Shifts of finite type and random substitutions (Q2000198)

A random substitution \(\vartheta\) replaces each letter \(a\) by a word in the finite set \(\vartheta(a)\). The authors prove that every transitive shift of finite type is topologically conjugate to a subshift arising from a primitive random substitution on a finite alphabet. Therefore, the set of topological entropies of random substitution shifts contains the logarithms of all Perron numbers. The authors also provide primitive random substitution shifts with entropies covering \(\mathbb{Q}_+ \log(\mathbb{Z}_+)\) and show that the set of entropies is closed under addition by \(\log(\mathbb{Z}_+)\). It is an open question whether each transitive sofic shift can be realised as random substitution shift.