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3 votes
1 answer
91 views

Asymptotic growth rate for primitve S-adic systems

It is known that for a primitive substitution $S:\mathcal{A}\to \mathcal{A}^+$, there exists constants $c,C>0$ such that $$ c\theta_S^n \leq \vert S^n(a)\vert \leq C \theta_S^n \quad \text{for all} ...
Keen-ameteur's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
87 views

Is equal natural density on intervals with matching areas but opposite signs sufficient to use fixed-width part sizes for a simple Riemann sum?

Suppose we have a sequence $\theta_n$ which is dense on $\left(0,2\pi\right)$. Furthermore, if $A=(x,y)\subset(0,\pi)$ and $B=(x+\pi,y+\pi)$ for some $x,y$, and if we define the natural density of a ...
Sky Waterpeace's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

5n+1 sequence starting at 7

Consider the following variant of the Collatz function: $f:\mathbb N\rightarrow\mathbb N$ is defined by \begin{equation} f(n):=\begin{cases} n/2 & \text{if $n$ is even}\\ 5n+1 & \...
Riemann's user avatar
  • 654
10 votes
4 answers
662 views

Deciding homomorphic images of De Bruijn graphs

The De Bruijn graph $B_n$ of dimension $n$ (on the two-letter alphabet) is defined as the directed graph on $2^n$ vertices and $2^{n+1}$ edges, where for every $w = w_0 \dots w_n \in 2^{n+1}$ we put ...
Sam van G's user avatar
  • 105
3 votes
1 answer
193 views

'Trivial' lower bounds for pattern complexity of aperiodic subshifts

I recently asked in this thread about lower bounds on the complexity in the case where we have an aperiodic subshift. If I denote $c_n(\Omega)$ as the number of possible patterns on $Q_n= \big\{ 0,...,...
Keen-ameteur's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
329 views

Sufficient conditions for periodic tiling by Wang tiles

I'm recently interested in whether a sub-shift of finite type contains a doubly-periodic problem, when the set of configurations is of the sort $\mathcal{A}^{\mathbb{Z}^2}$. When $Q_2=\{0,1\}^2$, and ...
Keen-ameteur's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
139 views

How to find an optimal sequence of merging operations?

Given a set of items, each characterized by a quality $q_i\in(0,1)$. We can merge two items of quality $q_i$ and $q_j$ to a single item $k$ of quality $q_k=f(q_i,q_j)$, where $f$ is increasing in $q_i$...
lchen's user avatar
  • 367
16 votes
6 answers
1k views

A Leibniz-like formula for $(f(x) \frac{d}{dx})^n f(x)$?

Let $f(x)$ be sufficiently regular (e.g. a smooth function or a formal power series in characteristic 0 etc.). In my research the following recursion made a surprising entrance $$ f_1(x) = f(x),\ f_{n+...
M.G.'s user avatar
  • 7,127
3 votes
1 answer
293 views

Filling cups and buckets continuously

There are $n$ cups labeled $1,\dots,n$, each with a water tap that adds water into it at the same rate. There are also $k$ buckets, and $k$ sets $S_1,\dots,S_k\subseteq\{1,\dots,n\}$. At any point, if ...
pi66's user avatar
  • 1,209
3 votes
0 answers
124 views

Oscillator in Langton's ant

First of all, see Langton's ant Wikipedia page. If we place a pair of ants looking north (using Golly or any another prog) on the coordinates $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ under the conditions: $p=|x_1-...
Notamathematician's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
429 views

Dynamics of a curious bijection of $\mathbb N$

The two sequences A48680 and A48679 of the OEIS define two mutually inverse bijections on the set of all strictly positive natural numbers given (for the comfort of the reader) as follows: Given an ...
Roland Bacher's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
81 views

Size of the kernel (minimal ideal) of a finite semigroup

Let $A$ be an irreducible nonnegative $N\times N$ integer matrix with constant row sum $D$. Let $A_1, \dots, A_D$ be nonnegative integer matrices, each with constant row sum $1$, such that $\sum_k A_k ...
Sophie M's user avatar
  • 695
2 votes
3 answers
638 views

The critical exponent function

It is a known fact [1] that, for every $c\in (1,\infty]$, it is possible to find a finite alphabet $\mathcal{A}$ and a word $w\in \mathcal{A}^\omega$ such that $w$ has critical exponent $c$. It looks ...
Alessandro Della Corte's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
143 views

Search for a general formula from known iterative relation

$F$ is a mapping among $\{\theta_{n_1n_2}\}$, with $\eta_{1/2}$ being arbitrary constants involved. $F: \theta_{n_1n_2} \rightarrow \theta_{n_1+1n_2}+\theta_{n_1n_2+1}+\eta_{1}n_1\theta_{n_{1}-1n_{2}} ...
dhem's user avatar
  • 23
22 votes
3 answers
1k views

Cyclic action on Kreweras walks

A Kreweras walk of length $3n$ is a word consisting of $n$ $A$'s, $n$ $B$'s, and $n$ $C$'s such that in any prefix there are at least as many $A$'s as $B$'s, and at least as many $A$'s as $C$'s. For ...
Sam Hopkins's user avatar
  • 24.2k
9 votes
0 answers
225 views

On the first sequence without collinear triple

Let $u_n$ be the sequence lexicographically first among the sequences of nonnegative integers with graphs without collinear three points (as for $a_n=n^2$ or $b_n=2^n$). It is a variation of that one. ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
57 votes
0 answers
3k views

On the first sequence without triple in arithmetic progression

In this Numberphile video (from 3:36 to 7:41), Neil Sloane explains an amazing sequence: It is the lexicographically first among the sequences of positive integers without triple in arithmetic ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
98 views

Does singularity confinement imply a fixed pattern of irreducible factors?

Consider a rational map $f \colon (x_1,\ldots,x_n) \mapsto (P_1(x_1,\ldots,x_n),\ldots,P_n(x_1,\ldots,x_n))$, where the $P_i$ are rational functions. Via iteration this map defines a discrete ...
Sam Hopkins's user avatar
  • 24.2k
7 votes
0 answers
1k views

Absolute oscillator in Langton's Ant

We have a simple (or single) block of Langton's Ants colony which includes two ants looking in the same direction. Their positions can be interpreted as knight's walk. The distances between each next ...
user514787's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
673 views

Given any finite relation $R$ what is the cardinality of $\langle R\rangle=\{\underbrace{R\circ R\cdots \circ R}_{n\text{ times}}:n\in\mathbb{N}\}$?

Given any finite relation $R$ if we let $\circ$ denote relation composition and define $R^n=\underbrace{R\circ R\cdots \circ R}_{n\text{ times}}$ then does there exist an explicit formula for the ...
Ethan Splaver's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
125 views

Minimal period for a bounded Langton's ant moving on a tessellation

We consider Langton's ant on the 2D plane, but we replace the square lattice by a Voronoi tessellation obtained from a finite set of points (it could be another tessellation, however directions such ...
ahstat's user avatar
  • 111
8 votes
1 answer
436 views

The graph of Rule 110 and vertices degree

Consider the elementary cellular automaton called Rule 110 (famous for being Turing complete): It induces a map $R: \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ such that the binary representation of $R(n)$ is ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
31 votes
1 answer
1k views

Vanishing line on Conway's game of life

If the initial state of Conway's game of life is a line of $n \in [0,100]$ alive cells, then it vanishes completely after some steps iff $n \in \{0,1,2,6,14,15,18,19,23,24 \}$. See below for $n=24$. ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
56 views

Self-map of a set for which the sizes of fibers of iterates are given by polynomials

I am interested in functions $f\colon X\to X$ (where $X$ is some countable set) such that for every $x \in X$ there exists a polynomial $P_x$ such that $\#(f^k)^{-1}(x)=P_x(k)$ for all $k \geq 1$. ...
Sam Hopkins's user avatar
  • 24.2k
3 votes
0 answers
123 views

Irregularly Intertwined Linear Recursions: Other References?

I was wondering if anyone had run across the following notion of intertwined linear recursions. I'm looking for references, or even a standard name. (I know one source, which is the genesis of this ...
Joe Silverman's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
415 views

Arithmetic progressions in Van der Waerden's theorem

Recall that a syndetic subset of the integers is any $S\subseteq \mathbb{Z}$ with bounded gaps, i.e. there is some $k< \omega$ so that consecutive members of $S$ have distance at most $k$. One way ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 369
2 votes
1 answer
364 views

Applications of topology to discrete dynamical systems?

I'd like to know some of the applications of topology to discrete dynamics. By discrete dynamics I loosely mean studying maps between discrete sets. I mean cases where adding a topology to the sets ...
Reza Rezazadegan's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
434 views

Long term behavior of a certain discrete time dynamical system on graphs

Consider the graph $(V,E)$ with vertex set $V=\{v_1,...,v_n\}$ and edge set $E\subset V\times V$. Further, assume that $\forall v_i\in V, (v_i,v_i)\in E$. Assume that each vertex has an $\textit{...
Owen Sizemore's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
186 views

Finite graph colorings without symmetries

Let $G$ be a connected finite simple graph with vertex set $V$, $F$ a finite set and let $\Delta(G)$ denote the degree of $G$, i.e. $\Delta(G)= \max_{v\in V} \deg(v)$. We say that a coloring $\phi\...
user44172's user avatar
  • 541
14 votes
2 answers
731 views

Blinking graphs

For any simple graph $G$, assign its nodes a weight/bit of $0$ or $1$. Call this a bit assignment for $G$. Now, generate a new bit assignment as follows: Each node $x$'s bit is replaced by $1$ if the ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
129 views

Are there references for the properties of words formed in finite groups using L-systems? (In particular, the algae L-system.)

Let $G$ be a (finite) group, and $a, b \in G$ be any two elements. Consider the sequence defined by \begin{eqnarray*} s_0 &=& a, \\ s_1 &=& b, \text{and} \\ s_{n+2} &=& s_{n+1} ...
user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
690 views

Unique Nash equilibrium games

Multicast network design game is a special case of a general network design game (http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/focs04-game.pdf) in which there is a target vertex $t$ and $n$ rational ...
kakia's user avatar
  • 399
13 votes
7 answers
2k views

Finite-space dynamical systems

This question is quite open-ended, but I will formulate several sub-questions that I'll try to make precise. It is about finite-state dynamical system: start with a finite set $X$, with say $n$ ...
Benoît Kloeckner's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
597 views

Does Langton's ant cover every n by 6 gridded torus?

This post follows this other post about times cover by Langton's ant of $n$ by $n$ gridded torus. For $n$ by $n$ gridded torus, I've checked for $n \le 1000$ that the ant covers all. This fact needs ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
2k views

Time for Langton's ant to cover a "square" torus

Langton's ant is a cellular automaton running as follows: Squares on a plane are colored variously either black or white. We arbitrarily identify one square as the "ant". The ant can travel in ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

In how many steps a random walk visits all the elements of a finite group, with a probability 1/2?

This question is a variation of the return to the origin problem. Let $G$ be the finite group $\mathbb{Z}/n \times \mathbb{Z}/n$ and let the random transformation $T: G \to G$ such that $T(a,b) = (...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
348 views

"strongly mixing" action on dimers?

In Local Statistics of Lattice Dimers we study a nice familiar object, domino tilings in the plane extending out to infinity. His paper is going to discuss the frequency of various "motifs" in ...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.8k
2 votes
1 answer
105 views

Constructing an interval exchange given a prescribed trajectory

Given a prescribed trajectory, is it possible to construct an interval exchange having this trajectory? For example, given a 3-letter word (like aaabbbccabcaaa ), is it possible to construct a 3- ...
user8991's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
117 views

excplicit formula of iterates of an interval exchange

Let $f$ be an interval exchange transformation of $[0,1]$. Is there an explicit formula giving $f^k(0)$ in function of $k$? If not, are there particular cases where this formula is simple? (except ...
user8991's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
358 views

Iteration of a 2D map involving absolute value: phase transition?

I was looking at this map: $f(x,y) \mapsto (|x-y|,x)$, starting from some point with coordinates $(x,y) \in [0,1]^2$, and iterating: $(x,y),\, f(x,y), \, f^2(x,y), \,f^3(x,y), \ldots$. It displays ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
30 votes
3 answers
8k views

Status of the 196 conjecture?

A palindrome is a number which remains the same when reversing it, for instance 34143. Now pick an arbitrary number, say 26: then 26+62=88 is a palindrome. If the number was 57, then 57+75=132 is not ...
Richard's user avatar
  • 1,363
3 votes
1 answer
445 views

Bohr sets, Coin-flip sets and Roth's theorem

I have been learning about Roth's theorem, trying to understand how Fourier series and dynamical systems (or even graph theory and binary sequences)are involved in counting arithmetic sequences in ...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.8k
5 votes
1 answer
515 views

constant averages along orbits

What should one say to describe the situation in which a function $T$ from some set $X$ to itself, and a function $f$ from $X$ to some characteristic-zero field $K$, have the property that the average ...
1 vote
0 answers
223 views

Trigonometric semialgebraic conditions for two floors to be unequal [edited]

EDIT: Since posting my original question I have simplified the problem to finding a sufficient condition for $\lfloor \frac{a}{\phi}\rfloor \neq \lfloor \frac{b}{\phi}\rfloor$ which is trigonometric ...
Alex Becker's user avatar
19 votes
6 answers
3k views

Subwords of the Fibonacci word

The Fibonacci word is the limit of the sequence of words starting with "$0$" and satisfying rules $0 \to 01, 1 \to 0$. It's equivalent to have initial conditions $S_0 = 0, S_1 = 01$ and ...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.8k
3 votes
0 answers
233 views

How many set partitions on a big cube’s boundary arise from cubomino decompositions of the solid cube?

Introduction. This is a counting question about configurations that can appear on the outside of assembled Soma cube-like puzzles. More specifically, it’s about the ways in which the pieces of an ...
Steve Kass's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
1k views

The non-convergence of f(f(x))=exp(x)-1 and labeled rooted trees

This question is closely related to MO f(f(x))=exp(x)-1 and other functions “just in the middle” between linear and exponential. Consider $e^{e^x-1}$, this is the generating function of the Bell ...
user avatar
32 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is there a reset sequence?

There is a question someone (I'm hazy as to who) told me years ago. I found it fascinating for a time, but then I forgot about it, and I'm out of touch with any subsequent developments. Can anyone ...
Bill Thurston's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
761 views

Counting certain arrangements of n triangles. Does the count grow superexponentially?

Overview For integers n ≥ 1, let T(n) = {0,1,...,n}n and B(n)= {0,1}n. Note that |T(n)|=(n+1)n and |B(n)| = 2n. A certain set S(n) ⊂ T(n), defined below, contains B(n). The question is about ...
Steve Kass's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
2k views

Periodic orbits and polynomials

There are two simple and classic enumerations that still I'm puzzled about. Let's start with a simple counting problem from a well-known dynamical system. fact 1 Consider the "tent map" f:[0,1]→[...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k