Cobham's Theorem and Automaticity

Abstract

We make certain bounds in Krebs' proof of Cobham's theorem explicit and obtain corresponding upper bounds on the length of a common prefix of an aperiodic $a$-automatic sequence and an aperiodic $b$-automatic sequence, where $a$ and $b$ are multiplicatively independent. We also show that an automatic sequence cannot have arbitrarily large factors in common with a Sturmian sequence.

17 pages