In mathematics, a factorisation of a free monoid is a sequence of subsets of words with the property that every word in the free monoid can be written as a concatenation of elements drawn from the subsets. The Chen–Fox–Lyndon theorem states that the Lyndon words furnish a factorisation. The Schützenberger theorem relates the definition in terms of a multiplicative property to an additive property.
Let A be the free monoid on an alphabet A. Let Xi be a sequence of subsets of A indexed by a totally ordered index set I. A factorisation of a word w in A is an expression
with and . Some authors reverse the order of the inequalities.
Chen–Fox–Lyndon theorem
A Lyndon word over a totally ordered alphabet A is a word that is lexicographically less than all its rotations. The Chen–Fox–Lyndon theorem states that every string may be formed in a unique way by concatenating a lexicographically non-increasing sequence of Lyndon words. Hence taking Xl to be the singleton set {l} for each Lyndon word l, with the index set L of Lyndon words ordered lexicographically, we obtain a factorisation of A. Such a factorisation can be found in linear time and constant space by Duval's algorithm. The algorithm in Python code is:
def chen_fox_lyndon_factorization(s: list) -> list: """Monoid factorisation using the Chen–Fox–Lyndon theorem. Args: s: a list of integers Returns: a list of integers """ n = len(s) factorization = i = 0 while i < n: j, k = i + 1, i while j < n and s <= s: if s < s: k = i else: k += 1 j += 1 while i <= k: factorization.append(s) i += j - k return factorization
Hall words
The Hall set provides a factorization. Indeed, Lyndon words are a special case of Hall words. The article on Hall words provides a sketch of all of the mechanisms needed to establish a proof of this factorization.
Bisection
A bisection of a free monoid is a factorisation with just two classes X0, X1.
Examples:
- A = {a,b}, X0 = {Ab}, X1 = {a}.
If X, Y are disjoint sets of non-empty words, then (X,Y) is a bisection of A if and only if
As a consequence, for any partition P, Q of A there is a unique bisection (X,Y) with X a subset of P and Y a subset of Q.
Schützenberger theorem
This theorem states that a sequence Xi of subsets of A forms a factorisation if and only if two of the following three statements hold:
- Every element of A has at least one expression in the required form;
- Every element of A has at most one expression in the required form;
- Each conjugate class C meets just one of the monoids Mi = Xi and the elements of C in Mi are conjugate in Mi.
See also
References
- Lothaire (1997) p.64
- Lothaire (1997) p.67
- Duval, Jean-Pierre (1983). "Factorizing words over an ordered alphabet". Journal of Algorithms. 4 (4): 363–381. doi:10.1016/0196-6774(83)90017-2..
- "Lyndon factorization - Algorithms for Competitive Programming". cp-algorithms.com. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- Guy Melançon, (1992) "Combinatorics of Hall trees and Hall words", Journal of Combinatoric Theory, 59A(2) pp. 285–308.
- Lothaire (1997) p.68
- Lothaire (1997) p.69
- Lothaire (1997) p.71
- Lothaire (1997) p.92
- Lothaire, M. (1997), Combinatorics on words, Encyclopedia of Mathematics and Its Applications, vol. 17, Perrin, D.; Reutenauer, C.; Berstel, J.; Pin, J.-É.; Pirillo, G.; Foata, D.; Sakarovitch, J.; Simon, I.; Schützenberger, M. P.; Choffrut, C.; Cori, R.; Lyndon, R.; Rota, G.-C. Foreword by Roger Lyndon (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-59924-5, Zbl 0874.20040