Isometric Words Based on Swap and Mismatch Distance

An edit distance is a metric between words that quantifies how two words differ by counting the number of edit operations needed to transform one word into the other one. A word f is said isometric with respect to an edit distance if, for any pair of f-free words u and v, there exists a transformation of minimal length from u to v via the related edit operations such that all the intermediate words are also f-free. The adjective 'isometric' comes from the fact that, if the Hamming distance is considered (i.e., only mismatches), then isometric words are connected with definitions of isometric subgraphs of hypercubes. We consider the case of edit distance with swap and mismatch. We compare it…

The Intersection of $3$-Maximal Submonids

Very little is known about the structure of the intersection of two $k$-generated monoids of words, even for $k=3$. Here we investigate the case of $k$-maximal monoids, that is, monoids whose basis of cardinality $k$ cannot be non-trivially decomposed into at most $k$ words. We characterize the intersection in the case of two $3$-maximal monoids.

L-convex Polyominoes: A Survey

Reconstruction of L-convex Polyominoes.

Abstract We introduce the family of L-convex polyominoes, a subset of convex polyominoes whose elements satisfy a special convexity property. We develop an algorithm that reconstructs an L-convex polyomino from the set of its maximal L-polyominoes.

Tomographical aspects of L-convex polyominoes

Epichristoffel Words and Minimization of Moore Automata

This paper is focused on the connection between the combinatorics of words and minimization of automata. The three main ingredients are the epichristoffel words, Moore automata and a variant of Hopcroft’s algorithm for their minimization. Epichristoffel words defined in [14] generalize some properties of circular sturmian words. Here we prove a factorization property and the existence of the reduction tree, that uniquely identifies the structure of the word. Furthermore, in the paper we investigate the problem of the minimization of Moore automata by defining a variant of Hopcroft’s minimization algorithm. The use of this variant makes simpler the computation of the running time and consequ…

On computing the degree of convexity of polyominoes

In this paper we present an algorithm which has as input a convex polyomino $P$ and computes its degree of convexity, defined as the smallest integer $k$ such that any two cells of $P$ can be joined by a monotone path inside $P$ with at most $k$ changes of direction. The algorithm uses space $O(m + n)$ to represent a polyomino $P$ with $n$ rows and $m$ columns, and has a running time $O(min(m; r k))$, where $r$ is the number of corners of $P$. Moreover, the algorithm leads naturally to a decomposition of $P$ into simpler polyominoes.

Some Investigations on Similarity Measures Based on Absent Words

In this paper we investigate similarity measures based on minimal absent words, introduced by Chairungsee and Crochemore in [1]. They make use of a length-weighted index on a sample set corresponding to the symmetric difference M(x)ΔM(y) of the minimal absent words M(x) and M(y) of two sequences x and y, respectively. We first propose a variant of this measure by choosing as a sample set a proper subset (x, y) of M(x)ΔM(y), which appears to be more appropriate for distinguishing x and y. From the algebraic point of view, we prove that (x, y) is the base of the ideal generated by M(x)ΔM(y). We then remark that such measures are able to recognize whether the sequences x and y share a common s…

On Extremal Cases of the Hopcroft's Algorithm

In this paper we consider the problem of minimization of deterministic finite automata (DFA) with reference to Hopcroft’s algorithm. Hopcroft’s algorithm has several degrees of freedom, so there can exist different executions that can lead to different sequences of refinements of the set of the states up to the final partition. We find an infinite family of binary automata for which such a process is unique, whatever strategy is chosen. Some recent papers (cf. Berstel and Carton (2004) [3], Castiglione et al. (2008) [6] and Berstel et al. (2009) [1]) have been devoted to find families of automata for which Hopcroft’s algorithm has its worst execution time. They are unary automata associated…

Recognizable Picture Languages and Polyominoes

Highmann's Theorem on Discrete Sets

In this paper we investigate properties of different classes of discrete sets with respect to the partial-order of subpicture. In particular we take in consideration the classes of convex polyominoes and L-convex polyominoes. In the first part of the paper we study closure properties of these classes with respect the order and we give a new characterization of L-convex polyominoes. In the second part we pose the question to extend Higman’s theoremto discrete sets. We give a negative answer in the general case and we prove that the set of L-convex polyominoes is well-partially-ordered by using a representation of L-convex polyominoes in terms of words of a regular language.

On Sets of Words of Rank Two

Given a (finite or infinite) subset X of the free monoid A∗ over a finite alphabet A, the rank of X is the minimal cardinality of a set F such that X⊆ F∗. A submonoid M generated by k elements of A∗ is k-maximal if there does not exist another submonoid generated by at most k words containing M. We call a set X⊆ A∗ primitive if it is the basis of a |X|-maximal submonoid. This extends the notion of primitive word: indeed, w is a primitive set if and only if w is a primitive word. By definition, for any set X, there exists a primitive set Y such that X⊆ Y∗. The set Y is therefore called a primitive root of X. As a main result, we prove that if a set has rank 2, then it has a unique primitive …

Moore Automata and Epichristoffel Words

Circular words and automata minimization

Words, Trees and Automata Minimization

In this paper we explore some connections between some combinatorial properties of words and the study of extremal cases of the automata minimization process. An intermediate role is played by the notion od word trees for which some properties of words are generalized. In particular, we describe an infinite family of binary automata, called word automata and constructed by using standard sturmian words and more specifically Fibonacci words, that represent the extremal case of some well known automata minimization algorithms, such as Moore’s and Hopcroft’s methods. As well as giving an overview of the main results in this context, the main purpose of this paper is to prove that, even if a re…

Primitive sets of words

Given a (finite or infinite) subset $X$ of the free monoid $A^*$ over a finite alphabet $A$, the rank of $X$ is the minimal cardinality of a set $F$ such that $X \subseteq F^*$. We say that a submonoid $M$ generated by $k$ elements of $A^*$ is {\em $k$-maximal} if there does not exist another submonoid generated by at most $k$ words containing $M$. We call a set $X \subseteq A^*$ {\em primitive} if it is the basis of a $|X|$-maximal submonoid. This definition encompasses the notion of primitive word -- in fact, $\{w\}$ is a primitive set if and only if $w$ is a primitive word. By definition, for any set $X$, there exists a primitive set $Y$ such that $X \subseteq Y^*$. We therefore call $Y$…

Enumeration of L-convex polyominoes

Hopcroft’s Algorithm and Tree-like Automata

In order to analyze some extremal cases of Hopcroft’s algorithm we deepened the relationship between combinatorial properties of circular words and the ex- ecution of the algorithm on cyclic automata associated to such words.In this paper we highlight the notion of word tree and in particular, we char- acterize the word trees for which Hopcroft’s algorithm on the associated tree-like automata has a unique refinement process. Moreover, we show the relationship between the time complexity of the refinements process of the Hopcroft’s algo- rithm on unary cyclic automata and binary tree-like automata. Such a result allows to exhibit a family of tree-like automata representing the worst case of …