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.     

On the Assouad dimension of self-similar sets with overlaps

It is known that, unlike the Hausdorff dimension, the Assouad dimension of a self-similar set can exceed the similarity dimension if there are overlaps in the construction. Our main result is the following precise dichotomy for self-similar sets in the line: either the weak separation property is satisfied, in which case the Hausdorff and Assouad dimensions coincide; or the weak separation property is not satisfied, in which case the Assouad dimension is maximal (equal to one). In the first case we prove that the self-similar set is Ahlfors regular, and in the second case we use the fact that if the weak separation property is not satisfied, one can approximate the identity arbitrarily well in the group generated by the similarity mappings, and this allows us to build a weak tangent that contains an interval. We also obtain results in higher dimensions and provide illustrative examples showing that the ‘equality/maximal’ dichotomy does not extend to this setting.     

Euclidean self-similar sets generated by geometrically independent sets

For every integer n>0, we consider all iterated function systems generated by n+1 Euclidean similarities acting on Rn whose fixed points form the set of vertices of an n-simplex, and characterize the nature of attractors of such iterated function systems in terms of contractivity factors of their generators.     

On Bandt's tangential distribution for self-similar measures

It is shown that the local geometry of a self-similar measure as captured by Bandt's average tangential distribution is the same at -almost all points of the underlying space. Moreover, for a self-similar measure explicit formulas for Bandt's tangential distribution as well as for the average density of Bedford and Fisher are derived.     

Dirac operators and spectral triples for some fractal sets built on curves

We construct spectral triples and, in particular, Dirac operators, for the algebra of continuous functions on certain compact metric spaces. The triples are countable sums of triples where each summand is based on a curve in the space. Several fractals, like a finitely summable infinite tree and the Sierpinski gasket, fit naturally within our framework. In these cases, we show that our spectral triples do describe the geodesic distance and the Minkowski dimension as well as, more generally, the complex fractal dimensions of the space. Furthermore, in the case of the Sierpinski gasket, the associated Dixmier-type trace coincides with the normalized Hausdorff measure of dimension log3/log2.     

A variational principle for fractal dimensions

A new definition of the dimension of probability measures is introduced. It is related with the fractal dimension of sets by a variational principle. This principle is applied in the theory of iterated function systems.     

Tangent measure distributions of hyperbolic Cantor sets

Tangent measure distributions were introduced byBandt [2] andGraf [8] as a means to describe the local geometry of self-similar sets generated by iteration of contractive similitudes. In this paper we study the tangent measure distributions of hyperbolic Cantor sets generated by certain contractive mappings, which are not necessarily similitudes. We show that the tangent measure distributions of these sets equipped with either Hausdorff- or Gibbs measure are unique almost everywhere and give an explicit formula describing them as probability distributions on the set of limit models ofBedford andFisher [5].     

Hausdorff measure of infinitely generated self-similar sets

We analyze self-similarity with respect to infinite sets of similitudes from a measure-theoretic point of view. We extend classic results for finite systems of similitudes satisfying the open set condition to the infinite case. We adopt Vitali-type techniques to approximate overlapping self-similar sets by non-overlapping self-similar sets. As an application we show that any open and bounded set with a boundary of null Lebesgue measure always contains a self-similar set generated by a countable system of similitudes and with Lebesgue measure equal to that ofA.     

On the exact rate of convergence of frequencies of digits in self-similar sets

We study the exact rate of convergence of frequencies of digits of “normal” points of a self-similar set. Our results have applications to metric number theory. One particular application gives the following surprising result: there is an uncountable family of pairwise disjoint and exceptionally big subsets of ?^d that do not obey the law of the iterated logarithm. More precisely, we prove that there is an uncountable family of pairwise disjoint and exceptionally big sets of points x in ?^d—namely, sets with full Hausdorff dimension—for which the rate of convergence of frequencies of digits in the N-adic expansion of x is either significantly faster or significantly slower than the typical rate of convergence predicted by the law of the iterated logarithm.     

A generalized finite type condition for iterated function systems

We study iterated function systems (IFSs) of contractive similitudes on Rd with overlaps. We introduce a generalized finite type condition which extends a more restrictive condition in [S.-M. Ngai, Y. Wang, Hausdorff dimension of self-similar sets with overlaps, J. London Math. Soc. (2) 63 (3) (2001) 655-672] and allows us to include some IFSs of contractive similitudes whose contraction ratios are not exponentially commensurable. We show that the generalized finite type condition implies the weak separation property. Under this condition, we can identify the attractor of the IFS with that of a graph-directed IFS, and by modifying a setup of Mauldin and Williams [R.D. Mauldin, S.C. Williams, Hausdorff dimension in graph directed constructions, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 309 (1988) 811-829], we can compute the Hausdorff dimension of the attractor in terms of the spectral radius of certain weighted incidence matrix.     

Outer Minkowski content for some classes of closed sets

We find conditions ensuring the existence of the outer Minkowski content for d-dimensional closed sets in , in connection with regularity properties of their boundaries. Moreover, we provide a class of sets (including all sufficiently regular sets) stable under finite unions for which the outer Minkowski content exists. It follows, in particular, that finite unions of sets with Lipschitz boundary and a type of sets with positive reach belong to this class.     

A new fractal dimension: The topological Hausdorff dimension

We introduce a new concept of dimension for metric spaces, the so-called topological Hausdorff dimension. It is defined by a very natural combination of the definitions of the topological dimension and the Hausdorff dimension. The value of the topological Hausdorff dimension is always between the topological dimension and the Hausdorff dimension, in particular, this new dimension is a non-trivial lower estimate for the Hausdorff dimension.     

Cauchy transforms of self-similar measures: the Laurent coefficients

The Cauchy transform of a measure has been used to study the analytic capacity and uniform rectifiability of subsets in . Recently, Lund et al. (Experiment. Math. 7 (1998) 177) have initiated the study of such transform F of self-similar measure. In this and the forecoming papers (Starlikeness and the Cauchy transform of some self-similar measures, in preparation; The Cauchy transform on the Sierpinski gasket, in preparation), we study the analytic and geometric behavior as well as the fractal behavior of the transform F. The main concentration here is on the Laurent coefficients {a_n}_n=0^∞ of F. We give asymptotic formulas for {a_n}_n=0^∞ and for F^(k)(z) near the support of μ, hence the precise growth rates on |a_n| and |F^(k)| are determined. These formulas are connected with some multiplicative periodic functions, which reflect the self-similarity of μ and K. As a by-product, we also discover new identities of certain infinite products and series.     

Sliding of self-similar sets

This paper deals with the Lipschitz equivalence of slidings of self-similar sets by graph-directed construction and martingale theory.     

Gaussian rational quadrature formulas for ill-scaled integrands

A flexible treatment of Gaussian quadrature formulas based on rational functions is given to evaluate the integral , when f is meromorphic in a neighborhood V of the interval I and W(x) is an ill-scaled weight function. Some numerical tests illustrate the power of this approach in comparison with Gautschi’s method.     

When is the union of two unit intervals a self-similar set satisfying the open set condition?

Let U _λ be the union of two unit intervals with gap λ. We show that U _λ is a self-similar set satisfying the open set condition if and only if U _λ can tile an interval by finitely many of its affine copies (admitting different dilations). Furthermore, each such λ can be characterized as the spectrum of an irreducible double word which represents a tiling pattern. Some further considerations of the set of all such λ’s, as well as the corresponding tiling patterns, are given. The first author was partially supported by the RGC grant and the direct grant in CUHK, Fok Ying Tong Education Foundation and NSFC (10571100). The second author was partially supported by NSFC (70371074) and NFSC (10571104).     

Graph-directed systems and self-similar measures on limit spaces of self-similar groups

Let G be a group and ?:H→G be a contracting homomorphism from a subgroup H<G of finite index. V. Nekrashevych (2005) [25] associated with the pair (G,?) the limit dynamical system (JG,s) and the limit G-space XG together with the covering _?g∈GT⋅g by the tile T. We develop the theory of self-similar measures m on these limit spaces. It is shown that (JG,s,m) is conjugated to the one-sided Bernoulli shift. Using sofic subshifts we prove that the tile T has integer measure and we give an algorithmic way to compute it. In addition we give an algorithm to find the measure of the intersection of tiles T∩(T⋅g) for g∈G. We present applications to the invariant measures for the rational functions on the Riemann sphere and to the evaluation of the Lebesgue measure of integral self-affine tiles.     

Divergence points of self-similar measures and packing dimension

Let μ be a self-similar measure in Rd. A point x∈Rd for which the limit does not exist is called a divergence point. Very recently there has been an enormous interest in investigating the fractal structure of various sets of divergence points. However, all previous work has focused exclusively on the study of the Hausdorff dimension of sets of divergence points and nothing is known about the packing dimension of sets of divergence points. In this paper we will give a systematic and detailed account of the problem of determining the packing dimensions of sets of divergence points of self-similar measures. An interesting and surprising consequence of our results is that, except for certain trivial cases, many natural sets of divergence points have distinct Hausdorff and packing dimensions.     

Hausdorff dimension of the limit sets of some planar geometric constructions

We determine the Hausdorff and box dimension of the limit sets for some class of planar non-Moran-like geometric constructions generalizing the Bedford-McMullen general Sierpiński carpets. The class includes affine constructions generated by an arbitrary partition of the unit square by a finite number of horizontal and vertical lines, as well as some non-affine examples, e.g. the flexed Sierpiński gasket.     

On the magnification of cantor sets and their limit models

For aC ¹⁺ hyperbolic (cookie-cutter) Cantor setC we consider the limits of sequences of closed subsets ofR obtained by arbitrarily high magnifications around different points ofC. It is shown that a well defined set of limit models exists for the infinitesimal geometry, orscenery, in the Cantor set. IfCC} is a diffeomorphic copy ofC then the set of limit models of C is the same as that ofC. Furthermore every limit model is made of Cantor sets which areC ¹⁺ diffeomorphic withC (for some >0, (0,1)), but not all suchC ¹⁺ copies ofC occur in the limit models. We show the relation between this approach to the asymptotic structure of a Cantor set and Sullivan's scaling function. An alternative definition of a fractal is discussed.With 1 Figure