Minimal digit sets for parallel addition in non-standard numeration systems

Abstract: We study parallel algorithms for addition of numbers having finite representation in a positional numeration system defined by a base $\beta$ in $\mathbb{C}$ and a finite digit set $\mathcal{A}$ of contiguous integers containing $0$. For a fixed base $\beta$, we focus on the question of the size of the alphabet allowing to perform addition in constant time independently of the length of representation of the summands. We produce lower bounds on the size of such alphabet $\mathcal{A}$. For several types of well studied bases (negative integer, complex numbers $ -1 + \imath$, $2 \imath$, and $\imath \sqrt{2}$, quadratic Pisot unit, and the non-integer rational base), we give explicit parallel algorithms performing addition in constant time. Moreover we show that digit sets used by these algorithms are the smallest possible.