Weak Model Sets Research Articles

Spectrum of weak model sets with Borel windows

AbstractConsider the extended hull of a weak model set together with its natural shift action. Equip the extended hull with the Mirsky measure, which is a certain natural pattern frequency measure. It is known that the extended hull is a measure-theoretic factor of some group rotation, which is called the underlying torus. Among other results, in the articlePeriods and factors of weak model sets, we showed that the extended hull is isomorphic to a factor group of the torus, where certain periods of the window of the weak model set have been factored out. This was proved for weak model sets having a compact window. In this note, we argue that the same results hold for arbitrary measurable and relatively compact windows. Our arguments crucially rely on Moody’s work on uniform distribution in model sets. We also discuss implications for the diffraction of such weak model sets and discuss a new class of examples which are generic for the Mirsky measure.

Maximal equicontinuous generic factors and weak model sets

The orbit closures of regular model sets generated from a cut-and-project scheme given by a co-compact lattice \begin{document}$ {\mathcal L}\subset G\times H $\end{document} and compact and aperiodic window \begin{document}$ W\subseteq H $\end{document} , have the maximal equicontinuous factor (MEF) \begin{document}$ (G\times H)/ {\mathcal L} $\end{document} , if the window is toplogically regular. This picture breaks down, when the window has empty interior, in which case the MEF is trivial, although \begin{document}$ (G\times H)/ {\mathcal L} $\end{document} continues to be the Kronecker factor for the Mirsky measure. As this happens for many interesting examples like the square-free numbers or the visible lattice points, a weaker concept of topological factors is needed, like that of generic factors [ 24 ]. For topological dynamical systems that possess a finite invariant measure with full support ( \begin{document}$ E $\end{document} -systems) we prove the existence of a maximal equicontinuous generic factor (MEGF) and characterize it in terms of the regional proximal relation. This part of the paper profits strongly from previous work by McMahon [ 33 ] and Auslander [ 2 ]. In Sections 3 and 4 we determine the MEGF of orbit closures of weak model sets and use this result for an alternative proof (of a generalization) of the fact [ 34 ] that the centralizer of any \begin{document}$ {\mathcal B} $\end{document} -free dynamical system of Erdős type is trivial.

Periods and factors of weak model sets

There is a renewed interest in weak model sets due to their connection to $\mathcal B$-free systems, which emerged from Sarnak's program on the M\"obius disjointness conjecture. Here we continue our recent investigation [arXiv:1511.06137] of the extended hull ${\mathcal M}^{\scriptscriptstyle G}_{\scriptscriptstyle W}$, a dynamical system naturally associated to a weak model set in an abelian group $G$ with relatively compact window $W$. For windows having a nowhere dense boundary (this includes compact windows), we identify the maximal equicontinuous factor of ${\mathcal M}^{\scriptscriptstyle G}_{\scriptscriptstyle W}$ and give a sufficient condition when ${\mathcal M}^{\scriptscriptstyle G}_{\scriptscriptstyle W}$ is an almost 1:1 extension of its maximal equicontinuous factor. If the window is measurable with positive Haar measure and is almost compact, then the system ${\mathcal M}^{\scriptscriptstyle G}_{\scriptscriptstyle W}$ equipped with its Mirsky measure is isomorphic to its Kronecker factor. For general nontrivial ergodic probability measures on ${\mathcal M}^{\scriptscriptstyle G}_{\scriptscriptstyle W}$, we provide a kind of lower bound for the Kronecker factor. All relevant factor systems are natural $G$-actions on quotient subgroups of the torus underlying the weak model set. These are obtained by factoring out suitable window periods. Our results are specialised to the usual hull of the weak model set, and they are also interpreted for ${\mathcal B}$-free systems.

Pure Point Diffraction and Poisson Summation

We prove that the diffraction formula for regular model sets is equivalent to the Poisson Summation Formula for the underlying lattice. This is achieved using Fourier analysis of unbounded measures on locally compact abelian groups as developed by Argabright and de Lamadrid. We also obtain diffraction results for certain classes of non-regular so-called weak model sets.

Dynamics of $\boldsymbol{{\mathcal B}}$-Free Sets: A View Through the Window

Let $\mathcal B$ be an infinite subset of $\{1,2,\dots\}$. We characterize arithmetic and dynamical properties of the $\mathcal B$-free set $\mathcal F_{\mathcal B}$ through group theoretical, topological and measure theoretic properties of a set $W$ (called the window) associated with $\mathcal B$. This point of view stems from the interpretation of the set $\mathcal F_{\mathcal B}$ as a weak model set. Our main results are: $\mathcal B$ is taut if and only if the window is Haar regular; the dynamical system associated to $\mathcal F_{\mathcal B}$ is a Toeplitz system if and only if the window is topologically regular; the dynamical system associated to $\mathcal F_{\mathcal B}$ is proximal if and only if the window has empty interior; and the dynamical system associated to $\mathcal F_{\mathcal B}$ has the "na\"ively expected" maximal equicontinuous factor if and only if the interior of the window is aperiodic.

On weak model sets of extremal density

The theory of regular model sets is highly developed, but does not cover examples such as the visible lattice points, the kth power-free integers, or related systems. They belong to the class of weak model sets, where the window may have a boundary of positive measure, or even consists of boundary only. The latter phenomena are related to the topological entropy of the corresponding dynamical system and to various other unusual properties. Under a rather natural extremality assumption on the density of the weak model set, we establish its pure point diffraction nature. We derive an explicit formula that can be seen as the generalisation of the case of regular model sets. Furthermore, the corresponding natural patch frequency measure is shown to be ergodic. Since weak model sets of extremal density are generic for this measure, one obtains that the dynamical spectrum of the hull is pure point as well.

Dynamics on the graph of the torus parametrization

Model sets are projections of certain lattice subsets. It was realized by Moody [Uniform distribution in model sets. Canad. Math. Bull. 45(1) (2002), 123–130] that dynamical properties of such a set are induced from the torus associated with the lattice. We follow and extend this approach by studying dynamics on the graph of the map that associates lattice subsets to points of the torus and then we transfer the results to their projections. This not only leads to transparent proofs of known results on model sets, but we also obtain new results on so-called weak model sets. In particular, we prove pure point dynamical spectrum for the hull of a weak model set of maximal density together with the push forward of the torus Haar measure under the torus parametrization map, and we derive a formula for its pattern frequencies.

On Pattern Entropy of Weak Model Sets

We study point sets arising from cut-and-project constructions. An important class is weak model sets, which include squarefree numbers and visible lattice points. For such model sets, we give a non-trivial upper bound on their pattern entropy in terms of the volume of the window boundary in internal space. This proves a conjecture by R.V. Moody.