Level sets of the Takagi function: local level sets (Q420579)

The purpose of the paper is the investigation of local level sets associated with the Takagi function \(\tau:[0,1]\to[0,1]\). These local level sets are closed sets determined locally by combinatorial operations on the binary expansion of a real number. Moreover, it is shown that each level set \(L(y) := \{x : \tau(x) = y\}\) of \(\tau\) can be decomposed into a disjoint union of local level sets. In contrast to the known result that for a ``generic'' full Lebesgue measure set of ordinates \(y\), the level sets are finite sets, it is shown here that for a `generic'' full Lebesgue measure set of abscissas \(x\), the level sets \(L(\tau(x))\) are uncountable. The authors also construct a singular monotone function associated with local level sets, and use it to prove that the expected number of local level sets at a random level \(y\) is exactly 3/2.