The avoidability of binary patterns by binary cube-free words is investigated and the exact bound between unavoidable and avoidable patterns is found. All avoidable patterns are shown to be D0L-avoidable. For avoidable patterns, the growth rates of the avoiding languages are studied. All such languages, except for the overlap-free language, are proved to have exponential growth. The exact growth rates of languages avoiding minimal avoidable patterns are approximated through computer-assisted upper bounds. Finally, a new example of a pattern-avoiding language of polynomial growth is given.

Laminations are classic sets of disjoint and non-self-crossing curves on surfaces. Lamination languages are languages of two-way infinite words which code laminations by using associated labeled embedded graphs, and which are subshifts. Here, we characterize the possible exact affine factor complexities of these languages through bouquets of circles, i.e. graphs made of one vertex, as representative coding graphs. We also show how to build families of laminations together with corresponding lamination languages covering all the possible exact affine complexities.

We investigate the finite repetition threshold for k-letter alphabets, k ≥ 4, that is the smallest number r for which there exists an infinite r+-free word containing a finite number of r-powers. We show that there exists an infinite Dejean word on a 4-letter alphabet (i.e. a word without factors of exponent more than 7/5 ) containing only two 7/5 -powers. For a 5-letter alphabet, we show that there exists an infinite Dejean word containing only 60 5/4 -powers, and we conjecture that this number can be lowered to 45. Finally we show that the finite repetition threshold for k letters is equal to the repetition threshold for k letters, for every k ≥ 6.

We consider the languages of finite trees called tree-shift languages which are factorial extensible tree languages. These languages are sets of factors of subshifts of infinite trees. We give effective syntactic characterizations of two classes of regular tree-shift languages: the finite type tree languages and the tree languages which are almost of finite type. Each class corresponds to a class of subshifts of trees which is invariant by conjugacy. For this goal, we define a tree algebra which is finer than the classical syntactic tree algebra based on contexts. This allows us to capture the notion of constant tree which is essential in the framework of tree-shift languages.

We consider binary rotation words generated by partitions of the unit circle to two intervals and give a precise formula for the number of such words of length n. We also give the precise asymptotics for it, which happens to be Θ(n4). The result continues the line initiated by the formula for the number of all Sturmian words obtained by Lipatov [Problemy Kibernet. 39 (1982) 67–84], then independently by Mignosi [Theoret. Comput. Sci. 82 (1991) 71–84], and others.

A k-abelian cube is a word uvw, where the factors u, v, and w are either pairwise equal, or have the same multiplicities for every one of their factors of length at most k. Previously it has been shown that k-abelian cubes are avoidable over a binary alphabet for k ≥ 8. Here it is proved that this holds for k ≥ 5.