Search Results

Documents authored by Shallit, Jeffrey


Document
Invited Talk
Using Automata and a Decision Procedure to Prove Results in Pattern Matching (Invited Talk)

Authors: Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 223, 33rd Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching (CPM 2022)


Abstract
The first-order theory of automatic sequences with addition is decidable, and this means that one can often prove combinatorial properties of these sequences "automatically", using the free software Walnut written by Hamoon Mousavi. In this talk I will explain how this is done, using as an example the measure of minimize size string attractor, introduced by Kempa and Prezza in 2018. Using the logic-based approach, we can also prove more general properties of string attractors for automatic sequences. This is joint work with Luke Schaeffer.

Cite as

Jeffrey Shallit. Using Automata and a Decision Procedure to Prove Results in Pattern Matching (Invited Talk). In 33rd Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching (CPM 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 223, pp. 2:1-2:3, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{shallit:LIPIcs.CPM.2022.2,
  author =	{Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Using Automata and a Decision Procedure to Prove Results in Pattern Matching}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching (CPM 2022)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:3},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-234-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{223},
  editor =	{Bannai, Hideo and Holub, Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CPM.2022.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-161297},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CPM.2022.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: finite automata, decision procedure, automatic sequence, Thue-Morse sequence, Fibonacci word, string attractor}
}
Document
Decidability for Sturmian Words

Authors: Philipp Hieronymi, Dun Ma, Reed Oei, Luke Schaeffer, Christian Schulz, and Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 216, 30th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2022)


Abstract
We show that the first-order theory of Sturmian words over Presburger arithmetic is decidable. Using a general adder recognizing addition in Ostrowski numeration systems by Baranwal, Schaeffer and Shallit, we prove that the first-order expansions of Presburger arithmetic by a single Sturmian word are uniformly ω-automatic, and then deduce the decidability of the theory of the class of such structures. Using an implementation of this decision algorithm called Pecan, we automatically reprove classical theorems about Sturmian words in seconds, and are able to obtain new results about antisquares and antipalindromes in characteristic Sturmian words.

Cite as

Philipp Hieronymi, Dun Ma, Reed Oei, Luke Schaeffer, Christian Schulz, and Jeffrey Shallit. Decidability for Sturmian Words. In 30th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 216, pp. 24:1-24:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{hieronymi_et_al:LIPIcs.CSL.2022.24,
  author =	{Hieronymi, Philipp and Ma, Dun and Oei, Reed and Schaeffer, Luke and Schulz, Christian and Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Decidability for Sturmian Words}},
  booktitle =	{30th EACSL Annual Conference on Computer Science Logic (CSL 2022)},
  pages =	{24:1--24:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-218-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{216},
  editor =	{Manea, Florin and Simpson, Alex},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2022.24},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-157440},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.CSL.2022.24},
  annote =	{Keywords: Decidability, Sturmian words, Ostrowski numeration systems, Automated theorem proving}
}
Document
Computational Fun with Sturdy and Flimsy Numbers

Authors: Trevor Clokie, Thomas F. Lidbetter, Antonio J. Molina Lovett, Jeffrey Shallit, and Leon Witzman

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 157, 10th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2021) (2020)


Abstract
Following Stolarsky, we say that a natural number n is flimsy in base b if some positive multiple of n has smaller digit sum in base b than n does; otherwise it is sturdy . We develop algorithmic methods for the study of sturdy and flimsy numbers. We provide some criteria for determining whether a number is sturdy. Focusing on the case of base b = 2, we study the computational problem of checking whether a given number is sturdy, giving several algorithms for the problem. We find two additional, previously unknown sturdy primes. We develop a method for determining which numbers with a fixed number of 0’s in binary are flimsy. Finally, we develop a method that allows us to estimate the number of k-flimsy numbers with n bits, and we provide explicit results for k = 3 and k = 5. Our results demonstrate the utility (and fun) of creating algorithms for number theory problems, based on methods of automata theory.

Cite as

Trevor Clokie, Thomas F. Lidbetter, Antonio J. Molina Lovett, Jeffrey Shallit, and Leon Witzman. Computational Fun with Sturdy and Flimsy Numbers. In 10th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 157, pp. 10:1-10:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{clokie_et_al:LIPIcs.FUN.2021.10,
  author =	{Clokie, Trevor and Lidbetter, Thomas F. and Molina Lovett, Antonio J. and Shallit, Jeffrey and Witzman, Leon},
  title =	{{Computational Fun with Sturdy and Flimsy Numbers}},
  booktitle =	{10th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2021)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-145-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{157},
  editor =	{Farach-Colton, Martin and Prencipe, Giuseppe and Uehara, Ryuhei},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2021.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-127715},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2021.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: sturdy number, flimsy number, context-free grammar, finite automaton, enumeration}
}
Document
Existential Length Universality

Authors: Paweł Gawrychowski, Martin Lange, Narad Rampersad, Jeffrey Shallit, and Marek Szykuła

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 154, 37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020)


Abstract
We study the following natural variation on the classical universality problem: given a language L(M) represented by M (e.g., a DFA/RE/NFA/PDA), does there exist an integer ? ≥ 0 such that Σ^? ⊆ L(M)? In the case of an NFA, we show that this problem is NEXPTIME-complete, and the smallest such ? can be doubly exponential in the number of states. This particular case was formulated as an open problem in 2009, and our solution uses a novel and involved construction. In the case of a PDA, we show that it is recursively unsolvable, while the smallest such ? is not bounded by any computable function of the number of states. In the case of a DFA, we show that the problem is NP-complete, and e^{√{n log n} (1+o(1))} is an asymptotically tight upper bound for the smallest such ?, where n is the number of states. Finally, we prove that in all these cases, the problem becomes computationally easier when the length ? is also given in binary in the input: it is polynomially solvable for a DFA, PSPACE-complete for an NFA, and co-NEXPTIME-complete for a PDA.

Cite as

Paweł Gawrychowski, Martin Lange, Narad Rampersad, Jeffrey Shallit, and Marek Szykuła. Existential Length Universality. In 37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 154, pp. 16:1-16:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{gawrychowski_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2020.16,
  author =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Lange, Martin and Rampersad, Narad and Shallit, Jeffrey and Szyku{\l}a, Marek},
  title =	{{Existential Length Universality}},
  booktitle =	{37th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2020)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-140-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{154},
  editor =	{Paul, Christophe and Bl\"{a}ser, Markus},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2020.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-118770},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2020.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: decision problem, deterministic automaton, nondeterministic automaton, pushdown automaton, regular expression, regular language, universality}
}
Document
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming
Optimal Regular Expressions for Permutations (Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming)

Authors: Antonio Molina Lovett and Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 132, 46th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2019)


Abstract
The permutation language P_n consists of all words that are permutations of a fixed alphabet of size n. Using divide-and-conquer, we construct a regular expression R_n that specifies P_n. We then give explicit bounds for the length of R_n, which we find to be 4^{n}n^{-(lg n)/4+Theta(1)}, and use these bounds to show that R_n has minimum size over all regular expressions specifying P_n.

Cite as

Antonio Molina Lovett and Jeffrey Shallit. Optimal Regular Expressions for Permutations (Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics, and Theory of Programming). In 46th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 132, pp. 121:1-121:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{molinalovett_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.121,
  author =	{Molina Lovett, Antonio and Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Optimal Regular Expressions for Permutations}},
  booktitle =	{46th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2019)},
  pages =	{121:1--121:12},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-109-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{132},
  editor =	{Baier, Christel and Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Flocchini, Paola and Leonardi, Stefano},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.121},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-106978},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2019.121},
  annote =	{Keywords: regular expressions, lower bounds, divide-and-conquer}
}
Document
Lagrange's Theorem for Binary Squares

Authors: P. Madhusudan, Dirk Nowotka, Aayush Rajasekaran, and Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 117, 43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2018)


Abstract
We show how to prove theorems in additive number theory using a decision procedure based on finite automata. Among other things, we obtain the following analogue of Lagrange's theorem: every natural number > 686 is the sum of at most 4 natural numbers whose canonical base-2 representation is a binary square, that is, a string of the form xx for some block of bits x. Here the number 4 is optimal. While we cannot embed this theorem itself in a decidable theory, we show that stronger lemmas that imply the theorem can be embedded in decidable theories, and show how automated methods can be used to search for these stronger lemmas.

Cite as

P. Madhusudan, Dirk Nowotka, Aayush Rajasekaran, and Jeffrey Shallit. Lagrange's Theorem for Binary Squares. In 43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 117, pp. 18:1-18:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{madhusudan_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.18,
  author =	{Madhusudan, P. and Nowotka, Dirk and Rajasekaran, Aayush and Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Lagrange's Theorem for Binary Squares}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2018)},
  pages =	{18:1--18:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-086-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{117},
  editor =	{Potapov, Igor and Spirakis, Paul and Worrell, James},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.18},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-96003},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.18},
  annote =	{Keywords: binary square, theorem-proving, finite automaton, decision procedure, decidable theory, additive number theory}
}
Document
Rollercoasters and Caterpillars

Authors: Therese Biedl, Ahmad Biniaz, Robert Cummings, Anna Lubiw, Florin Manea, Dirk Nowotka, and Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 107, 45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)


Abstract
A rollercoaster is a sequence of real numbers for which every maximal contiguous subsequence - increasing or decreasing - has length at least three. By translating this sequence to a set of points in the plane, a rollercoaster can be defined as an x-monotone polygonal path for which every maximal sub-path, with positive- or negative-slope edges, has at least three vertices. Given a sequence of distinct real numbers, the rollercoaster problem asks for a maximum-length (not necessarily contiguous) subsequence that is a rollercoaster. It was conjectured that every sequence of n distinct real numbers contains a rollercoaster of length at least ceil[n/2] for n>7, while the best known lower bound is Omega(n/log n). In this paper we prove this conjecture. Our proof is constructive and implies a linear-time algorithm for computing a rollercoaster of this length. Extending the O(n log n)-time algorithm for computing a longest increasing subsequence, we show how to compute a maximum-length rollercoaster within the same time bound. A maximum-length rollercoaster in a permutation of {1,...,n} can be computed in O(n log log n) time. The search for rollercoasters was motivated by orthogeodesic point-set embedding of caterpillars. A caterpillar is a tree such that deleting the leaves gives a path, called the spine. A top-view caterpillar is one of maximum degree 4 such that the two leaves adjacent to each vertex lie on opposite sides of the spine. As an application of our result on rollercoasters, we are able to find a planar drawing of every n-vertex top-view caterpillar on every set of 25/3(n+4) points in the plane, such that each edge is an orthogonal path with one bend. This improves the previous best known upper bound on the number of required points, which is O(n log n). We also show that such a drawing can be obtained in linear time, when the points are given in sorted order.

Cite as

Therese Biedl, Ahmad Biniaz, Robert Cummings, Anna Lubiw, Florin Manea, Dirk Nowotka, and Jeffrey Shallit. Rollercoasters and Caterpillars. In 45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 107, pp. 18:1-18:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{biedl_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.18,
  author =	{Biedl, Therese and Biniaz, Ahmad and Cummings, Robert and Lubiw, Anna and Manea, Florin and Nowotka, Dirk and Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Rollercoasters and Caterpillars}},
  booktitle =	{45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)},
  pages =	{18:1--18:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-076-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{107},
  editor =	{Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Kaklamanis, Christos and Marx, D\'{a}niel and Sannella, Donald},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.18},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-90224},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.18},
  annote =	{Keywords: sequences, alternating runs, patterns in permutations, caterpillars}
}
Document
Sums of Palindromes: an Approach via Automata

Authors: Aayush Rajasekaran, Jeffrey Shallit, and Tim Smith

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 96, 35th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2018)


Abstract
Recently, Cilleruelo, Luca, & Baxter proved, for all bases b >= 5, that every natural number is the sum of at most 3 natural numbers whose base-b representation is a palindrome. However, the cases b = 2, 3, 4 were left unresolved. We prove, using a decision procedure based on automata, that every natural number is the sum of at most 4 natural numbers whose base-2 representation is a palindrome. Here the constant 4 is optimal. We obtain similar results for bases 3 and 4, thus completely resolving the problem.

Cite as

Aayush Rajasekaran, Jeffrey Shallit, and Tim Smith. Sums of Palindromes: an Approach via Automata. In 35th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 96, pp. 54:1-54:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{rajasekaran_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2018.54,
  author =	{Rajasekaran, Aayush and Shallit, Jeffrey and Smith, Tim},
  title =	{{Sums of Palindromes: an Approach via Automata}},
  booktitle =	{35th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2018)},
  pages =	{54:1--54:12},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-062-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{96},
  editor =	{Niedermeier, Rolf and Vall\'{e}e, Brigitte},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2018.54},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-84976},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2018.54},
  annote =	{Keywords: finite automaton, nested-word automaton, decision procedure, palindrome, additive number theory}
}
Document
Fractional Coverings, Greedy Coverings, and Rectifier Networks

Authors: Dmitry Chistikov, Szabolcs Iván, Anna Lubiw, and Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 66, 34th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2017)


Abstract
A rectifier network is a directed acyclic graph with distinguished sources and sinks; it is said to compute a Boolean matrix M that has a 1 in the entry (i,j) iff there is a path from the j-th source to the i-th sink. The smallest number of edges in a rectifier network that computes M is a classic complexity measure on matrices, which has been studied for more than half a century. We explore two techniques that have hitherto found little to no applications in this theory. They build upon a basic fact that depth-2 rectifier networks are essentially weighted coverings of Boolean matrices with rectangles. Using fractional and greedy coverings (defined in the standard way), we obtain new results in this area. First, we show that all fractional coverings of the so-called full triangular matrix have cost at least n log n. This provides (a fortiori) a new proof of the tight lower bound on its depth-2 complexity (the exact value has been known since 1965, but previous proofs are based on different arguments). Second, we show that the greedy heuristic is instrumental in tightening the upper bound on the depth-2 complexity of the Kneser-Sierpinski (disjointness) matrix. The previous upper bound is O(n^{1.28}), and we improve it to O(n^{1.17}), while the best known lower bound is Omega(n^{1.16}). Third, using fractional coverings, we obtain a form of direct product theorem that gives a lower bound on unbounded-depth complexity of Kronecker (tensor) products of matrices. In this case, the greedy heuristic shows (by an argument due to Lovász) that our result is only a logarithmic factor away from the "full" direct product theorem. Our second and third results constitute progress on open problem 7.3 and resolve, up to a logarithmic factor, open problem 7.5 from a recent book by Jukna and Sergeev (in Foundations and Trends in Theoretical Computer Science (2013)).

Cite as

Dmitry Chistikov, Szabolcs Iván, Anna Lubiw, and Jeffrey Shallit. Fractional Coverings, Greedy Coverings, and Rectifier Networks. In 34th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 66, pp. 23:1-23:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{chistikov_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2017.23,
  author =	{Chistikov, Dmitry and Iv\'{a}n, Szabolcs and Lubiw, Anna and Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Fractional Coverings, Greedy Coverings, and Rectifier Networks}},
  booktitle =	{34th Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2017)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-028-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{66},
  editor =	{Vollmer, Heribert and Vall\'{e}e, Brigitte},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2017.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-70107},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2017.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: rectifier network, OR-circuit, biclique covering, fractional covering, greedy covering}
}
Document
Periods and Borders of Random Words

Authors: Štepán Holub and Jeffrey Shallit

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 47, 33rd Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2016)


Abstract
We investigate the behavior of the periods and border lengths of random words over a fixed alphabet. We show that the asymptotic probability that a random word has a given maximal border length k is a constant, depending only on k and the alphabet size l. We give a recurrence that allows us to determine these constants with any required precision. This also allows us to evaluate the expected period of a random word. For the binary case, the expected period is asymptotically about n-1.641. We also give explicit formulas for the probability that a random word is unbordered or has maximum border length one.

Cite as

Štepán Holub and Jeffrey Shallit. Periods and Borders of Random Words. In 33rd Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2016). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 47, pp. 44:1-44:10, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2016)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{holub_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2016.44,
  author =	{Holub, \v{S}tep\'{a}n and Shallit, Jeffrey},
  title =	{{Periods and Borders of Random Words}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2016)},
  pages =	{44:1--44:10},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-001-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2016},
  volume =	{47},
  editor =	{Ollinger, Nicolas and Vollmer, Heribert},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2016.44},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-57453},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2016.44},
  annote =	{Keywords: random word, period, word border}
}
Document
The Frobenius Problem in a Free Monoid

Authors: Jui-Yi Kao, Jeffrey Shallit, and Zhi Xu

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 1, 25th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (2008)


Abstract
The classical Frobenius problem over ${mathbb N}$ is to compute the largest integer $g$ not representable as a non-negative integer linear combination of non-negative integers $x_1, x_2, ldots, x_k$, where $gcd(x_1, x_2, ldots, x_k) = 1$. In this paper we consider novel generalizations of the Frobenius problem to the noncommutative setting of a free monoid. Unlike the commutative case, where the bound on $g$ is quadratic, we are able to show exponential or subexponential behavior for several analogues of $g$, with the precise bound depending on the particular measure chosen.

Cite as

Jui-Yi Kao, Jeffrey Shallit, and Zhi Xu. The Frobenius Problem in a Free Monoid. In 25th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science. Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 1, pp. 421-432, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2008)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{kao_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2008.1362,
  author =	{Kao, Jui-Yi and Shallit, Jeffrey and Xu, Zhi},
  title =	{{The Frobenius Problem in a Free Monoid}},
  booktitle =	{25th International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science},
  pages =	{421--432},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-939897-06-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2008},
  volume =	{1},
  editor =	{Albers, Susanne and Weil, Pascal},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops-dev.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2008.1362},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-13620},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2008.1362},
  annote =	{Keywords: Combinatorics on words, Frobenius problem, free monoid}
}
Questions / Remarks / Feedback
X

Feedback for Dagstuhl Publishing


Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail