Calculus on the Sierpinski gasket. I: Polynomials, exponentials and power series (Q1888364)

According to the authors, the Sierpinski gasket should be regarded as the simplest nontrivial example of a fractal supporting a theory of differential calculus based on a Laplacian. The goal of this paper is to develop a theory of functions whose domain of definition is the Sierpinski gasket. Basic references on this subject are [\textit{M. Barlow}, Diffusion on fractals. Berlin, Springer. Lect. Notes Math. 1690, 1--121 (1998; Zbl 0916.60069)] and [\textit{J. Kigami}, Analysis on fractals. Cambridge University Press. (2001; Zbl 0998.28004)]. The definition of a Laplacian \(\Delta\) on the Sierpinski gasket was given in the paper [\textit{J. Kigami}, Japan J. Appl. Math. 6, 256--290 (1989; Zbl 0686.31003)]. In the paper under review, the authors study the analog of power series expansions on the Sierpinski gasket. This is based on the Kigami Laplacian \(\Delta\). A \textit{polynomial} \(P\) is defined as a solution of the equation \(\Delta^j P=0\) for some \(j\). The authors obtain an estimate of the size of the monomials analogous to \(x^n/n!\). Polynomials in this sense have previously been studied in connection with Taylor approximation and splines. Normal and tangential derivatives are also defined. The authors obtain results on tangential derivatives of polynomials and analytic functions. The paper is a continuation of several works by some of its authors and by other authors. The authors extend the notion of a gradient of a function which they had defined in previous papers, to a notion of a \textit{jet}. They end up defining the notion of entire analytic function as functions represented by power series whose coefficients satisfy exponential growth conditions that are stronger than what is required to garantee uniform convergence. They present a characterization of these functions in terms of exponential growth conditions on powers of the Laplacian of the function. These entire analytic functions enjoy properties that one would expect, such as rearrangement and unique determination by infinite jets. The authors use a method for studying eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on the Sierpinski gasket called spectral decimation [see \textit{M. Fukushima} and \textit{T. Shima}, Potential Anal. 1, 1--35 (1992; Zbl 1081.31501)]. They use spectral decimation to study exponentials, and in particular to create exponentially decaying functions for negative eigenvalues.