Self-similar structure on intersections of triadic Cantor sets (Q2382732)

For a triadic Cantor set \(\mathbf C\) the authors investigate the intersections \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha)\). All real numbers \(\alpha\) are characterized for which \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha)\) is a self-similar set, and the form and structure of corresponding iterated function systems are studied. An iterated function system for a nonempty compact set \(T\) is defined as a family of distinct functions \(\{f_i(x)=r_ix+b_i,0<|r_i|<1\}_{i=1}^N\) such that \(T={\bigcup_{i=1}^N f_i(T)};\) \(T\) is called a self-similar set. The set of all iterated function systems for \(T\) is denoted by \(F(T).\) The classical Cantor triadic set \(\mathbf C\) is self-similar, and the simplest iterated function system for it is \(\{f_1(x)=x/3\), \(f_2(x)=x/3+2/3\}.\) The paper studies two principal questions on Cantor sets, namely: (1) Whether or not an intersection \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha)\) of the Cantor set and its translation is a self-similar set? (2) If (1) has a confirmative answer, what is the form of an iterated function system for it? The authors show that when studying the self-similarity of the set \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha),\) it is sufficient to consider \(\alpha\in(0,1);\) in this case, for \(\alpha=\sum_{i=1}^\infty\alpha_i3^{-i},\) \(\alpha_i\in\{-2, 0, 2\},\) they prove that \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha)\) is a self-similar set if and only if \(\widehat\alpha\) is periodic where \(\widehat\alpha_i = 2-|\alpha_i|\) for all \(i\geq 1.\) Furthemore, if \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha)\) is a self-similar set with more than one point, then there exists an iterated function system for it satisfying the strong separation condition. Then they derive the general form of an iterated function system for the self-similar set \({\mathbf C}_\alpha,\) which is a translation of \(\mathbf C\cap (\mathbf C+ \alpha)\) such that the origin is the left end of it: Let \(\widehat\alpha=I\overline{(I+J)}\) with \(I, J\in\{0,2\}^p.\) Then any iterated function system \(\{f_i(x)=r_ix+b_i,0<|r_i|<1\}_{i=1}^N\) for \({\mathbf C}_\alpha\) satisfies that \(r_i=3^{-q_i}\) for some integer \(q_i\) and \(b_i=\sum_{k=1}^{p+q_i}b_{ik}3^{-k},\) \(i=1,2,\dots , N,\) where all \(b_{ik}=0\) or 2. Moreover, each \(q_i\) is a period of \(\widehat\alpha.\) In the following the structure of all iterated function systems for the self-similar set \({\mathbf C}_\alpha\) is investigated further. For \(\widehat\alpha=I\overline{(I+J)}\) with the smallest period \(p_0,\) where again \(I, J\in\{0,2\}^p,\) it is proved that the set \(F({\mathbf C}_\alpha)\) of all iterated function systems for \({\mathbf C}_\alpha\) has a generating element if and only if \(\widehat\alpha_k\leq\widehat\alpha_{k+p_0}\) for each \(k\) (\(1\leq k\leq p+p_0\)). Another theorem proves that if \(F({\mathbf C}_\alpha)\) has a generating element \(\mathcal G,\) then the iterated function system \(\mathcal F\) for \({\mathbf C}_\alpha\) satisfies the strong separation condition if and only if \(\mathcal F\) is a tight set in the tree of \(\mathcal G.\) The paper is concluded by an example illustrating the complicated structure of all iterated function systems which generate \({\mathbf C}_\alpha\) when a generating element does not exist.