Distances on topological self-similar sets and the kneading determinants (Q5939015)

To a finite family of contractions \(F_1, F_2,\ldots F_N\) on a complete metric space \((X,d)\) one associates a nonempty compact set \(K\), \[ K=F_1(K)\cup F_2(K)\cup \ldots \cup F_N(K), \] called by the author the self-similar set associated to the given contractions. The author introduces the more general notion of topological self-similar set, which is a compact Hausdorff topological space \(K\) for which there exist continuous maps \(F_{i}:K\to K\), \(i=\overline{1,N}\), and a continuous surjection \(\pi:\Sigma_{N}\to K\), from the one sided symbolic space associated to the alphabet \(\{1,2,\ldots, N\}\), to the compact space \(K\), such that for all \(i\), \(F_{i}\pi=\pi\tau_{i}\), where \(\tau_{i}:\Sigma_{N}\to\Sigma_{N}\), and \(\tau_{i}(w_{1}w_{2}\ldots)=iw_{1}w_{2}\ldots\;\). The first problem the present paper tries to answer, whether or not, there exists a metric \(d\) on a topological self-similar set \((K,\{F_{i}\}_{i=1}^{N})\), such that all \(F_{i}\) are contractions with respect to \(d\). Such a particular metric is called a self-similar metric. It is shown that we can always construct a pseudo-distance \(D_{\alpha}\), on a topological self-similar set, associated to a polyratio, \(\alpha\), which is an \(N\)-tuple of positive, less than one real numbers, \(\alpha=(\alpha_{1},\alpha_{2},\ldots,\alpha_{N})\), such that \(D_{\alpha}(F_{i}(x),F_{i}(y))\leq \alpha_{i}D_{\alpha}(x,y)\), for all \(i\). Furthermore, it is proved that there exists a self-similar metric on the self-similar topological space \(K\) if and only if there exists a polyratio such that the associated pseudo-distance is a distance on \(K\). If the pseudo-distance \(D_{\alpha}\) is a distance, then the pseudo-distance associated to a polyratio \(\alpha'\) such that \(\alpha_{i}\leq \alpha'_{i}\), for all \(i\), is also a distance. For a topological self-similar space it is defined the kneading invariant, originating in the interval dynamics, and some properties of this invariant are derived. Moreover, the connectedness of such a space is discussed The second important problem approached in the paper under review is to find critical polyratios, i.e., minimal polyratios such that the associated pseudo-distances are distances. In order to solve such a problem the author considers particular topological self-similar spaces (satisfying certain conditions). To such a space one associates an invariant tree, and a dynamical system on this tree is defined. Within this framework, a critical polyratio is a generalization of the topological entropy of a dynamical system. The critical polyratios are studied, using a version of the Milnor-Thurston's theory.