On the Characterization of Expansion Maps for Self-Affine Tilings

We consider self-affine tilings in ℝ ⁿ with expansion matrix φ and address the question which matrices φ can arise this way. In one dimension, λ is an expansion factor of a self-affine tiling if and only if |λ| is a Perron number, by a result of Lind. In two dimensions, when φ is a similarity, we can speak of a complex expansion factor, and there is an analogous necessary condition, due to Thurston: if a complex λ is an expansion factor of a self-similar tiling, then it is a complex Perron number. We establish a necessary condition for φ to be an expansion matrix for any n, assuming only that φ is diagonalizable over ℂ. We conjecture that this condition on φ is also sufficient for the existence of a self-affine tiling.