We explore the borderline between decidability and undecidability of the following question: “Let C be a class of codes. Given a machine ${\mathfrak{M}}$ of type X, is it decidable whether the language $L({{\mathfrak{M}}})$ lies in C or not?” for codes in general, ω-codes, codes of finite and bounded deciphering delay, prefix, suffix and bi(pre)fix codes, and for finite automata equipped with different versions of push-down stores and counters.

This paper describes a modification of the power set construction for the transformation of self-verifying nondeterministic finite automata to deterministic ones. Using a set counting argument, the upper bound for this transformation can be lowered from $2^n$ to $O(\frac{2^n}{\sqrt{n}}).$

Une substitution est un morphisme de monoïdes libres : chaque lettre a pour image un mot, et l'image d'un mot est la concaténation des images de ses lettres. Cet article introduit une généralisation de la notion de substitution, où l'image d'une lettre n'est plus un mot mais un motif, c'est-à-dire un “mot à trous”, l'image d'un mot étant obtenue en raccordant les motifs correspondant à chacune de ses lettres à l'aide de règles locales. On caractérise complètement les substitutions par des motifs qui sont définies sur toute suite biinfinie, et on explique comment les construire. On montre que toute suite biinfinie qui est point fixe d'une substitution par des motifs est substitutive, c'est-à-dire est l'image, par un morphisme lettre à lettre, d'un point fixe de substitution (au sens usuel).

We present an algorithm which for any aperiodic and primitive substitution outputs a finite representation of each special word in the shift space associated to that substitution, and determines when such representations are equivalent under orbit and shift tail equivalence. The algorithm has been implemented and applied in the study of certain new invariants for flow equivalence of substitutional dynamical systems.

We study some arithmetical and combinatorial properties of β-integers for β being the larger root of the equation x2 = mx - n,m,n ∈ ℵ, m ≥ n +2 ≥ 3. We determine with the accuracy of ± 1 the maximal number of β-fractional positions, which may arise as a result of addition of two β-integers. For the infinite word uβ> coding distances between the consecutive β-integers, we determine precisely also the balance. The word uβ> is the only fixed point of the morphism A → Am-1B and B → Am-n-1B. In the case n = 1, the corresponding infinite word uβ> is sturmian, and, therefore, 1-balanced. On the simplest non-sturmian example with n≥ 2, we illustrate how closely the balance and the arithmetical properties of β-integers are related.

Sturmian words are infinite words that have exactly n+1 factors of length n for every positive integer n. A Sturmian word sα,p is also defined as a coding over a two-letter alphabet of the orbit of point ρ under the action of the irrational rotation Rα : x → x + α (mod 1). A substitution fixes a Sturmian word if and only if it is invertible. The main object of the present paper is to investigate Rauzy fractals associated with two-letter invertible substitutions. As an application, we give an alternative geometric proof of Yasutomi's characterization of all pairs (α,p) such that sα,p is a fixed point of some non-trivial substitution.