Compact open spectral sets in \(\mathbb{Q}_p\) (Q329636)

Let \(G\) be a locally compact abelian group and \(\Omega \subset G\) be a Borel set of positive and finite Haar measure. \(\Omega\) is said to be spectral if there exists a set \(\Lambda \in \widehat{G}\) of continuous characters of \(G\) which forms a Hilbert basis of the space \(L^2(\Omega)\). Such a set \(\Lambda\) is called a spectrum of \(\Omega\) and \((\Omega, \Lambda)\) is called a spectral pair. We say that \(\Omega\) tiles \(G\) by translation if there exists a set \(T \subset G\) of translates such that \(\sum_{t \in T} 1_{\Omega}(x-t)=1\) for almost all \(x \in G\). Such a set \(T\) is called a tiling complement of \(\Omega\) and \((\Omega, T)\) is a tiling pair. The spectral set conjecture says that \(\Omega\) is a spectral set if and only if \(\Omega\) tiles \(G\). In the case \(G=\mathbb{R}^d\), this is the famous Fuglede spectral set conjecture. It is known that the Fuglede conjecture is false for \(d \geq 3\), and it is still open in lower dimensions (\(d=1,2\)). In this paper, the authors consider the spectral set conjecture restricted for compact open sets in the field \(\mathbb{Q}_p\) of \(p\)-adic numbers. The authors give a geometric characterization of compact open spectral sets and prove that a compact open set is spectral if and only if it tiles \(\mathbb{Q}_p\), and also if and only if it is \(p\)-homogeneous. They also show that given a \(p\)-homogeneous compact open set \(\Omega\) in \(\mathbb{Q}_p\), it has a unique spectrum and a unique tiling complement, up to isometric bijections of \(\mathbb{Q}_p\). In a later preprint [``Fuglede's conjecture holds in \(\mathbb Q_p\)'', \url{arXiv:1512.08904}], the authors prove the spectral set conjecture holds in \(\mathbb{Q}_p\), without the compact open restriction. In particular, they prove that any spectral set is a compact open set up to a Haar-null set. In this paper, the authors also characterize spectral sets in \(\mathbb{Z} / p^n \mathbb{Z}\) by the tiling property and also by homogeneity, and construct a class of singular spectral measures in \(\mathbb{Q}_p\).