Markov spectrum near Freiman's isolated points in \(M\setminus L\) (Q1788111)

Continuing their impressively successful application of dynamical methods to the study of the Markoff \(\mathcal M\) and Lagrange \(\mathcal L\) spectra of Diophantine approximation, the authors give a lower bound on the Hausdorff dimension of an interval \((c_{\infty}, C_{\infty})\) studied by \textit{G. A. Freĭman} et al. [in: Teoretiko-Chisl. Issled. Spektru Markov. Struktur. Teor. Slozhen. Mnozhestv, 5--9, 10--15, 16--49, 50--78, 79--86, 87--120, 121--125 (1973; Zbl 0354.10024)]. This is the largest open interval avoiding \(\mathcal L\) but containing the countable set of isolated points of \(\mathcal M\) (not in the Lagrange spectrum) given by \textit{G. A. Freiman} [Math. Notes 3, 125--128 (1968; Zbl 0162.34702)]. By a detailed study of regular continued fraction expansions, here it is shown that \((\mathcal M \setminus \mathcal L) \cap (c_{\infty}, C_{\infty})\) contains a set diffeomorphic to a set \(Y\) (of expansions in digits \(\{1,2\}\) not containing twenty seven explicit finite words) and in fact has the same Hausdorff dimension as \(Y\). Since \(Y\) contains the Gauss-Cantor set of expansions with allowable subwords \( 1,1\) and \(2,2\), a lower bound on the Hausdorff dimension is reached by use of known formulas for bounds on the Hausdorff dimension of such sets.