A compatibility relation on letters induces a reflexive and symmetric relation on words of equal length. We consider these word relations with respect to the theory of variable length codes and free monoids. We define an (R,S)-code and an (R,S)-free monoid for arbitrary word relations R and S. Modified Sardinas-Patterson algorithm is presented for testing whether finite sets of words are (R,S)-codes. Coding capabilities of relational codes are measured algorithmically by finding minimal and maximal relations. We generalize the stability criterion of Schützenberger and Tilson's closure result for (R,S)-free monoids. The (R,S)-free hull of a set of words is introduced and we show how it can be computed. We prove a defect theorem for (R,S)-free hulls. In addition, a defect theorem of partial words is proved as a corollary.

We show that the inclusion problem is decidable for rational languages of words indexed by scattered countable linear orderings. The method leans on a reduction to the decidability of the monadic second order theory of the infinite binary tree [9].

This paper is a sequel to anearlier paper of the present author, in which it was proved thatevery finite comma-free code is embedded into a so-called (finite)canonical comma-free code. In this paper, it is proved that every(finite) canonical comma-free code is embedded into a finite maximal comma-freecode, which thus achieves the conclusion that every finite comma-freecode has finite completions.


Ordered binary decision diagrams are an important data structure for the representation of Boolean functions. Typically, the underlying variable ordering is used as an optimization parameter. When finite state machines are represented by OBDDs the state encoding can be used as an additional optimization parameter. In this paper, we analyze the influence of the state encoding on the OBDD-representations of counter-type finite state machines. In particular, we prove lower bounds, derive exact sizes for important encodings and construct a worst-case encoding which leads to exponential-size OBDDs.

We consider binary rotation words generated by partitions of the unit circle to two intervals and give a precise formula for the number of such words of length n. We also give the precise asymptotics for it, which happens to be Θ(n4). The result continues the line initiated by the formula for the number of all Sturmian words obtained by Lipatov [Problemy Kibernet. 39 (1982) 67–84], then independently by Mignosi [Theoret. Comput. Sci. 82 (1991) 71–84], and others.

We consider words coding exchange of three intervals with permutation (3,2,1), here called 3iet words. Recently, a characterization of substitution invariant 3iet words was provided. We study the opposite question: what are the morphisms fixing a 3iet word? We reveal a narrow connection of such morphisms and morphisms fixing Sturmian words using the new notion of amicability.

We add sequential operations to the categorical algebra of weighted andMarkov automata introduced in [L. de Francesco Albasini, N. Sabadini and R.F.C. Walters, 
arXiv:0909.4136]. The extra expressiveness of the algebra permits the description of hierarchical systems, and ones withevolving geometry. We make a comparison with the probabilistic automata of Lynch et al. [SIAM J. Comput.37 (2007) 977–1013].

We prove that every Sturmian word ω has infinitely many prefixes of the form UnVn3, where |Un| < 2.855|Vn| and limn→∞|Vn| = ∞. In passing, we give a very simple proof of the known fact that every Sturmian word begins in arbitrarily long squares.

Frequency hopping sequences sets are required in frequency hopping code division multiple access systems. For the anti-jamming purpose, frequency hopping sequences are required to have a large linear span. In this paper, by using a permutation polynomial δ(x) over a finite field, we transform several optimal sets of frequency hopping sequences with small linear span into ones with large linear span. The exact values of the linear span are presented by using the methods of counting the terms of the sequences representations. The results show that the transformed frequency hopping sequences are optimal with respect to the Peng-Fan bound, and can resist the analysis of Berlekamp-Massey algorithm.

We give a bound for the ω-equivalence problem of polynomially bounded D0L systems which depends only on the size of the underlying alphabet.

We prove the undecidability of Core XPath 1.0 (CXP) [G. Gottlob and C. Koch,inProc. of 17th Ann. IEEE Symp. on Logic in Computer Science,LICS ’02(Copenhagen,July 2002). IEEE CS Press (2002) 189–202.] extended with anInflationary Fixed Point (IFP) operator. More specifically,we provethat the satisfiability problem of this language is undecidable. In fact,the fragment ofCXP+IFP containing only the self and descendant axes is already undecidable.

We consider the multiparty communication model defined in [4] using the formalism from [8]. First, we correct an inaccuracy in the proof of the fundamental result of [6] providing a lower bound on the nondeterministic communication complexity of a function. Then we construct several very hard functions, i.e., functions such that those as well as their complements have the worst possible nondeterministic communication complexity. The problem to find a particular very hard function was proposed in [7], where it has been shown that almost all functions are very hard. We also prove that combining two very hard functions by the Boolean operation xor gives a very hard function.

We give necessary and sufficient conditions for a language to be the language of finite words that occur infinitely many times in an infinite word.

For an extensive range of infinite words, and the associated symbolic dynamical systems, we compute, together with the usual language complexity function counting the finite words, the minimal and maximal complexity functions we get by replacing finite words by finite patterns, or words with holes.

We consider relational periods, where the relation is acompatibility relation on words induced by a relation on letters. Weprove a variant of the theorem of Fine and Wilf for a (pure) periodand a relational period.

Quantum Coherent Spaces were introduced by Girard as a quantum framework where to interpret the exponential-free fragment of Linear Logic. Aim of this paper is to extend Girard's interpretation to a subsystem of linear logic with bounded exponentials. We provide deduction rules for the bounded exponentials and, correspondingly, we introduce the novel notion of bounded exponentials of Quantum Coherent Spaces. We show that the latter provide a categorical model of our system. In order to do that, we first study properties of the category of Quantum Coherent Spaces.

Increasing integer sequences include many instances of interesting sequences and combinatorial structures, ranging from tournaments to addition chains, from permutations to sequences having the Goldbach property that any integer greater than 1 can be obtained as the sum of two elements in the sequence. The paper introduces and compares several of these classes of sequences, discussing recurrence relations, enumerative problems and questions concerning shortest sequences.

Mainstream object-oriented languages often fail to provide complete powerful features altogether, such as, multiple inheritance, dynamic overloading and copy semantics of inheritance. In this paper we present a core object-oriented imperative language that integrates all these features in a formal framework. We define a static type system and a translation of the language into the meta-language λ_object,, in order to account for semantic issues and prove type safety of our proposal.

This paper is a contribution to the general tiling problem for the hyperbolic plane. It is an intermediary result between the result obtained by R. Robinson [Invent. Math.44 (1978) 259–264] and the conjecture that the problem is undecidable.