A recursively palindromic (RP) word is one that is a palindrome and whose left half-word and right half-word are each RP. Thus ABACABA is, and MADAM is not, an RP word. We count RP words of given length over a finite alphabet and RP compositions of an integer. We use the same method to determine the parity of the Catalan numbers.
We prove a precise formula for the minimal number K(n) such that every binary word of length $n$ can be divided into K(n) palindromes. Also we estimate the average number $\ol K(n)$ of palindromes composing a random binary word of the length n.
In this paper we consider the palindromes that can be formed by taking unordered sets of $n$ elements from an alphabet of $b$ letters. In particular, we seek to find the probability that given a random member of this space we are able to re-arrange its elements to form a palindrome. We conclude by exploring the behaviour of this probability as $n, b \to \infty$
In this paper we study generalization of the reversal mapping realized by an arbitrary involutory antimorphism $Θ$. It generalizes the notion of a palindrome into a $Θ$-palindrome -- a word invariant under $Θ$. For languages closed under $Θ$ we give the relation between $Θ$-palindromic complexity and factor complexity. We generalize the notion of richness to $Θ$-richness and we prove analogous characterizations of words that are $Θ$-rich, especially in the case of set of factors invariant under $Θ$. A criterion for $Θ$-richness of $Θ$-episturmian words is given together with other examples of …
Everybody has certainly heard about palindromes: words that stay the same when read backwards. For instance kayak, radar, or rotor. Mathematicians are interested in palindromic numbers: positive integers whose expansion in a certain integer base is a palindrome. The following problems are studied: palindromic primes, palindromic squares and higher powers, multibased palindromic numbers, etc. In this paper, we define and study antipalindromic numbers: positive integers whose expansion in a certain integer base is an antipalindrome. We present new results concerning divisibility and antipalindro…
We study the relation between the palindromic and factor complexity of infinite words. We show that for uniformly recurrent words one has P(n)+P(n+1) \leq ΔC(n) + 2, for all n \in N. For a large class of words it is a better estimate of the palindromic complexity in terms of the factor complexity then the one presented by Allouche et al. We provide several examples of infinite words for which our estimate reaches its upper bound. In particular, we derive an explicit prescription for the palindromic complexity of infinite words coding r-interval exchange transformations. If the permutation πcon…
The palindromic length $\text{PL}(v)$ of a finite word $v$ is the minimal number of palindromes whose concatenation is equal to $v$. In 2013, Frid, Puzynina, and Zamboni conjectured that: If $w$ is an infinite word and $k$ is an integer such that $\text{PL}(u)\leq k$ for every factor $u$ of $w$ then $w$ is ultimately periodic. Suppose that $w$ is an infinite word and $k$ is an integer such $\text{PL}(u)\leq k$ for every factor $u$ of $w$. Let $Ω(w,k)$ be the set of all factors $u$ of $w$ that have more than $\sqrt[k]{k^{-1}\vert u\vert}$ palindromic prefixes. We show that $Ω(w,k)$ is an infini…
We study the set of finite words with zero palindromic defect, i.e., words rich in palindromes. This set is factorial, but not recurrent. We focus on description of pairs of rich words which cannot occur simultaneously as factors of a longer rich word.
We show that the number of length-n words over a k-letter alphabet having no even palindromic prefix is the same as the number of length-n unbordered words, by constructing an explicit bijection between the two sets. A slightly different but analogous result holds for those words having no odd palindromic prefix. Using known results on borders, we get an asymptotic enumeration for the number of words having no even (resp., odd) palindromic prefix . We obtain an analogous result for words having no nontrivial palindromic prefix. Finally, we obtain similar results for words having no square pref…
We consider two {seemingly} different definitions of infinite words which contain {the} utmost number of palindromes. We show that these two definitions coincide. {The keynote of the proof is a meticulous inspection of properties of complete return words and the application of some basic graph theory.} In fact, we provide another proof of the result announced in \cite{Zamboni}.
We study infinite words u over an alphabet A satisfying the property P : P(n)+ P(n+1) = 1+ #A for any n in N, where P(n) denotes the number of palindromic factors of length n occurring in the language of u. We study also infinite words satisfying a stronger property PE: every palindrome of u has exactly one palindromic extension in u. For binary words, the properties P and PE coincide and these properties characterize Sturmian words, i.e., words with the complexity C(n)=n+1 for any n in N. In this paper, we focus on ternary infinite words with the language closed under reversal. For such words…
We study the palindromic length of factors of infinite words fixed by morphisms of the so-called class $\mathcal{P}$ introduced by Hof, Knill and Simon. We show that it grows at most logarithmically with the length of the factor. For the Fibonacci word and the Thue-Morse word we provide estimates on the constants of the growth. We also construct an infinite word rich in palindromes for which the palindromic length grows as $\sqrt{n}$.
We consider finite trees with edges labeled by letters on a finite alphabet $\varSigma$. Each pair of nodes defines a unique labeled path whose trace is a word of the free monoid $\varSigma^*$. The set of all such words defines the language of the tree. In this paper, we investigate the palindromic complexity of trees and provide hints for an upper bound on the number of distinct palindromes in the language of a tree.
This paper is concerned with palindromes occurring in characteristic Sturmian words $c_α$ of slope $α$, where $α\in (0,1)$ is an irrational. As $c_α$ is a uniformly recurrent infinite word, any (palindromic) factor of $c_α$ occurs infinitely many times in $c_α$ with bounded gaps. Our aim is to completely describe where palindromes occur in $c_α$. In particular, given any palindromic factor $u$ of $c_α$, we shall establish a decomposition of $c_α$ with respect to the occurrences of $u$. Such a decomposition shows precisely where $u$ occurs in $c_α$, and this is directly related to the continued…
In this paper we prove that for any infinite word W whose set of factors is closed under reversal, the following conditions are equivalent: (I) all complete returns to palindromes are palindromes; (II) P(n) + P(n+1) = C(n+1) - C(n) + 2 for all n, where P (resp. C) denotes the palindromic complexity (resp. factor complexity) function of W, which counts the number of distinct palindromic factors (resp. factors) of each length in W.
For a given finite group $G$ consisting of morphisms and antimorphisms of a free monoid $\mathcal{A}^*$, we study infinite words with language closed under the group $G$. We focus on the notion of $G$-richness which describes words rich in generalized palindromic factors, i.e., in factors $w$ satisfying $Θ(w) = w$ for some antimorphism $Θ\in G$. We give several equivalent descriptions which are generalizations of know characterizations of rich words (in the terms of classical palindromes) and show two examples of $G$-rich words.
A simple Parry number is a real number β>1 such that the Rényi expansion of 1 is finite, of the form d_β(1)=t_1...t_m. We study the palindromic structure of infinite aperiodic words u_βthat are the fixed point of a substitution associated with a simple Parry number β. It is shown that the word u_βcontains infinitely many palindromes if and only if t_1=t_2= ... =t_{m-1} \geq t_m. Numbers βsatisfying this condition are the so-called confluent Pisot numbers. If t_m=1 then u_βis an Arnoux-Rauzy word. We show that if βis a confluent Pisot number then P(n+1)+ P(n) = C(n+1) - C(n)+ 2, where P(n) is t…
In this paper we study the privileged complexity function of the Thue-Morse word. We prove a recursive formula describing this function, and using the formula we show that the function is unbounded and that the values of the function have arbitrarily large gaps of zeros. This demonstrates that the privileged complexity function of an infinite word can drastically differ from its palindromic complexity function, even though there are relations between these functions. Further we study the behavior of palindromes and privileged words in infinite words and the relation between rich words and priv…
This text is devoted to simultaneous approximation to $ξ$ and $ξ^2$ by rational numbers with the same denominator, where $ξ$ is a non-quadratic real number. We focus on an exponent $β_0(ξ)$ that measures the quality of such approximations (when they are exceptionally good). We prove that $β_0$ takes the same set of values as a combinatorial quantity that measures the abundance of palindrome prefixes in an infinite word $w$. This allows us to give a precise exposition of Roy's palindrome prefix method. The main tools we use are Davenport-Schmidt's sequence of minimal points and Roy's bracket op…
Given a finite word u, we define its palindromic length |u|_{pal} to be the least number n such that u=v_1v_2... v_n with each v_i a palindrome. We address the following open question: Does there exist an infinite non ultimately periodic word w and a positive integer P such that |u|_{pal}<P for each factor u of w? We give a partial answer to this question by proving that if an infinite word w satisfies the so-called (k,l)-condition for some k and l, then for each positive integer P there exists a factor u of w whose palindromic length |u|_{pal}>P. In particular, the result holds for all the k-…
Factor complexity $\mathcal{C}$ and palindromic complexity $\mathcal{P}$ of infinite words with language closed under reversal are known to be related by the inequality $\mathcal{P}(n) + \mathcal{P}(n+1) \leq 2 + \mathcal{C}(n+1)-\mathcal{C}(n)$ for any $n\in \mathbb{N}$\,. Word for which the equality is attained for any $n$ is usually called rich in palindromes. In this article we study words whose languages are invariant under a finite group $G$ of symmetries. For such words we prove a stronger version of the above inequality. We introduce notion of $G$-palindromic richness and give several …
Frid, Puzynina and Zamboni (2013) defined the palindromic length of a finite word $w$ as the minimal number of palindromes whose concatenation is equal to $w$. For an infinite word $u$ we study $PL_{u}$, that is, the function that assigns to each positive integer $n$, the maximal palindromic length of factors of length $n$ in $u$. Recently, Frid (2018) proved that $\limsup_{n\to\infty} PL_{u}(n)=+\infty$ for any Sturmian word $u$. We show that there is a constant $K>0$ such that $PL_{u}(n)\leq K\ln n$ for every Sturmian word $u$, and that for each non-decreasing function $f$ with property $\li…
Originally introduced and studied by the third and fourth authors together with J. Justin and S. Widmer in arXiv:0801.1656, rich words constitute a new class of finite and infinite words characterized by containing the maximal number of distinct palindromes. Several characterizations of rich words have already been established. A particularly nice characteristic property is that all 'complete returns' to palindromes are palindromes. In this note, we prove that rich words are also characterized by the property that each factor is uniquely determined by its longest palindromic prefix and its lon…
A two-dimensional ($2$D) word is a $2$D palindrome if it is equal to its reverse and it is an HV-palindrome if all its columns and rows are $1$D palindromes. We study some combinatorial and structural properties of HV-palindromes and its comparison with $2$D palindromes. We investigate the maximum number number of distinct non-empty HV-palindromic sub-arrays in any finite $2$D word, thus, proving the conjecture given by Anisiua et al. We also find the least number of HV-palindromes in an infinite $2$D word over a finite alphabet size $q$.
In this paper we explore various interconnections between rich words, Sturmian words, and trapezoidal words. Rich words, first introduced in arXiv:0801.1656 by the second and third authors together with J. Justin and S. Widmer, constitute a new class of finite and infinite words characterized by having the maximal number of palindromic factors. Every finite Sturmian word is rich, but not conversely. Trapezoidal words were first introduced by the first author in studying the behavior of the subword complexity of finite Sturmian words. Unfortunately this property does not characterize finite Stu…
We introduce a variation of the Ziv-Lempel and Crochemore factorizations of words by requiring each factor to be a palindrome. We compute these factorizations for the Fibonacci word, and more generally, for all $m$-bonacci words.
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.
We prove that the generalized Thue-Morse word $\mathbf{t}_{b,m}$ defined for $b \geq 2$ and $m \geq 1$ as $\mathbf{t}_{b,m} = (s_b(n) \mod m)_{n=0}^{+\infty}$, where $s_b(n)$ denotes the sum of digits in the base-$b$ representation of the integer $n$, has its language closed under all elements of a group $D_m$ isomorphic to the dihedral group of order $2m$ consisting of morphisms and antimorphisms. Considering simultaneously antimorphisms $Θ\in D_m$, we show that $\mathbf{t}_{b,m}$ is saturated by $Θ$-palindromes up to the highest possible level. Using the terminology generalizing the notion o…
The prefix palindromic length $\mathrm{PPL}_{\mathbf{u}}(n)$ of an infinite word $\mathbf{u}$ is the minimal number of concatenated palindromes needed to express the prefix of length $n$ of $\mathbf{u}$. Since 2013, it is still unknown if $\mathrm{PPL}_{\mathbf{u}}(n)$ is unbounded for every aperiodic infinite word $\mathbf{u}$, even though this has been proven for almost all aperiodic words. At the same time, the only well-known nontrivial infinite word for which the function $\mathrm{PPL}_{\mathbf{u}}(n)$ has been precisely computed is the Thue-Morse word $\mathbf{t}$. This word is $2$-autom…
Let $w$ be an infinite word on an alphabet $A$. We denote by $(n_i)_{i \geq 1}$ the increasing sequence (assumed to be infinite) of all lengths of palindrome prefixes of $w$. In this text, we give an explicit construction of all words $w$ such that $n_{i+1} \leq 2 n_i + 1$ for any $i$, and study these words. Special examples include characteristic Sturmian words, and more generally standard episturmian words. As an application, we study the values taken by the quantity $\limsup n_{i+1}/n_i$, and prove that it is minimal (among all non-periodic words) for the Fibonacci word.
In [X. Droubay et al, Episturmian words and some constructions of de Luca and Rauzy, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 255 (2001)], it was proved that every word w has at most |w|+1 many distinct palindromic factors, including the empty word. The unified study of words which achieve this limit was initiated in [A. Glen et al, Palindromic richness, Eur. Jour. of Comb. 30 (2009)]. They called these words rich (in palindromes). This article contains several results about rich words and especially extending them. We say that a rich word w can be extended richly with a word u if wu is rich. Some notions are al…
A finite word $w$ is called \emph{rich} if it contains $\vert w\vert+1$ distinct palindromic factors including the empty word. For every finite rich word $w$ there are distinct nonempty palindromes $w_1, w_2,\dots,w_p$ such that $w=w_pw_{p-1}\cdots w_1$ and $w_i$ is the longest palindromic suffix of $w_pw_{p-1}\cdots w_i$, where $1\leq i\leq p$. This palindromic factorization is called \emph{UPS-factorization}. Let $luf(w)=p$ be \emph{the length of UPS-factorization} of $w$. In 2017, it was proved that there is a constant $c$ such that if $w$ is a finite rich word and $n=\vert w\vert$ then $lu…
The prefix palindromic length $p_{\mathbf{u}}(n)$ of an infinite word $\mathbf{u}$ is the minimal number of concatenated palindromes needed to express the prefix of length $n$ of $\mathbf{u}$. This function is surprisingly difficult to study; in particular, the conjecture that $p_{\mathbf{u}}(n)$ can be bounded only if $\mathbf{u}$ is ultimately periodic is open since 2013. A more recent conjecture concerns the prefix palindromic length of the period doubling word: it seems that it is not $2$-regular, and if it is true, this would give a rare if not unique example of a non-regular function of …
Given a nonempty finite word $v$, let $PL(v)$ be the palindromic length of $v$; it means the minimal number of palindromes whose concatenation is equal to $v$. Let $v^R$ denote the reversal of $v$. Given a finite or infinite word $y$, let $Fac(y)$ denote the set of all finite factors of $y$ and let $maxPL(y)=\max\{PL(t)\mid t\in Fac(y)\}$. Let $x$ be an infinite non-ultimately periodic word with $maxPL(x)=k<\infty$ and let $u\in Fac(x)$ be a primitive nonempty factor such that $u^5$ is recurrent in $x$. Let $Ψ(x,u)=\{t\in Fac(x)\mid u,u^R\not\in Fac(t)\}\mbox{.}$ We construct an infinite non-u…
In this paper, we study combinatorial and structural properties of a new class of finite and infinite words that are 'rich' in palindromes in the utmost sense. A characteristic property of so-called "rich words" is that all complete returns to any palindromic factor are themselves palindromes. These words encompass the well-known episturmian words, originally introduced by the second author together with X. Droubay and G. Pirillo in 2001. Other examples of rich words have appeared in many different contexts. Here we present the first unified approach to the study of this intriguing family of w…
The prefix palindromic length $PPL_u(n)$ of an infinite word $u$ is the minimal number of concatenated palindromes needed to express the prefix of length $n$ of $u$. In a 2013 paper with Puzynina and Zamboni we stated the conjecture that $PPL_u(n)$ is unbounded for every infinite word $u$ which is not ultimately periodic. Up to now, the conjecture has been proven for almost all words, including all words avoiding some power $p$. However, even in that simple case the existing upper bound for the minimal number $n$ such that $PPL_u(n)>K$ is greater than any constant to the power $K$. Precise val…
We prove that a random word of length $n$ over a $k$-ary fixed alphabet contains, on expectation, $Θ(\sqrt{n})$ distinct palindromic factors. We study this number of factors, $E(n,k)$, in detail, showing that the limit $\lim_{n\to\infty}E(n,k)/\sqrt{n}$ does not exist for any $k\ge2$, $\liminf_{n\to\infty}E(n,k)/\sqrt{n}=Θ(1)$, and $\limsup_{n\to\infty}E(n,k)/\sqrt{n}=Θ(\sqrt{k})$. Such a complicated behaviour stems from the asymmetry between the palindromes of even and odd length. We show that a similar, but much simpler, result on the expected number of squares in random words holds. We also…