Maximal bifix decoding (Q2514159)

On the one hand, a Sturmian set is the set of factors of one Sturmian word, where Sturmian words generalize to arbitrary alphabets the classical Sturmian words over binary alphabets. On the other hand, an interval exchange set is the set of factors of the natural codings of a regular interval exchange transformation, where interval exchange transformations generalize rotations of the circle and are called regular if they are minimal in the sense of topological dynamics. The authors of this very interesting paper consider tree sets which generalize both Sturmian sets and regular interval exchange sets, defined by a condition on the possible extensions of bispecial factors. The main result is that the class of uniformly recurrent tree sets is closed under maximal bifix decoding. It is also closed under decoding with respect to return words, an ingredient in the proof of their result. Another ingredient in the proof is that the uniformly recurrent tree sets satisfy the finite index basis property, a property that was proved earlier to be satisfied by Sturmian sets.