Lyndon factorization algorithms for small alphabets and run-length encoded strings (Q2004905)

Summary: We present two modifications of Duval's algorithm for computing the Lyndon factorization of a string. One of the algorithms has been designed for strings containing runs of the smallest character. It works best for small alphabets and it is able to skip a significant number of characters of the string. Moreover, it can be engineered to have linear time complexity in the worst case. When there is a run-length encoded string \(R\) of length \(\rho\), the other algorithm computes the Lyndon factorization of \(R\) in \(O(\rho)\) time and in constant space. It is shown by experimental results that the new variations are faster than Duval's original algorithm in many scenarios.