Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1005.1301

Drawing butterflies from the almost Mathieu operator

Michael P. Lamoureux
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Plotting spectra of a range of almost Mathieu operators reveals a beautiful fractal-like image that contains multiple copies of a butterfly image. We demonstrate that plotting the butterflies using a gap-labelling scheme based on K-theory or Chern numbers reveals systematic discontinuities in the gap positioning. A proper image is produced only when we take into account these discontinuities, and close the butterfly wingtips at the points of discontinuity. A conjecture is presented showing a simple formula for locating the discontinuities, and numerical evidence is given to support the conjecture. We also present new renderings of this butterfly.

Explore related subjects

math.OAmath-phmath.FAmath.MP

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Michael P. Lamoureux. 2010-05-07. Drawing butterflies from the almost Mathieu operator. https://arxiv.org/abs/1005.1301

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

On the II$_{1}$ Factors of Fuchsian Groups

We show that von Neumann algebras of fundamental groups of closed orientable surfaces of genus $g\geq2$ are free group factors on $2g-1$generators. The key technical ingredient involves a proof that the element $w=ABA^{-1}B^{-1}$ of the free group $\mathbb{F}_{2}=\langle A,B\rangle$ is freely complemented in the group factor: $L(\mathbb{F}_{2})=W^{*}(w)*W^{*}(v)$ for some Haar unitary $v\in L(\mathbb{F}_{2})$ that is freely independent from $w$. Combined with previous results, we conclude that for an arbitrary finitely generated torsion-free non-elementary discrete subgroup $\Gamma\subset PSL_{2}(\mathbb{R})$, $L(\Gamma)$ is a free group factor, settling a conjecture of de la Harpe and Voiculescu. This result was obtained using OpenAI's ChatGPT Pro 6.0.

math.OA↗
arXiv2026

On AF- and type I-ideals in certain crossed product C$^\ast$-algebras

We study locally finite-dimensional ideals in crossed products of totally disconnected spaces by free actions of the integers and in uniform Roe algebras of exact discrete groups. In the first case, we present a dynamical description of the largest locally finite-dimensional ideal, which turns out to coincide with the intersection of all maximal ideals. In the latter case, we provide a coarse geometric characterization of the locally finite-dimensional compact ideals. Moreover, we show that for crossed products of totally disconnected spaces by free actions of exact groups, the largest type I-ideal is locally finite-dimensional. In the case of uniform Roe algebras, we provide coarse geometric conditions for compact ideals guaranteeing that the ideal is type I and admits an embedding of a UHF-algebra, respectively.

math.OA↗
arXiv2026

Continuous family of compact quantum metric space structures from cocycle twisted crossed product $\textrm{C}^{\ast}$-algebras

We establish the existence of a three-parameter family of compact quantum metric space structures on cocycle twisted crossed products by discrete groups. We are mainly interested in the case where the acting group has exponential/subexponential growth. We prove that the family is jointly continuous with respect to the parameters when the acting group is exact. We obtain quantitative upper and lower bounds for the associated metric dimensions. In particular, the bounds are helpful to prove the failure of lower semicontinuity of the metric dimension with respect to the quantum Gromov-Hausdorff distance. We also prove invariance of metric dimension under zero quantum Gromov-Hausdorff distance.

math.OA↗