On a conjecture about the absence of an initial balanced pair for Pisot substitutions

Abstract

Sellami and Sirvent conjectured that the balanced pair algorithm fails for the following pair of Pisot substitutions: \[ \varphi_0: \begin{array}{l} a \mapsto abc b \mapsto a c \mapsto ac \end{array} \quad \text{ and } \quad \varphi_1: \begin{array}{l} a \mapsto cba b \mapsto a c \mapsto ca \end{array}. \] The conjecture stated the balanced pair algorithm fails because there is no initial balanced pair. In the present note we prove this conjecture using a method based on simultaneous coding of the pair of the fixed points of the morphisms.