Multigeometric sequences and cantorvals

Abstract: For a sequence

x i n l_{1} s e t m i n u s c_{00}

, one can consider the achievement set

E (x)

of all subsums of series

s u m_{n = 1}^{i n f t y} x (n)

. It is known that

E (x)

is one of the following types of sets: * finite union of closed intervals, * homeomorphic to the Cantor set, * homeomorphic to the set

T

of subsums of

s u m_{n = 1}^{i n f t y} c (n)

where

c (2 n - 1) = f r a c 3 4^{n}

and

c (2 n) = f r a c 2 4^{n}

(Cantorval). Based on ideas of Jones and Velleman, and Guthrie and Nymann we describe families of sequences which contain, according to our knowledge, all known examples of

x

's with

E (x)

being Cantorvals.

Review text

A cantorval is a nonempty compact subset \(S\) of the real line such that \(S\) is the closure of its interior, and both endpoints of any component with nonempty interior are accumulation points of one-point components of \(S\). For \(x\in\ell_1\setminus c_{00}\), let \(E(x)=\{\sum_{n=1}^\infty \varepsilon_nx_n:\varepsilon_n=0,1\}\) denote the set of all subsums of the series \(\sum_{n=1}^\infty x_n\), called the achievement set of \(x\). In several papers, \textit{J. A. Guthrie}, \textit{J. E. Nymann} and \textit{R. A. Sáenz} characterized the topological structure of the achievement sets as follows [\textit{J. A. Guthrie} and \textit{J. E. Nymann}, Colloq. Math. 55, No.~2, 323--327 (1988; Zbl 0719.40004); \textit{J. E. Nymann} and \textit{R. A. Sáenz}, Publ. Math. 50, No.~ 3--4, 305--316 (1997; Zbl 0880.11013); Colloq. Math. 83, No.~1, 1--4 (2000; Zbl 0989.11007)]. The set \(E(x)\) is one of the following types: {\parindent=8mm \begin{itemize}\item[(i)] a finite union of closed intervals;\item[(ii)] homeomorphic to the ternary Cantor set;\item[(iii)] a cantorval. \end{itemize}} For any \(q\in(0,1/2)\) and positive integers \(k_1\geq k_2\geq\dots\geq k_m\), the symbol \((k_1,\dots,k_m;q)\) denotes the multigeometric sequence \[ (k_1,k_2,\dots,k_m,k_1q,k_2q,\dots,k_mq,k_1q^2,k_2q^2,\dots,k_mq^2,k_1q^3,\dots). \] Let \(K=\sum_{i=1}^mk_i.\) The authors prove the following. Assume that there exist positive integers \(n_0\) and \(n\) such that each number \(n_0,n_0+1,\dots,n\) can be obtained by summing up the numbers \(k_1,\dots,k_m\). If \(q\geq 1/(n+1)\), then \(E(k_1,\dots,k_m;q)\) has nonempty interior. If \(q<k_m/(K+k_m)\), then \(E(k_1,\dots,k_m;q)\) is not a finite union of intervals. Consequently, if \(1/(n+1)\leq q<k_m/(K+k_m)\), then \(E(k_1,\dots,k_m;q)\) is a cantorval. From this theorem, it can be deduced that some classical achievement sets are cantorvals. However, the result does not give a full characterization of multigeometric sequences for which their achievement sets are cantorvals. The authors give examples of multigeometric sequences of the form \(x=(3,2,2,\dots,2;q)\) such that \(q<1/(n+1)\) and \(E(x)\) is a cantorval.

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