On systems of word equations over three unknowns with at most six occurrences of one of the unknowns

In this paper, we investigate the open question, formulated in 1983 by Culik II and Karhumäki, asking whether there exist independent systems of three word equations over three unknowns admitting non-periodic solutions. In particular, we answer negatively the above mentioned question for systems in which one of the unknowns occurs at most six times. That is, we show that such systems admit only periodic solutions or they are not independent.