Envelope Word and Gap Sequence in Doubling Sequence

Abstract

Let $\omega$ be a factor of Doubling sequence $D_\infty=x_1x_2\cdots$, then it occurs in the sequence infinitely many times. Let $\omega_p$ be the $p$-th occurrence of $\omega$ and $G_p(\omega)$ be the gap between $\omega_p$ and $\omega_{p+1}$. In this paper, we discuss the structure of the gap sequence $\{G_p(\omega)\}_{p\geq1}$. We prove that all factors can be divided into two types, one type has exactly two distinct gaps $G_1(\omega)$ and $G_2(\omega)$, the other type has exactly three distinct gaps $G_1(\omega)$, $G_2(\omega)$ and $G_4(\omega)$. We determine the expressions of gaps completely. And also give the substitution of each gap sequence. The main tool in this paper is "envelope word", which is a new notion, denoted by $E_{m,i}$. As an application, we determine the positions of all $\omega_p$, discuss some combinatorial properties of factors, and count the distinct squares beginning in $D_\infty[1,N]$ for $N\geq1$.