PlanetMath (more info)
 Math for the people, by the people. Sponsor PlanetMath
Encyclopedia | Requests | Forums | Docs | Wiki | Random | RSS  
Login
create new user
name:
pass:
forget your password?
Main Menu
Owner confidence rating: Very high Entry average rating: No information on entry rating
Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence (Definition)

The Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence is a binary sequence which begins as follows: $$ 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, \ldots $$

The $n$ th term is defined to be the number of $1$ s in the binary expansion of $n$ , modulo 2. That is, $t_n = 0$ if the number of $1$ s in the binary expansion of $n$ is even, and $t_n = 1$ if it is odd.

The sequence satisfies the following recurrence relation, with $t_0=0$ :

$\displaystyle \begin{array}{ccc} t_{2n} &=& t_n \ t_{2n+1} &=& 1 - t_n \end{array} $

The Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence is an automatic sequence. It has been shown to be cube-free (no three consecutive identical blocks) and overlap-free i.e no sub-block of the form $awawa$ , where $a \in \{0,1\}$ , when viewed as a word of infinite length over the binary alphabet $\{0,1\}$ .

Generating function

The generating function $T(x)=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} t_nx^n$ for the sequence satisfies the relation $$ T(x) = T(x^2)(1-x) + \frac{x}{1-x^2} $$

History

The Thue-Morse sequence was independently discovered by P. Prouhet, Axel Thue, and Marston Morse, and has since been rediscovered by many others.

References




"Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence" is owned by Mathprof. [ full author list (2) | owner history (2) ]
(view preamble | get metadata)

View style:

See Also: Prouhet-Thue-Morse constant

Other names:  Thue-Morse sequence
Log in to rate this entry.
(view current ratings)

Cross-references: relation, generating function, alphabet, length, infinite, blocks, consecutive, recurrence relation, odd, even, number, term, sequence, binary
There are 2 references to this entry.

This is version 21 of Prouhet-Thue-Morse sequence, born on 2004-06-29, modified 2009-08-16.
Object id is 5973, canonical name is ProuhetThueMorseSequence.
Accessed 3775 times total.

Classification:
AMS MSC11B85 (Number theory :: Sequences and sets :: Automata sequences)
 68R15 (Computer science :: Discrete mathematics in relation to computer science :: Combinatorics on words)

Pending Errata and Addenda
None.
[ View all 2 ]
Discussion
Style: Expand: Order:
forum policy

No messages.

Interact
post | correct | update request | add derivation | add example | add (any)