PFAs. This family has the following properties: it contains the well-known Černý automata; for $n\leq 10$ it contains a binary PFA with maximal possible reset threshold; for all $n\geq 6$ it contains a PFA with reset threshold larger than the maximum known for DFAs. Analysis of this family reveals remarkable patterns involving the Fibonacci numbers and related sequences such as the Padovan sequence. We derive explicit formulas for the reset thresholds in terms of these recurrent sequences. Asymptotically the Černý family gives reset thresholds of polynomial order. We prove that PFAs in the family are not extremal for $n\geq 41$. For that purpose, we present an improvement of Martyugin's prime number construction of binary PFAs.

cs.FL↗
arXiv2022

An OSSS-type inequality for uniformly drawn subsets of fixed size

The OSSS inequality [O'Donnell, Saks, Schramm and Servedio, 46th Annual IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS'05), Pittsburgh (2005)] gives an upper bound for the variance of a function f of independent 0-1 valued random variables, in terms of the influences of these random variables and the computational complexity of a (randomised) algorithm for determining the value of f. Duminil-Copin, Raoufi and Tassion [Annals of Mathematics 189, 75-99 (2019)] obtained a generalization to monotonic measures and used it to prove new results for Potts models and random-cluster models. Their generalization of the OSSS inequality raises the question if there are still other measures for which a version of that inequality holds. We derive a version of the OSSS inequality for a family of measures that are far from monotonic, namely the k-out-of-n measures (these measures correspond with drawing k elements from a set of size n uniformly). We illustrate the inequality by studying the event that there is an occupied horizontal crossing of an R times R box on the triangular lattice in the site percolation model where exactly half of the vertices in the box are occupied.

math.PR↗
arXiv2019

Explicit bounds for critical infection rates and expected extinction times of the contact process on finite random graphs

We introduce a method to prove metastability of the contact process on Erdős-Rényi graphs and on configuration model graphs. The method relies on uniformly bounding the total infection rate from below, over all sets with a fixed number of nodes. Once this bound is established, a simple comparison with a well chosen birth-and-death process will show the exponential growth of the extinction time. Our paper complements recent results on the metastability of the contact process: under a certain minimal edge density condition, we give explicit lower bounds on the infection rate needed to get metastability, and we have explicit exponentially growing lower bounds on the expected extinction time.

math.PR↗
arXiv2018

Counting symbol switches in synchronizing automata

Instead of looking at the lengths of synchronizing words as in Černý's conjecture, we look at the switch count of such words, that is, we only count the switches from one letter to another. Where the synchronizing words of the Černý automata $\mathcal{C}_n$ have switch count linear in $n$, we wonder whether synchronizing automata exist for which every synchronizing word has quadratic switch count. The answer is positive: we prove that switch count has the same complexity as synchronizing word length. We give some series of synchronizing automata yielding quadratic switch count, the best one reaching $\frac{2}{3} n^2 + O(n)$ as switch count. We investigate all binary automata on at most 9 states and determine the maximal possible switch count. For all $3\leq n\leq 9$, a strictly higher switch count can be reached by allowing more symbols. This behaviour differs from length, where for every $n$, no automata are known with higher synchronization length than $\mathcal{C}_n$, which has only two symbols. It is not clear if this pattern extends to larger $n$. For $n\geq 12$, our best construction only has two symbols.

cs.FL↗
arXiv2018

Lower Bounds for Synchronizing Word Lengths in Partial Automata

It was conjectured by Černý in 1964, that a synchronizing DFA on $n$ states always has a synchronizing word of length at most $(n-1)^2$, and he gave a sequence of DFAs for which this bound is reached. Until now a full analysis of all DFAs reaching this bound was only given for $n \leq 5$, and with bounds on the number of symbols for $n \leq 12$. Here we give the full analysis for $n \leq 7$, without bounds on the number of symbols. For PFAs (partial automata) on $\leq 7$ states we do a similar analysis as for DFAs and find the maximal shortest synchronizing word lengths, exceeding $(n-1)^2$ for $n \geq 4$. Where DFAs with long synchronization typically have very few symbols, for PFAs we observe that more symbols may increase the synchronizing word length. For PFAs on $\leq 10$ states and two symbols we investigate all occurring synchronizing word lengths. We give series of PFAs on two and three symbols, reaching the maximal possible length for some small values of $n$. For $n=6,7,8,9$, the construction on two symbols is the unique one reaching the maximal length. For both series the growth is faster than $(n-1)^2$, although still quadratic. Based on string rewriting, for arbitrary size we construct a PFA on three symbols with exponential shortest synchronizing word length, giving significantly better bounds than earlier exponential constructions. We give a transformation of this PFA to a PFA on two symbols keeping exponential shortest synchronizing word length, yielding a better bound than applying a similar known transformation. Both PFAs are transitive. Finally, we show that exponential lengths are even possible with just one single undefined transition, again with transitive constructions.

cs.FL↗
arXiv2017

Slowly synchronizing automata with fixed alphabet size

It was conjectured by Černý in 1964 that a synchronizing DFA on $n$ states always has a shortest synchronizing word of length at most $(n-1)^2$, and he gave a sequence of DFAs for which this bound is reached. In this paper, we investigate the role of the alphabet size. For each possible alphabet size, we count DFAs on $n \le 6$ states which synchronize in $(n-1)^2 - e$ steps, for all $e < 2\lceil n/2 \rceil$. Furthermore, we give constructions of automata with any number of states, and $3$, $4$, or $5$ symbols, which synchronize slowly, namely in $n^2 - 3n + O(1)$ steps. In addition, our results prove Černý's conjecture for $n \le 6$. Our computation has led to $27$ DFAs on $3$, $4$, $5$ or $6$ states, which synchronize in $(n-1)^2$ steps, but do not belong to Černý's sequence. Of these $27$ DFA's, $19$ are new, and the remaining $8$ which were already known are exactly the \emph{minimal} ones: they will not synchronize any more after removing a symbol. So the $19$ new DFAs are extensions of automata which were already known, including the Černý automaton on $3$ states. But for $n > 3$, we prove that the Černý automaton on $n$ states does not admit non-trivial extensions with the same smallest synchronizing word length $(n-1)^2$.

cs.FL↗
arXiv2017

DFAs and PFAs with Long Shortest Synchronizing Word Length

It was conjectured by Černý in 1964, that a synchronizing DFA on $n$ states always has a shortest synchronizing word of length at most $(n-1)^2$, and he gave a sequence of DFAs for which this bound is reached. Until now a full analysis of all DFAs reaching this bound was only given for $n \leq 4$, and with bounds on the number of symbols for $n \leq 10$. Here we give the full analysis for $n \leq 6$, without bounds on the number of symbols. For PFAs the bound is much higher. For $n \leq 6$ we do a similar analysis as for DFAs and find the maximal shortest synchronizing word lengths, exceeding $(n-1)^2$ for $n =4,5,6$. For arbitrary n we give a construction of a PFA on three symbols with exponential shortest synchronizing word length, giving significantly better bounds than earlier exponential constructions. We give a transformation of this PFA to a PFA on two symbols keeping exponential shortest synchronizing word length, yielding a better bound than applying a similar known transformation.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Synchronizing non-deterministic finite automata

In this paper, we show that every D3-directing CNFA can be mapped uniquely to a DFA with the same synchronizing word length. This implies that Černý's conjecture generalizes to CNFAs and that the general upper bound for the length of a shortest D3-directing word is equal to the Pin-Frankl bound for DFAs. As a second consequence, for several classes of CNFAs sharper bounds are established. Finally, our results allow us to detect all critical CNFAs on at most 6 states. It turns out that only very few critical CNFAs exist.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Self-averaging sequences which fail to converge

We consider self-averaging sequences in which each term is a weighted average over previous terms. For several sequences of this kind it is known that they do not converge to a limit. These sequences share the property that $n$th term is mainly based on terms around a fixed fraction of $n$. We give a probabilistic interpretation to such sequences and give weak conditions under which it is natural to expect non-convergence. Our methods are illustrated by application to the group Russian roulette problem.

math.PR↗
arXiv2015

The Cerny conjecture and 1-contracting automata

A deterministic finite automaton is synchronizing if there exists a word that sends all states of the automaton to the same state. Černý conjectured in 1964 that a synchronizing automaton with $n$ states has a synchronizing word of length at most $(n-1)^2$. We introduce the notion of aperiodically $1-$contracting automata and prove that in these automata all subsets of the state set are reachable, so that in particular they are synchronizing. Furthermore, we give a sufficient condition under which the Černý conjecture holds for aperiodically $1-$contracting automata. As a special case, we prove some results for circular automata.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

Conditioned multi-type Galton-Watson trees

We consider multi-type Galton Watson trees, and find the distribution of these trees when conditioning on very general types of recursive events. It turns out that the conditioned tree is again a multi-type Galton Watson tree, possibly with more types and with offspring distributions, depending on the type of the father node and on the height of the father node. These distributions are given explicitly. We give some interesting examples for the kind of conditioning we can handle, showing that our methods have a wide range of applications.

math.PR↗
arXiv2014

Constructing and searching conditioned Galton-Watson trees

We investigate conditioning Galton-Watson trees on general recursive-type events, such as the event that the tree survives until a specific level. It turns out that the conditioned tree is again a type of Galton-Watson tree, with different types of offspring and a level-dependent offspring distribution, which will all be given explicitly. As an interesting application of these results, we will calculate the expected cost of searching a tree until reaching a given level.

math.PR↗
arXiv2013

New methods to bound the critical probability in fractal percolation

Fractal percolation has been introduced by Mandelbrot in 1974. We study the two-dimensional case, with integer subdivision index M and survival probability p. It is well known that there exists a non-trivial critical value p_c(M) such that a.s. the largest connected component in the limiting set K is a point for p 0.881 and p_c(3)>0.784. For the upper bounds, we introduce the idea of classifications. The fractal percolation iteration process now induces an iterative random process on a finite alphabet, which is easier to analyze than the original process. This theoretical framework is the basis of computer aided proofs for the following upper bounds: p_c(2)<0.993, p_c(3)<0.940 and p_c(4)<0.972.

math.PR↗
arXiv2011

Polygons in billiard orbits

We study the geometry of billiard orbits on rectangular billiards. A truncated billiard orbit induces a partition of the rectangle into polygons. We prove that thirteen is a sharp upper bound for the number of different areas of these polygons.

math.NT↗
arXiv2009

Correlated fractal percolation and the Palis conjecture

Let F1 and F2 be independent copies of correlated fractal percolation, with Hausdorff dimensions dimH(F1) and dimH(F2). Consider the following question: does dimH(F1)+dimH(F2)>1 imply that their algebraic difference F1-F2 will contain an interval? The well known Palis conjecture states that `generically' this should be true. Recent work by Kuijvenhoven and the first author (arXiv:0811.0525) on random Cantor sets can not answer this question as their condition on the joint survival distributions of the generating process is not satisfied by correlated fractal percolation. We develop a new condition which permits us to solve the problem, and we prove that the condition of (arXiv:0811.0525) implies our condition. Independently of this we give a solution to the critical case, yielding that a strong version of the Palis conjecture holds for fractal percolation and correlated fractal percolation: the algebraic difference contains an interval almost surely if and only if the sum of the Hausdorff dimensions of the random Cantor sets exceeds one.

math.PR↗