The meet operation in the imbalance lattice of maximal instantaneous codes: alternative proof of existence

Abstract

An alternative proof is given of the existence of greatest lower bounds in the imbalance order of binary maximal instantaneous codes of a given size. These codes are viewed as maximal antichains of a given size in the infinite binary tree of 0-1 words. The proof proposed makes use of a single balancing operation instead of expansion and contraction as in the original proof of the existence of glb.