Avoiding Squares and Overlaps Over the Natural Numbers

dc.creatorGuay-Paquet, Mathieu
dc.creatorShallit, Jeffrey
dc.date2009-01-12
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T13:02:12Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T13:02:12Z
dc.descriptionWe consider avoiding squares and overlaps over the natural numbers, using a greedy algorithm that chooses the least possible integer at each step; the word generated is lexicographically least among all such infinite words. In the case of avoiding squares, the word is 01020103..., the familiar ruler function, and is generated by iterating a uniform morphism. The case of overlaps is more challenging. We give an explicitly-defined morphism phi : N* -> N* that generates the lexicographically least infinite overlap-free word by iteration. Furthermore, we show that for all h,k in N with h <= k, the word phi^{k-h}(h) is the lexicographically least overlap-free word starting with the letter h and ending with the letter k, and give some of its symmetry properties.
dc.description16 pages, 2 tables
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0901.1397
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0901.1397
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/226373
dc.subjectCombinatorics
dc.subjectFormal Languages and Automata Theory
dc.subject68R15
dc.titleAvoiding Squares and Overlaps Over the Natural Numbers
dc.typetext

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