Repetitive Delone sets and quasicrystals

Abstract: This paper considers the problem of characterizing the simplest discrete point sets that are aperiodic, using invariants based on topological dynamics. A Delone set whose patch-counting function N(T), for radius T, is finite for all T is called repetitive if there is a function M(T) such that every ball of radius M(T)+T contains a copy of each kind of patch of radius T that occurs in the set. This is equivalent to the minimality of an associated topological dynamical system with R^n-action. There is a lower bound for M(T) in terms of N(T), namely N(T) = O(M(T)^n), but no general upper bound. The complexity of a repetitive Delone set can be measured by the growth rate of its repetitivity function M(T). For example, M(T) is bounded if and only if the set is a crystal. A set is called is linearly repetitive if M(T) = O(T) and densely repetitive if M(T) = O(N(T))^{1/n}). We show that linearly repetitive sets and densely repetitive sets have strict uniform patch frequencies, i.e. the associated topological dynamical system is strictly ergodic. It follows that such sets are diffractive. In the reverse direction, we construct a repetitive Delone set in R^n which has M(T) = O(T(log T)^{2/n}(log log log T)^{4/n}), but does not have uniform patch frequencies. Aperiodic linearly repetitive sets have many claims to be the simplest class of aperiodic sets, and we propose considering them as a notion of "perfectly ordered quasicrystal".

Review text

A {Delone set}, or {\((r,R)\)-set}, is a discrete set \(X\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) such that each open ball of radius \(r\) in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) contains at most one point of \(X\) and each closed ball of radius \(R\) in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) contains at least one point of \(X\). A {Delone set of finite type} is a Delone set \(X\) such that \(X-X\) is locally finite, that is, \(X-X\) is a set with only finitely many points in any bounded region. Such sets are characterized by their {patch-counting function} \(N_X(T)\) of radius \(T\) being finite for all \(T\). A Delone set of finite type is {repetitive} if there is a function \(M_X(T)\) such that every closed ball of radius \(M_X(T)+T\) contains a complete copy of each kind of patch of radius \(T\) that occurs in \(X\). The {complexity} of a repetitive Delone set \(X\) is measured by the growth rate of its repetitivity function \(M_X(T)\). A set \(X\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) is a periodic crystal if and only if the function \(M_X(T)\) is bounded. A set \(X\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) is {linearly repetitive} if \(M_X(T)=O(T)\) as \(T\to \infty \) and it is {densely repetitive} if \(M_X(T)=O(N_X(T))^{1/n}\) as \(T\to \infty \). The authors show that linearly repetitive sets and densely repetitive sets have strict uniform patch frequencies, that is, the associated topological dynamical system is strictly ergodic. It follows that such sets are diffractive, in the sense of having a well-defined diffraction measure. A set with no translation symmetries is called an {aperiodic set}. The general problem motivating this paper is that of characterizing the `simplest' locally finite point sets \(X\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) that are aperiodic. The authors study this problem for Delone sets and the proposed notions of simplicity involve constraints on the patches in the set and invariants from topological dynamics. The class of Delone sets of finite type give useful models for quasicrystalline materials (materials whose x-ray diffraction spectra have sharp spots, indicating some long-range order in the atomic structure, but which lack a lattice of periods).

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