Kotani-Last problem and Hardy spaces on surfaces of Widom type (Q464281)

The authors develop a quite comprehensive theory of Jacobi matrices \(J\in J(E)\), reflectionless on their spectrum (a real continuum) \[ E=\sigma(J)=[b_0,a_0]\backslash \bigcup_{j\geq1} (a_j,b_j). \] The climax of this theory is the refutation of the famous Kotani-Last conjecture concerning almost periodicity of such ergodic families of Jacobi matrices with absolutely continuous spectrum. More precisely, the authors construct sets \(E\) so that every \(J\in J(E)\) has absolutely continuous spectrum, the domain \(\Omega:=\bar{\mathbb{C}}\backslash E\) is of Widom type, and the frequencies \(\omega_j=\omega(\infty, E_j)\), \(E_j:=E\cap [b_j,a_0]\), are rationally independent. They define then a parameter \(\Theta\) and an ergodic family of Jacobi matrices so that all elements of this family are almost periodic as long as \(\Theta=\emptyset\), and none of them is, otherwise. The authors provide explicit conditions for the latter to hold, thereby disproving the Kotani-Last conjecture. The main analytic tool is the theory of Hardy classes of analytic functions on the Widom domains.