The smallest grammar problem revisited

Abstract

In a seminal paper of Charikar et al. on the smallest grammar problem, the authors derive upper and lower bounds on the approximation ratios for several grammar-based compressors, but in all cases there is a gap between the lower and upper bound. Here we close the gaps for LZ78 and BISECTION by showing that the approximation ratio of LZ78 is Θ((n/ log n)2/3), whereas the approximation ratio of BISECTION is Θ((n/ log n)1/2). We also derive a lower bound for a smallest grammar for a word in terms of its number of LZ77-factors, which refines existing bounds of Rytter. Finally, we improve results of Arpe and Reischuk relating grammar-based compression for arbitrary alphabets and binary alphabets.