  We present a new technique for demonstrating the reachability of states in
deterministic finite automata representing the concatenation of two languages.
Such demonstrations are a necessary step in establishing the state complexity
of the concatenation of two languages, and thus in establishing the state
complexity of concatenation as an operation. Typically, ad-hoc induction
arguments are used to show particular states are reachable in concatenation
automata. We prove some results that seem to capture the essence of many of
these induction arguments. Using these results, reachability proofs in
concatenation automata can often be done more simply and without using
induction directly.
