This paper discusses the fundamental combinatorial question of whether or not, for a given string α, there exists a morphism σ such that σ is unambiguous with respect to α, i.e. there exists no other morphism τ satisfying τ(α) = σ(α). While Freydenberger et al. [Int. J. Found. Comput. Sci. 17 (2006) 601–628] characterise those strings for which there exists an unambiguous nonerasing morphism σ, little is known about the unambiguity of erasing morphisms, i.e. morphisms that map symbols onto the empty string. The present paper demonstrates that, in contrast to the main result by Freydenberger et al., the existence of an unambiguous erasing morphism for a given string can essentially depend on the size of the target alphabet of the morphism. In addition to this, those strings for which there exists an erasing morphism over an infinite target alphabet are characterised, complexity issues are discussed and some sufficient conditions for the (non-)existence of unambiguous erasing morphisms are given.

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.

The repetition threshold is a measure of the extent to which there need to be consecutive (partial) repetitions of finite words within infinite words over alphabets of various sizes. Dejean's Conjecture, which has been recently proven, provides this threshold for all alphabet sizes. Motivated by a question of Krieger, we deal here with the analogous threshold when the infinite word is restricted to be a D0L word. Our main result is that, asymptotically, this threshold does not exceed the unrestricted threshold by more than a little.

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 present parallel algorithms on the BSP/CGM model, with p processors, to count and generate all the maximal cliques of a circle graph with n vertices and m edges. To count the number of all the maximal cliques, without actually generating them, our algorithm requires O(log p) communication rounds with O(nm/p) local computation time. We also present an algorithm to generate the first maximal clique in O(log p) communication rounds with O(nm/p) local computation, and to generate each one of the subsequent maximal cliques this algorithm requires O(log p) communication rounds with O(m/p) local computation. The maximal cliques generation algorithm is based on generating all maximal paths in a directed acyclic graph, and we present an algorithm for this problem that uses O log (p) communication rounds with O(m/p) local computation for each maximal path. We also show that the presented algorithms can be extended to the CREW PRAM model.

Parikh matrices have become a useful tool for investigation of subword structure of words. Several generalizations of this concept have been considered. Based on the concept of formal power series, we describe a general framework covering most of these generalizations. In addition, we provide a new characterization of binary amiable words – words having a common Parikh matrix.

The properties characterizing Sturmian words are considered for words on multiliteral alphabets. We summarize various generalizations of Sturmian words to multiliteral alphabets and enlarge the list of known relationships among these generalizations. We provide a new equivalent definition of rich words and make use of it in the study of generalizations of Sturmian words based on palindromes. We also collect many examples of infinite words to illustrate differences in the generalized definitions of Sturmian words.

A word u defined over an alphabet $\mathcal A$ is c-balanced (c∈$\mathbb N$) if for all pairs of factors v, w of u of the same length and for all letters a∈$\mathcal A$, the difference between the number of letters a in v and w is less or equal to c. In this paper we consider a ternary alphabet $\mathcal A$ = {L, S, M} and a class of substitutions $\varphi_p$ defined by $\varphi_p$(L) = LpS, $\varphi_p$(S) = M, $\varphi_p$(M) = Lp–1S where p> 1. We prove that the fixed point of $\varphi_p$, formally written as $\varphi_p^\infty$(L), is 3-balanced and that its Abelian complexity is bounded above by the value 7, regardless of the value of p. We also show that both these bounds are optimal, i.e. they cannot be improved.

We define H- and EH-expressions as extensions of regular expressions by adding homomorphic and iterated homomorphic replacement as new operations, resp. The definition is analogous to the extension given by Gruska in order to characterize context-free languages. We compare the families of languages obtained by these extensions with the families of regular, linear context-free, context-free, and EDT0L languages. Moreover, relations to language families based on patterns, multi-patterns, pattern expressions, H-systems and uniform substitutions are also investigated. Furthermore, we present their closure properties with respect to TRIO operations and discuss the decidability status and complexity of fixed and general membership, emptiness, and the equivalence problem.

We prove that the function that maps a word of a rational language onto its successor for the radix order in this language is a finite union of co-sequential functions.

The paper deals with some classes of two-dimensional recognizable languages of “high complexity”, in a sense specified in the paper and motivated by some necessary conditions holding for recognizable and unambiguous languages. For such classes we can solve some open questions related to unambiguity, finite ambiguity and complementation. Then we reformulate a necessary condition for recognizability stated by Matz, introducing a new complexity function. We solve an open question proposed by Matz, showing that all the known necessary conditions for recognizability of a language and its complement are not sufficient. The proof relies on a family of languages defined by functions.

We consider directed figures defined as labelled polyominoes with designated start and end points, with two types of catenation operations. We are especially interested in codicity verification for sets of figures, and we show that depending on the catenation type the question whether a given set of directed figures is a code is decidable or not. In the former case we give a constructive proof which leads to a straightforward algorithm.

We display a complexity notion based on the syntax of a tree series which yields two distinct hierarchies, one within the class of recognizable tree series and another one in the class of non-recognizable tree series.

In a previous paper, we have described the construction of an automaton from a rational expression which has the property that the automaton built from an expression which is itself computed from a co-deterministic automaton by the state elimination method is co-deterministic. It turned out that the definition on which the construction is based was inappropriate, and thus the proof of the property was flawed. We give here the correct definition of the broken derived terms of an expression which allow to define the automaton and the detailed full proof of the property.

We address the problem of computing the capacity of a covert channel, modeled as a nondeterministic transducer. We give three possible statements of the notion of “covert channel capacity” and relate the different definitions. We then provide several methods allowing the computation of lower and upper bounds for the capacity of a channel. We show that, in some cases, including the case of input-deterministic channels, the capacity of the channel can be computed exactly (e.g. in the form of “the largest root of some polynomial”).

We present two methods based on decimation for computing finite billiard words on any finite alphabet. The first method computes finite billiard words by iteration of some transformation on words. The number of iterations is explicitly bounded. The second one gives a direct formula for the billiard words. Some results remain true for infinite standard Sturmian words, but cannot be used for computation as they only are limit results.

Analyzing genomic data for finding those gene variations which are responsible for hereditary diseases is one of the great challenges in modern bioinformatics. In many living beings (including the human), every gene is present in two copies, inherited from the two parents, the so-called haplotypes. In this paper, we propose a simple combinatorial model for classifying the set of haplotypes in a population according to their responsibility for a certain genetic disease. This model is based on the minimum-ones 2SAT problem with uniform clauses. The minimum-ones 2SAT problem asks for a satisfying assignment to a satisfiable formula in 2CNF which sets a minimum number of variables to true. This problem is well-known to be $\mathcal{NP}$-hard, even in the case where all clauses are uniform, i.e., do not contain a positive and a negative literal. We analyze the approximability and present the first non-trivial exact algorithm for the uniform minimum-ones 2SAT problem with a running time of $\mathcal{O}$(1.21061n) on a 2SAT formula with n variables. We also show that the problem is fixed-parameter tractable by showing that our algorithm can be adapted to verify in $\mathcal{O}^*$(2k) time whether an assignment with at most k true variables exists.

We study the relation between the standard two-way automata and more powerful devices, namely, two-way finite automata equipped with some $\ell$ additional “pebbles” that are movable along the input tape, but their use is restricted (nested) in a stack-like fashion. Similarly as in the case of the classical two-way machines, it is not known whether there exists a polynomial trade-off, in the number of states, between the nondeterministic and deterministic two-way automata with $\ell$ nested pebbles. However, we show that these two machine models are not independent: if there exists a polynomial trade-off for the classical two-way automata, then, for each $\ell$≥ 0, there must also exist a polynomial trade-off for the two-way automata with $\ell$ nested pebbles. Thus, we have an upward collapse (or a downward separation) from the classical two-way automata to more powerful pebble automata, still staying within the class of regular languages. The same upward collapse holds for complementation of nondeterministic two-way machines. These results are obtained by showing that each pebble machine can be, by using suitable inputs, simulated by a classical two-way automaton (and vice versa), with only a linear number of states, despite the existing exponential blow-up between the classical and pebble two-way machines.

We present a CAT (constant amortized time) algorithm for generating those partitions of n that are in the ice pile model$\mbox{IPM}_k$(n), a generalization of the sand pile model$\mbox{SPM}$(n). More precisely, for any fixed integer k, we show that the negative lexicographic ordering naturally identifies a tree structure on the lattice $\mbox{IPM}_k$(n): this lets us design an algorithm which generates all the ice piles of $\mbox{IPM}_k$(n) in amortized time O(1) and in space O($\sqrt n$).