arXiv · 2509.22619
Most frequent subsequences in a word
Abstract
We prove that every $n$-letter word over $k$-letter alphabet contains some word as a subsequence in at least $k^{n/4k(1+o(1))}$ many ways, and that this is sharp as $k\to\infty$. For fixed $k$, we show that the analogous number deviates from $μ_k^n$, for some constant $μ_k$, by a factor of at most $n$.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Boris Bukh, Aleksandre Saatashvili. 2025-09-26. Most frequent subsequences in a word. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22619
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.