We classify all 3 letter patterns that are avoidable in the abelian sense. A short list of four letter patterns for which abelian avoidance is undecided is given. Using a generalization of Zimin words we deduce some ...

We answer a question of Harju: For every n ≥ 3 there is a square-free ternary word of length n with a square-free self-shuffle.

We study the combinatorics of vtm, a variant of the Thue-Morse word generated by the non-uniform morphism 0 ↦ 012, 1 ↦ 02, 2 ↦ 1 starting with 0. This infinite ternary sequence appears a lot in the literature and finds ...

The critical exponent of an infinite word w is the supremum of all rational numbers α such that w contains an α-power. We resolve an open question of Krieger and Shallit by showing that for each α>2 there is an infinite ...

We present an infinite family of formulas with reversal whose avoidability index is bounded between 4 and 5, and we show that several members of the family have avoidability index 5. This family is particularly interesting ...

We show that Dejean’s conjecture holds for n ≥ 27. This brings the final resolution of the conjecture by the approach of Moulin Ollagnier within range of the computationally feasible.

For every pattern p over the alphabet {x,x^R,y,y^R}, we specify the least k such that p is k-avoidable.

Given an infinite word x over an alphabet A, a letter b occurring in x, and a total order \sigma on A, we call the smallest word with respect to \sigma starting with b in the shift orbit closure of x an extremal word of ...

Large context problems (LCP) are useful in teaching the history of science. In this article we consider the brachistochrone problem in a context stretching from Euclid through the Bernoullis. We highlight a variety of ...