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Luca Q. Zamboni

Publications and source records attributed to Luca Q. Zamboni.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2015

On some variations of coloring problems of infinite words

Given a finite coloring (or finite partition) of the free semigroup $A^+$ over a set $A$, we consider various types of monochromatic factorizations of right sided infinite words $x\in A^ω$. Some stronger versions of the usual notion of monochromatic factorization are introduced. A factorization is called sequentially monochromatic when concatenations of consecutive blocks are monochromatic. A sequentially monochromatic factorization is called ultra monochromatic if any concatenation of arbitrary permuted blocks of the factorization has the same color of the single blocks. We establish links, and in some cases equivalences, between the existence of these factorizations and fundamental results in Ramsey theory including the infinite Ramsey theorem, Hindman's finite sums theorem, partition regularity of IP sets and the Milliken-Taylor theorem. We prove that for each finite set $A$ and each finite coloring $φ: A^+\rightarrow C,$ for almost all words $x\in A^ω,$ there exists $y$ in the subshift generated by $x$ admitting a $φ$-ultra monochromatic factorization, where "almost all" refers to the Bernoulli measure on $A^ω.$

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

On a group theoretic generalization of the Morse-Hedlund theorem

In their 1938 seminal paper on symbolic dynamics, Morse and Hedlund proved that every aperiodic infinite word $x\in A^N,$ over a non empty finite alphabet $A,$ contains at least $n+1$ distinct factors of each length $n.$ They further showed that an infinite word $x$ has exactly $n+1$ distinct factors of each length $n$ if and only if $x$ is binary, aperiodic and balanced, i.e., $x$ is a Sturmian word. In this paper we obtain a broad generalization of the Morse-Hedlund theorem via group actions. Given a subgroup $G$ of the symmetric group $S_n, $ let $1\leq ε(G)\leq n$ denote the number of distinct $G$-orbits of $\{1,2,\ldots ,n\}.$ Since $G$ is a subgroup of $S_n,$ it acts on $A^n=\{a_1a_2\cdots a_n\,|\,a_i\in A\}$ by permutation. Thus, given an infinite word $x\in A^N$ and an infinite sequence $ω=(G_n)_{n\geq 1}$ of subgroups $G_n \subseteq S_n,$ we consider the complexity function $p_{ω,x}:N \rightarrow N$ which counts for each length $n$ the number of equivalence classes of factors of $x$ of length $n$ under the action of $G_n.$ We show that if $x$ is aperiodic, then $p_{ω, x}(n)\geqε(G_n)+1$ for each $n\geq 1,$ and moreover, if equality holds for each $n,$ then $x$ is Sturmian. Conversely, let $x$ be a Sturmian word. Then for every infinite sequence $ω=(G_n)_{n\geq 1}$ of Abelian subgroups $G_n \subseteq S_n,$ there exists $ω'=(G_n')_{n\geq 1}$ such that for each $n\geq 1:$ $G_n'\subseteq S_n$ is isomorphic to $G_n$ and $p_{ω',x}(n)=ε(G'_n)+1.$ Applying the above results to the sequence $(Id_n)_{n\geq 1},$ where $Id_n$ is the trivial subgroup of $S_n$ consisting only of the identity, we recover both directions of the Morse-Hedland theorem.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

On prefixal factorizations of words

We consider the class ${\cal P}_1$ of all infinite words $x\in A^ω$ over a finite alphabet $A$ admitting a prefixal factorization, i.e., a factorization $x= U_0 U_1U_2 \cdots $ where each $U_i$ is a non-empty prefix of $x.$ With each $x\in {\cal P}_1$ one naturally associates a "derived" infinite word $δ(x)$ which may or may not admit a prefixal factorization. We are interested in the class ${\cal P}_{\infty}$ of all words $x$ of ${\cal P}_1$ such that $δ^n(x) \in {\cal P}_1$ for all $n\geq 1$. Our primary motivation for studying the class ${\cal P}_{\infty}$ stems from its connection to a coloring problem on infinite words independently posed by T. Brown in \cite{BTC} and by the second author in \cite{LQZ}. More precisely, let ${\bf P}$ be the class of all words $x\in A^ω$ such that for every finite coloring $φ: A^+ \rightarrow C$ there exist $c\in C$ and a factorization $x= V_0V_1V_2\cdots $ with $φ(V_i)=c$ for each $i\geq 0.$ In \cite{DPZ} we conjectured that a word $x\in {\bf P}$ if and only if $x$ is purely periodic. In this paper we show that ${\bf P}\subseteq {\cal P}_{\infty},$ so in other words, potential candidates to a counter-example to our conjecture are amongst the non-periodic elements of ${\cal P}_{\infty}.$ We establish several results on the class ${\cal P}_{\infty}$. In particular, we show that a Sturmian word $x$ belongs to ${\cal P}_{\infty}$ if and only if $x$ is nonsingular, i.e., no proper suffix of $x$ is a standard Sturmian word.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Infinite Self-Shuffling Words

In this paper we introduce and study a new property of infinite words: An infinite word $x\in A^\mathbb{N}$, with values in a finite set $A$, is said to be $k$-self-shuffling $(k\geq 2)$ if $x$ admits factorizations: $x=\prod_{i=0}^\infty U_i^{(1)}\cdots U_i^{(k)}=\prod_{i=0}^\infty U_i^{(1)}=\cdots =\prod_{i=0}^\infty U_i^{(k)}$. In other words, there exists a shuffle of $k$-copies of $x$ which produces $x$. We are particularly interested in the case $k=2$, in which case we say $x$ is self-shuffling. This property of infinite words is shown to be an intrinsic property of the word and not of its language (set of factors). For instance, every aperiodic word contains a non self-shuffling word in its shift orbit closure. While the property of being self-shuffling is a relatively strong condition, many important words arising in the area of symbolic dynamics are verified to be self-shuffling. They include for instance the Thue-Morse word and all Sturmian words of intercept $0<ρ<1$ (while those of intercept $ρ=0$ are not self-shuffling). Our characterization of self-shuffling Sturmian words can be interpreted arithmetically in terms of a dynamical embedding and defines an arithmetic process we call the {\it stepping stone model}. One important feature of self-shuffling words stems from its morphic invariance, which provides a useful tool for showing that one word is not the morphic image of another. The notion of self-shuffling has other unexpected applications particularly in the area of substitutive dynamical systems. For example, as a consequence of our characterization of self-shuffling Sturmian words, we recover a number theoretic result, originally due to Yasutomi, on a classification of pure morphic Sturmian words in the orbit of the characteristic.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

A Coloring Problem for Infinite Words

In this paper we consider the following question in the spirit of Ramsey theory: Given $x\in A^ω,$ where $A$ is a finite non-empty set, does there exist a finite coloring of the non-empty factors of $x$ with the property that no factorization of $x$ is monochromatic? We prove that this question has a positive answer using two colors for almost all words relative to the standard Bernoulli measure on $A^ω.$ We also show that it has a positive answer for various classes of uniformly recurrent words, including all aperiodic balanced words, and all words $x\in A^ω$ satisfying $λ_x(n+1)-λ_x(n)=1$ for all $n$ sufficiently large, where $ λ_x(n)$ denotes the number of distinct factors of $x$ of length $n.$

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

On a question of Hof, Knill and Simon on palindromic substitutive systems

In a 1995 paper, Hof, Knill and Simon obtain a sufficient combinatorial criterion on the hull $Ω$ of the potential of a discrete Schrödinger operator which guarantees purely singular continuous spectrum on a generic subset of $Ω.$ In part, this condition requires the existence of infinitely many palindromic factors. In this same paper, they introduce the class P of morphisms $f:A^*\rightarrow B^*$ of the form $a\mapsto pq_a$ and ask whether every palindromic subshift generated by a primitive substitution arises from morphisms of class P or by morphisms of the form $a\mapsto q_ap$ where again $p$ and $q_a$ are palindromes. In this paper we give a partial affirmative answer to the question of Hof, Knill and Simon: we show that every rich primitive substitutive subshift is generated by at most two morphisms each of which is conjugate to a morphism of class P. More precisely, we show that every rich (or almost rich in the sense of finite defect) primitive morphic word $y\in B^ω$ is of the form $y=f(x)$ where $f:A^*\rightarrow B^*$ is conjugate to a morphism of class P, and where $x$ is a rich word fixed by a primitive substitution $g:A^*\rightarrow A^*$ of class P.

math.DS↗
arXiv2013

Extremal words in morphic subshifts

Given an infinite word X over an alphabet A a letter b occurring in X, and a total order σon A, we call the smallest word with respect to σstarting with b in the shift orbit closure of X an extremal word of X. In this paper we consider the extremal words of morphic words. If X = g(f^ω(a)) for some morphisms f and g, we give two simple conditions on f and g that guarantees that all extremal words are morphic. This happens, in particular, when X is a primitive morphic or a binary pure morphic word. Our techniques provide characterizations of the extremal words of the Period-doubling word and the Chacon word and give a new proof of the form of the lexicographically least word in the shift orbit closure of the Rudin-Shapiro word.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

Reversible Christoffel factorizations

We define a family of natural decompositions of Sturmian words in Christoffel words, called *reversible Christoffel* (RC) factorizations. They arise from the observation that two Sturmian words with the same language have (almost always) arbitrarily long Abelian equivalent prefixes. Using the three gap theorem, we prove that in each RC factorization, only 2 or 3 distinct Christoffel words may occur. We begin the study of such factorizations, considered as infinite words over 2 or 3 letters, and show that in the general case they are either Sturmian words, or obtained by a three-interval exchange transformation.

cs.DM↗
arXiv2013

On additive properties of sets defined by the Thue-Morse word

In this paper we study some additive properties of subsets of the set $\nats$ of positive integers: A subset $A$ of $\nats$ is called {\it $k$-summable} (where $k\in\ben$) if $A$ contains $\textstyle \big{\sum_{n\in F}x_n | \emp\neq F\subseteq {1,2,...,k\} \big}$ for some $k$-term sequence of natural numbers $x_1<x_2 < ... < x_k$. We say $A \subseteq \nats$ is finite FS-big if $A$ is $k$-summable for each positive integer $k$. We say is $A \subseteq \nats$ is infinite FS-big if for each positive integer $k,$ $A$ contains ${\sum_{n\in F}x_n | \emp\neq F\subseteq \nats and #F\leq k}$ for some infinite sequence of natural numbers $x_1<x_2 < ... $. We say $A\subseteq \nats $ is an IP-set if $A$ contains ${\sum_{n\in F}x_n | \emp\neq F\subseteq \nats and #F<\infty}$ for some infinite sequence of natural numbers $x_1<x_2 < ... $. By the Finite Sums Theorem [5], the collection of all IP-sets is partition regular, i.e., if $A$ is an IP-set then for any finite partition of $A$, one cell of the partition is an IP-set. Here we prove that the collection of all finite FS-big sets is also partition regular. Let $\TM =011010011001011010... $ denote the Thue-Morse word fixed by the morphism $0\mapsto 01$ and $1\mapsto 10$. For each factor $u$ of $\TM$ we consider the set $\TM\big|_u\subseteq \nats$ of all occurrences of $u$ in $\TM$. In this note we characterize the sets $\TM\big|_u$ in terms of the additive properties defined above. Using the Thue-Morse word we show that the collection of all infinite FS-big sets is not partition regular.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

On the least number of palindromes contained in an infinite word

We investigate the least number of palindromic factors in an infinite word. We first consider general alphabets, and give answers to this problem for periodic and non-periodic words, closed or not under reversal of factors. We then investigate the same problem when the alphabet has size two.

cs.DM↗
arXiv2013

Central sets defined by words of low factor complexity

A subset $A$ of $\mathbb{N}$ is called an IP-set if $A$ contains all finite sums of distinct terms of some infinite sequence $(x_n)_{n\in \mathbb{N}} $ of natural numbers. Central sets, first introduced by Furstenberg using notions from topological dynamics, constitute a special class of IP-sets possessing additional nice combinatorial properties: Each central set contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions, and solutions to all partition regular systems of homogeneous linear equations. In this paper we show how certain families of aperiodic words of low factor complexity may be used to generate a wide assortment of central sets having additional nice properties inherited from the rich combinatorial structure of the underlying word. We consider Sturmian words and their extensions to higher alphabets (so-called Arnoux-Rauzy words), as well as words generated by substitution rules including the famous Thue-Morse word. We also describe a connection between central sets and the strong coincidence condition for fixed points of primitive substitutions which represents a new approach to the strong coincidence conjecture for irreducible Pisot substitutions. Our methods simultaneously exploit the general theory of combinatorics on words, the arithmetic properties of abstract numeration systems defined by substitution rules, notions from topological dynamics including proximality and equicontinuity, the spectral theory of symbolic dynamical systems, and the beautiful and elegant theory, developed by N. Hindman, D. Strauss and others, linking IP-sets to the algebraic/topological properties of the Stone-Čech compactification of $\mathbb{N}.$ Using the key notion of $p$-$\lim_n,$ regarded as a mapping from words to words, we apply ideas from combinatorics on words in the framework of ultrafilters.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

Central sets and substitutive dynamical systems

In this paper we establish a new connection between central sets and the strong coincidence conjecture for fixed points of irreducible primitive substitutions of Pisot type. Central sets, first introduced by Furstenberg using notions from topological dynamics, constitute a special class of subsets of $\nats$ possessing strong combinatorial properties: Each central set contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions, and solutions to all partition regular systems of homogeneous linear equations. We give an equivalent reformulation of the strong coincidence condition in terms of central sets and minimal idempotent ultrafilters in the Stone-Čech compactification $β\nats .$ This provides a new arithmetical approach to an outstanding conjecture in tiling theory, the Pisot substitution conjecture. The results in this paper rely on interactions between different areas of mathematics, some of which had not previously been directly linked: They include the general theory of combinatorics on words, abstract numeration systems, tilings, topological dynamics and the algebraic/topological properties of Stone-Čech compactification of $\nats.$

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

On a generalization of Abelian equivalence and complexity of infinite words

In this paper we introduce and study a family of complexity functions of infinite words indexed by $k \in \ints ^+ \cup {+\infty}.$ Let $k \in \ints ^+ \cup {+\infty}$ and $A$ be a finite non-empty set. Two finite words $u$ and $v$ in $A^*$ are said to be $k$-Abelian equivalent if for all $x\in A^*$ of length less than or equal to $k,$ the number of occurrences of $x$ in $u$ is equal to the number of occurrences of $x$ in $v.$ This defines a family of equivalence relations $\thicksim_k$ on $A^*,$ bridging the gap between the usual notion of Abelian equivalence (when $k=1$) and equality (when $k=+\infty).$ We show that the number of $k$-Abelian equivalence classes of words of length $n$ grows polynomially, although the degree is exponential in $k.$ Given an infinite word $ω\in A^\nats,$ we consider the associated complexity function $\mathcal {P}^{(k)}_ω:\nats \rightarrow \nats$ which counts the number of $k$-Abelian equivalence classes of factors of $ω$ of length $n.$ We show that the complexity function $\mathcal {P}^{(k)}$ is intimately linked with periodicity. More precisely we define an auxiliary function $q^k: \nats \rightarrow \nats$ and show that if $\mathcal {P}^{(k)}_ω(n)<q^k(n)$ for some $k \in \ints ^+ \cup {+\infty}$ and $n\geq 0,$ the $ω$ is ultimately periodic. Moreover if $ω$ is aperiodic, then $\mathcal {P}^{(k)}_ω(n)=q^k(n)$ if and only if $ω$ is Sturmian. We also study $k$-Abelian complexity in connection with repetitions in words. Using Szemerédi's theorem, we show that if $ω$ has bounded $k$-Abelian complexity, then for every $D\subset \nats$ with positive upper density and for every positive integer $N,$ there exists a $k$-Abelian $N$ power occurring in $ω$ at some position $j\in D.$

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

Central sets generated by uniformly recurrent words

A subset $A$ of $\nats$ is called an IP-set if $A$ contains all finite sums of distinct terms of some infinite sequence $(x_n)_{n\in \nats} $ of natural numbers. Central sets, first introduced by Furstenberg using notions from topological dynamics, constitute a special class of IP-sets possessing rich combinatorial properties: Each central set contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions, and solutions to all partition regular systems of homogeneous linear equations. In this paper we investigate central sets in the framework of combinatorics on words. Using various families of uniformly recurrent words, including Sturmian words, the Thue-Morse word and fixed points of weak mixing substitutions, we generate an assortment of central sets which reflect the rich combinatorial structure of the underlying words. The results in this paper rely on interactions between different areas of mathematics, some of which had not previously been directly linked. They include the general theory of combinatorics on words, abstract numeration systems, and the beautiful theory, developed by Hindman, Strauss and others, linking IP-sets and central sets to the algebraic/topological properties of the Stone-Čech compactification of $\nats .$

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

A Coloring Problem for Sturmian and Episturmian Words

We consider the following open question in the spirit of Ramsey theory: Given an aperiodic infinite word $w$, does there exist a finite coloring of its factors such that no factorization of $w$ is monochromatic? We show that such a coloring always exists whenever $w$ is a Sturmian word or a standard episturmian word.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

Abelian maximal pattern complexity of words

In this paper we study the maximal pattern complexity of infinite words up to Abelian equivalence. We compute a lower bound for the Abelian maximal pattern complexity of infinite words which are both recurrent and aperiodic by projection. We show that in the case of binary words, the bound is actually achieved and gives a characterization of recurrent aperiodic words.

math.CO↗
arXiv2012

Abelian returns in Sturmian words

Return words constitute a powerful tool for studying symbolic dynamical systems. They may be regarded as a discrete analogue of the first return map in dynamical systems. In this paper we investigate two abelian variants of the notion of return word, each of them gives rise to a new characterization of Sturmian words. We prove that a recurrent infinite word is Sturmian if and only if each of its factors has two or three abelian (or semi-abelian) returns. We study the structure of abelian returns in Sturmian words and give a characterization of those factors having exactly two abelian returns. Finally we discuss connections between abelian returns and periodicity in words.

math.CO↗