Intersections of middle-$\alpha$ Cantor sets with a fixed translation

Abstract

For $\lambda\in(0,1/3]$ let $C_\lambda$ be the middle-$(1-2\lambda)$ Cantor set in $\mathbb R$. Given $t\in[-1,1]$, excluding the trivial case we show that \[ \Lambda(t):=\left\{\lambda\in(0,1/3]: C_\lambda\cap(C_\lambda+t)\ne\emptyset\right\} \] is a topological Cantor set with zero Lebesgue measure and full Hausdorff dimension. In particular, we calculate the local dimension of $\Lambda(t)$, which reveals a dimensional variation principle. Furthermore, for any $\beta\in[0,1]$ we show that the level set \[ \Lambda_\beta(t):=\left\{\lambda\in\Lambda(t): \dim_H(C_\lambda\cap(C_\lambda+t))=\dim_P(C_\lambda\cap(C_\lambda+t))=\beta\frac{\log 2}{-\log \lambda}\right\} \] has equal Hausdorff and packing dimension $(-\beta\log\beta-(1-\beta)\log\frac{1-\beta}{2})/\log 3$. We also show that the set of $\lambda\in\Lambda(t)$ for which $\dim_H(C_\lambda\cap(C_\lambda+t))\ne\dim_P(C_\lambda\cap(C_\lambda+t))$ has full Hausdorff dimension.