On the structure of sequences with minimal maximal pattern complexity

Abstract

In 2002, Kamae and Zamboni introduced maximal pattern complexity and determined that any aperiodic sequence must have maximal pattern complexity at least $2k$. In 2006, Kamae and Rao examined the maximal pattern complexity of sequences over larger alphabets and showed that sequences which have maximal pattern complexity less than $\ell k$, for $\ell$ the size of the alphabet, must have some periodic structure. In this paper, we investigate the structure of sequences of low maximal pattern complexity over $\ell$ letters where $\liminf\limits\limits_{k \to \infty} p_{\alpha}^*(k) - 3k = -\infty$. In addition, we show that the minimal maximal pattern complexity of an aperiodic sequence which uses all $\ell$ letters is $p_{\alpha}^*(k) = 2k + \ell -2$, and give an exact structure for aperiodic sequences with this maximal pattern complexity.