Spectral zeta functions of fractals and the complex dynamics of polynomials

We obtain formulas for the spectral zeta function of the Laplacian on symmetric finitely ramified fractals, such as the Sierpinski gasket, and a fractal Laplacian on the interval. These formulas contain a new type of zeta function associated with a polynomial (rational functions also can appear in this context). It is proved that this zeta function has a meromorphic continuation to a half-plane with poles contained in an arithmetic progression. It is shown as an example that the Riemann zeta function is the zeta function of a quadratic polynomial, which is associated with the Laplacian on an interval. The spectral zeta function of the Sierpinski gasket is a product of the zeta function of a polynomial and a geometric part; the poles of the former are canceled by the zeros of the latter. A similar product structure was discovered by M.L. Lapidus for self-similar fractal strings.

     

A Counterexample to the “Hot Spots” Conjecture on Nested Fractals

Although the “hot spots” conjecture was proved to be false on some classical domains, the problem still generates a lot of interests on identifying the domains that the conjecture hold. The question can also be asked on fractal sets that admit Laplacians. It is known that the conjecture holds on the Sierpinski gasket and its variants. In this note, we show surprisingly that the “hot spots” conjecture fails on the hexagasket, a typical nested fractal set. The technique we use is the spectral decimation method of eigenvalues of Laplacian on fractals.     

A Characterization of Self-similar Symbolic Spaces

In this paper we use fractal structures to study self-similar sets and self-similar symbolic spaces. We show that these spaces have a natural fractal structure, justifying the name of fractal structure, and we characterize self-similar symbolic spaces in terms of fractal structures. We prove that self-similar symbolic spaces can be characterized in a similar way, in the form, to the definition of classical self-similar sets by means of iterated function systems. We also study when a self-similar symbolic space is a self-similar set. Finally, we study relations between fractal structures with “pieces” homeomorphic to the space and different concepts of self-homeomorphic spaces. Along the paper, we propose several methods in order to construct self-similar sets and self-similar symbolic spaces from a geometrical approach. This allows to construct these kind of spaces in a very easy way.     

Self-similar p-adic fractal strings and their complex dimensions

We develop a geometric theory of self-similar p-adic fractal strings and their complex dimensions. We obtain a closed-form formula for the geometric zeta functions and show that these zeta functions are rational functions in an appropriate variable. We also prove that every self-similar p-adic fractal string is lattice. Finally, we define the notion of a nonarchimedean self-similar set and discuss its relationship with that of a self-similar p-adic fractal string. We illustrate the general theory by two simple examples, the nonarchimedean Cantor and Fibonacci strings. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Fractal Weyl laws for asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds

For asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds with hyperbolic trapped sets we prove a fractal upper bound on the number of resonances near the essential spectrum, with power determined by the dimension of the trapped set. This covers the case of general convex cocompact quotients (including the case of connected trapped sets) where our result implies a bound on the number of zeros of the Selberg zeta function in disks of arbitrary size along the imaginary axis. Although no sharp fractal lower bounds are known, the case of quasifuchsian groups, included here, is most likely to provide them.     

Sums of Products of Riemann Zeta Tails

A recent paper of Furdui and Vălean proves some results about sums of products of “tails” of the series for the Riemann zeta function. We show how such results can be proved with weaker hypotheses using multiple zeta values, and also show how they can be generalized to products of three or more such tails.

     

Fractional hypergeometric zeta functions

In this paper we investigate a continuous version of the hypergeometric zeta functions for any positive rational number “a” and demonstrate the analytic continuation. The fractional hypergeometric zeta functions are shown to exhibit many properties analogous to its hypergeometric counter part, including its intimate connection to Bernoulli numbers.

     

Pointwise tube formulas for fractal sprays and self-similar tilings with arbitrary generators

In a previous paper by the first two authors, a tube formula for fractal sprays was obtained which also applies to a certain class of self-similar fractals. The proof of this formula uses distributional techniques and requires fairly strong conditions on the geometry of the tiling (specifically, the inner tube formula for each generator of the fractal spray is required to be polynomial). Now we extend and strengthen the tube formula by removing the conditions on the geometry of the generators, and also by giving a proof which holds pointwise, rather than distributionally. Hence, our results for fractal sprays extend to higher dimensions the pointwise tube formula for (1-dimensional) fractal strings obtained earlier by Lapidus and van Frankenhuijsen.Our pointwise tube formulas are expressed as a sum of the residues of the “tubular zeta function” of the fractal spray in Rd. This sum ranges over the complex dimensions of the spray, that is, over the poles of the geometric zeta function of the underlying fractal string and the integers 0,1,…,d. The resulting “fractal tube formulas” are applied to the important special case of self-similar tilings, but are also illustrated in other geometrically natural situations. Our tube formulas may also be seen as fractal analogues of the classical Steiner formula.     

Word functions of pseudo-Markov chains

A word function is a function from the set of all words over a finite alphabet into the set of real numbers. In particular, when the blocks of a partition over the state set of a Markov chain are taken as the letters of the finite alphabet, and the function represents the probabilities that the chain will visit sequences of such blocks consecutively, then the function is a function of a Markov chain. It is known that (the rank of a function is defined in the text), a word function is of “finite rank” if and only if it is a function of a pseudo Markov chain (“pseudo” means here that the initial vector and the matrix representing the chain may have positive, negative, or zero values and are not necessarily stochastic). The aim of this note is to show that any function of a pseudo Markov chain can be represented as the difference of two functions of true Markov chains multiplied by a factor which grows exponentially with the length of the arguments (considered as words over a finite alphabet).     

Measuring the fuzziness of human thoughts: An application of fuzzy sets to sociological research

Conventionally, sociologists measure the membership of an individual to a group by a “0 or 1” characteristic function. But when the definition of that group is fuzzy and an individual is neither a full member nor a nonmember, this dichotomous characteristic function may distort the reality. Instead of the “0 or 1” characteristic function by classical set theory, fuzzy set theory introduces a membership function which is a gradation from 0 to 1 to measure the degree to which an object (an individual) belongs to a concept (a group). Based on the rationale of fuzzy set theory, we suggest some new methods of data collection and analysis. Among several noteworthy findings, two points are emphasized: 1) the fuzzy set is an appropriate way of measuring the fuzziness of human thought; and 2) it allows one to relax the conventional assumption that all individuals have identical distributions and deviations around their means.     

Balanced sets in an independence structure induced by a submodular function

A submodular (and non-decreasing) function on a set induces an independence structure; the notion of a “balanced” set in this situation helps us determine whether a given independence structure is induced by any submodular function other than its own rank function, answering a question of U. S. R. Murty and I. Simon. The notion “balanced” also has a natural meaning when one independence structure is induced from another across a bipartite graph.     

Stable parametric programming *

Stable parametric programs (abbreviation: SPP) are parametric programs with a

particular continuity (stability) requirement. Optimal solutions of SPP are paths in the space of “parameters” (inputs, data) that preserve continuity of the feasible set point-to set mapping in the space of “decision variables”. The end points of these paths optimize the optimal value function on a region of stability

In this paper we study only convex SPP. First we study optimality conditions. If the constraints enjoy the locally-flat-surface (“LFS”) property in the decision variable component, then the usual separation arguments apply and we can characterize local and global optimal solutions. Then we consider a well-known marginal value formula for the optimal value function. We prove the formula under new assumptions and then use it to modify a class of quasi-Newton methods in order to solve convex SPP. Finally, several solved case are reported     

Fractal Approximation

In the present article every complex square integrable function defined in a real bounded interval is approached by means of a complex fractal function. The approximation depends on a partition of the interval and a vectorial parameter of the iterated function system providing the fractal attractor. The original may be discontinuous or undefined in a set of zero measure. The fractal elements can modify the features of the originals, for instance their character of smooth or non-smooth. The properties of the operator mapping every function into its fractal analogue are studied in the context of the uniform and least square norms. In particular, the transformation provides a decomposition of the set of square integrable maps. An orthogonal system of fractal functions is constructed explicitly for this space. Sufficient conditions for the uniform convergence of the fractal series expansion corresponding to this basis are also deduced. The fractal approximation of real functions is obtained as a particular case.     

Dimension (In)equalities and Hölder Continuous Curves in Fractal Percolation

We relate various concepts of fractal dimension of the limiting set $\mathcal{C}$ in fractal percolation to the dimensions of the set consisting of connected components larger than one point and its complement in  $\mathcal{C}$ (the “dust”). In two dimensions, we also show that the set consisting of connected components larger than one point is almost surely the union of non-trivial Hölder continuous curves, all with the same exponent. Finally, we give a short proof of the fact that in two dimensions, any curve in the limiting set must have Hausdorff dimension strictly larger than 1.     

Valuation theory,generalized IFS attractors and fractals

Using valuation rings and valued fields as examples, we discuss in which ways the notions of “topological IFS attractor” and “fractal space” can be generalized to cover more general settings.     

关于自相似集的一个维数定理

本文对严格自相似集，提出了一个比“开集”条件更弱的“可解”条件，并且证明：在可解条件下，自相似集的Ｈａｕｓｄｏｒｆｆ维数及Ｂｏｕｌｉｇａｎｄ维数与其相似维数一致．     

The minima of quadratic forms and the behavior of Epstein and Dedekind zeta functions

Hecke's correspondence between modular forms and Dirichlet series is put into a quantitative form giving expansions of the Dirichlet series in series of incomplete gamma functions in two special cases. The expansion is applied to show, for example, the positivity of Epstein's zeta function at $\text{s =}\text{n}\text{4}$ when the n-ary positive real quadratic form involved has a “small” minimum over the integer lattice. Hecke's integral formula is used to consider consequences for the Dedekind zeta function of a number field.     

Fractal Polynomials and Maps in Approximation of Continuous Functions

The primary goal of this article is to establish some approximation properties of fractal functions. More specifically, we establish that a monotone continuous real-valued function can be uniformly approximated with a monotone fractal polynomial, which in addition agrees with the function on an arbitrarily given finite set of points. Furthermore, the simultaneous approximation and \mboxinterpolation which is norm-preserving property of fractal polynomials is established. In the final part of the article, we establish differentiability of a more general class of fractal functions. It is shown that these smooth fractal functions and their derivatives are good approximants for the original function and its \mboxderivatives.     

Estimation of fractal dimension of random fields on the basis of variance analysis of increments

This paper deals with estimation of fractal dimension of realizations of random fields. Numerical methods are based on analysis of variance of increments. It is proposed to study fractal properties with the use of a specific characteristic of randomfields called a “variational dimension.” For a class of Gaussian fields with homogeneous increments the variational dimension converges to the Hausdorff dimension. Several examples are presented to illustrate that the concept of variational dimension can be used to construct effective computational methods.     

Performance evaluation of fault-tolerant routing algorithms: an optimization problem

In this paper, we present a new theoretical approach for studying the behaviour and the performance of shortest paths fault-tolerant distributed algorithms of a certain class. The behaviour of each processor is modeled by means of a stochastic matrix. We show that achieving the optimal behaviour of Nprocessors is equivalent to solvingan optimization problem of a function of 2N variables under constraints; this function is neither convex nor concave. Solutions for which such a type of algorithms has an optimal behaviour are derived. Using that result, we build a fuzzy set of solutions which provides a global overview (a sort of “relief”): each solution of the fuzzy set has value ? ranging between 0 and 1, which may be regarded as its“bench-mark” so (1 -?) points out the proximity of any solution from the optimal solution