On the rigidity of Arnoux-Rauzy words

Abstract

An infinite word generated by a substitution is rigid if all the substitutions which fix this word are powers of the same substitution. Sturmian words as well as characteristic Arnoux-Rauzy words that are generated by iterating a substitution are known to be rigid. In the present paper, we prove that all Arnoux-Rauzy words generated by iterating a substitution are rigid. The proof relies on two main ingredients: first, the fact that the primitive substitutions that fix an Arnoux-Rauzy word share a common power, and secondly, the notion of normal form of an episturmian substitution (i.e., a substitution that fixes an Arnoux-Rauzy word). The main difficulty is then of a combinatorial nature and relies on the normalization process when taking powers of episturmian substitutions: the normal form of a square is not necessarily equal to the square of the normal forms.