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Michael Hochman

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Hochman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2014

Self similar sets, entropy and additive combinatorics

This article is an exposition of recent results on self-similar sets, asserting that if the dimension is smaller than the trivial upper bound then there are almost overlaps between cylinders. We give a heuristic derivation of the theorem using elementary arguments about covering numbers. We also give a short introduction to additive combinatorics, focusing on inverse theorems, which play a pivotal role in the proof. Our elementary approach avoids many of the technicalities in the original proof but also falls short of a complete proof. In the last section we discuss how the heuristic argument is turned into a rigorous one.

math.CA↗
arXiv2014

On self-similar sets with overlaps and inverse theorems for entropy

We study the Hausdorff dimension of self-similar sets and measures on the line. We show that if the dimension is smaller than the minimum of 1 and the similarity dimension, then at small scales there are super-exponentially close cylinders. This is a step towards the folklore conjecture that such a drop in dimension is explained only by exact overlaps, and confirms the conjecture in cases where the contraction parameters are algebraic. It also gives an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Furstenberg, showing that the projections of the "1-dimensional Sierpinski gasket" in irrational directions are all of dimension 1. As another consequence, if a family of self-similar sets or measures is parametrized in a real-analytic manner, then, under an extremely mild non-degeneracy condition, the set of "exceptional" parameters has Hausdorff dimension 0. Thus, for example, there is at most a zero-dimensional set of parameters 1/2<r<1 such that the corresponding Bernoulli convolution has dimension <1, and similarly for Sinai's problem on iterated function systems that contract on average. A central ingredient of the proof is an inverse theorem for the growth of Shannon entropy of convolutions of probability measures. For the dyadic partition D_n of the line into intervals of length 1/2^n, we show that if H(nu*mu,D_n)/n < H(mu,D_n)/n + delta for small delta and large n, then, when restricted to random element of a partition D_i, 0<i<n, either mu is close to uniform or nu is close to atomic. This should be compared to results in additive combinatorics that give the global structure of measures satisfying H(nu*mu,D_n)/n < H(mu,D_n)/n + O(1/n).

math.CA↗
arXiv2013

Dynamics on fractals and fractal distributions

We study fractal measures on Euclidean space through the dynamics of "zooming in" on typical points. The resulting family of measures (the "scenery"), can be interpreted as an orbit in an appropriate dynamical system which often equidistributes for some invariant distribution. The first part of the paper develops basic properties of these limiting distributions and the relations between them and other models of dynamics on fractals, specifically to Zähle distributions and Furstenberg's CP-processes. In the second part of the paper we study the geometric properties of measures arising in these contexts, specifically their behavior under projection and conditioning on subspaces.

math.DS↗
arXiv2013

Examples of nonpolygonal limit shapes in i.i.d. first-passage percolation and infinite coexistence in spatial growth models

We construct an edge-weight distribution for i.i.d. first-passage percolation on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ whose limit shape is not a polygon and whose extreme points are arbitrarily dense in the boundary. Consequently, the associated Richardson-type growth model can support coexistence of a countably infinite number of distinct species, and the graph of infection has infinitely many ends.

math.PR↗
arXiv2012

Isomorphism and embedding of Borel systems on full sets

A Borel system consists of a measurable automorphism of a standard Borel space. We consider Borel embeddings and isomorphisms between such systems modulo null sets, i.e. sets which have measure zero for every invariant probability measure. For every t>0 we show that in this category there exists a unique free Borel system (Y,S) which is strictly t-universal in the sense that all invariant measures on Y have entropy <t, and if (X,T) is another free system obeying the same entropy condition then X embeds into Y off a null set. One gets a strictly t-universal system from mixing shifts of finite type of entropy at least t by removing the periodic points and "restricting" to the part of the system of entropy <t. As a consequence, after removing their periodic points the systems in the following classes are completely classified by entropy up to Borel isomorphism off null sets: mixing shifts of finite type, mixing positive-recurrent countable state Markov chains, mixing sofic shifts, beta shifts, synchronized subshifts, and axiom-A diffeomorphisms. In particular any two equal-entropy systems from these classes are entropy conjugate in the sense of Buzzi, answering a question of Boyle, Buzzi and Gomez.

math.DS↗
arXiv2012

On the ratio ergodic theorem for group actions

We study the ratio ergodic theorem (RET) of Hopf for group actions. Under a certain technical condition, if a sequence of sets {F_n} in a group satisfy the RET, then there is a finite set E such that {EF_n} satisfies the Besicovitch covering property. Consequently for free abelian groups of infinite rank there is no sequence F_n along which the RET holds, and in many finitely generated groups, including the discrete Heisenberg group and the free group on d>1 generators, there is no (sub)sequence of balls, in the standard generators, along which the RET holds. On the other hand, in groups with polynomial growth (including the Heisenberg group, to which our negative results apply) there always exists a sequence of balls along which the RET holds if convergence is understood as a.e. convergence in density (i.e. omitting a sequence of density zero).

math.DS↗
arXiv2011

Local entropy averages and projections of fractal measures

We show that for families of measures on Euclidean space which satisfy an ergodic-theoretic form of "self-similarity" under the operation of re-scaling, the dimension of linear images of the measure behaves in a semi-continuous way. We apply this to prove the following conjecture of Furstenberg: Let m,n be integers which are not powers of the same integer, and let X,Y be closed subsets of the unit interval which are invariant, respectively, under times-m mod 1 and times-n mod 1. Then, for any non-zero t: dim(X+tY)=min{1,dim(X)+dim(Y)}. A similar result holds for invariant measures, and gives a simple proof of the Rudolph-Johnson theorem. Our methods also apply to many other classes of conformal fractals and measures. As another application, we extend and unify Results of Peres, Shmerkin and Nazarov, and of Moreira, concerning projections of products self-similar measures and Gibbs measures on regular Cantor sets. We show that under natural irreducibility assumptions on the maps in the IFS, the image measure has the maximal possible dimension under any linear projection other than the coordinate projections. We also present applications to Bernoulli convolutions and to the images of fractal measures under differentiable maps.

math.DS↗
arXiv2011

Slow entropy and differentiable models for infinite-measure preserving Z^k actions

We define "slow" entropy invariants for Z^2 actions on infinite measure spaces, which measures growth of itineraries at subexponential scales. We use this to construct infinite-measure preserving Z^2 actions which cannot be realized as a group of diffeomorphisms of a compact manifold preserving a Borel measure, contrary to the situation for Z-actions, where every infinite-measure preserving action can be realized in this way.

math.DS↗
arXiv2010

On notions of determinism in topological dynamics

We examine the relation between topological entropy, invertability, and prediction in topological dynamics. We show that topological determinism in the sense of Kamisky Siemaszko and Szymaski imposes no restriction on invariant measures except zero entropy. Also, we develop a new method for relating topological determinism and zero entropy, and apply it to obtain a multidimensional analog of this theory. We examine prediction in symbolic dynamics and show that while the condition that each past admit a unique future only occurs in finite systems, the condition that each past have a bounded number of future imposes no restriction on invariant measures except zero entropy. Finally, we give a negative answer to a question of Eli Glasner by constructing a zero-entropy system with a globally supported ergodic measure in which every point has multiple preimages.

math.DS↗
arXiv2010

Geometric rigidity of times-m invariant measures

Let b be an integer and mu a probability measure on [0,1] which is invariant and ergodic multiplication by b mod 1, and 0<dim(mu)<1. Let f be a diffeomorphism between open subsets of the line. We show that if the measures mu and f(mu) are equivalent on f(E), then f'(x) is a rational power of b at mu-a.e. point x in E. In particular, if g is a piecewise-analytic map preserving mu then there is an open g-invariant set U supporting mu such that g is piecewise-linear on U and has slopes which are rational powers of a. In a similar vein, for mu as above, if c is another integer and b,c are not powers of a common integer, and if nu is in variant for multiplication by c mod 1, then f(mu) and f(nu) are mutually singular for all diffeomorphisms f of class C^2. This generalizes the Rudolph-Johnson Theorem and shows that measure rigidity of times-b and times-c is a result not of the structure of the abelian action, but rather of their smooth conjugacy classes: if U,V are maps of the 1-torus which are C^2-conjugate to times-b and times-c, respectively, then they have no common ergodic measures of positive dimension.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

Upcrossing inequalities for stationary sequences and applications

For arrays $(S_{i,j})_{1\leq i\leq j}$ of random variables that are stationary in an appropriate sense, we show that the fluctuations of the process $(S_{1,n})_{n=1}^{\infty}$ can be bounded in terms of a measure of the ``mean subadditivity'' of the process $(S_{i,j})_{1\leq i\leq j}$. We derive universal upcrossing inequalities with exponential decay for Kingman's subadditive ergodic theorem, the Shannon--MacMillan--Breiman theorem and for the convergence of the Kolmogorov complexity of a stationary sample.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

Non-expansive directions for $Z^2$-actions

We show that any direction in the plane occurs as the unique non-expansive direction of a \mathbb{Z}^{2} action, answering a question of Boyle and Lind. In the case of rational directions, the subaction obtained is non-trivial. We also establish that a cellular automaton can have zero Lyapunov exponents and at the same time act sensitively; and more generally, for any positive real θthere is a cellular automaton acting on an appropriate subshift with λ^{+}=-λ^{-}=θ.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

Rohlin properties for $Z^d$-actions on the Cantor set

We study the space of continuous $Z^d$-actions on the Cantor set, particularly questions on the existence and nature of actions whose isomorphism class is dense (Rohlin's property). Kechris and Rosendal showed that for $d=1$ there is an action on the Cantor set whose isomorphism class is residual. We prove in contrast that for $\geq 2$ every isomorphism class is meager; on the other hand, while generically an action has dense isomorphism class and the effective actions are dense, no effective action has dense isomorphism class. Thus for $d \geq 2$ conjugation on the space of actions is topologically transitive but one cannot construct a transitive point. Finally, we show that in the space of transitive and minimal actions the effective actions are nowhere dense, and in particular there are minimal actions that are not approximable by minimal SFTs.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

Universality in Multidimensional Symbolic Dynamics

We show that in the category of effective $Z$ dynamical systems there is a universal system, i.e. one that factors onto every other effective system. In particular, for d $\geq 3$ there exist d-dimensional shifts of finite type which are universal for 1-dimensional subactions of SFTs. On the other hand, we show that there is no universal effective $Z^d$-system for $d>1$, and in particular SFTs cannot be universal for subactions of rank $d>1$. As a consequence, a decrease in entropy and Medvedev degree and periodic data are not sufficient for a factor map to exists between SFTs. We also discuss dynamics of cellular automata on their limit sets and show that (except for the unavoidable presence of a periodic point) they can model a large class of physical systems.

math.DS↗
arXiv2009

A ratio ergodic theorem for multiparameter non-singular actions

We prove a ratio ergodic theorem for non-singular free $Z^d$ and $R^d$ actions, along balls in an arbitrary norm. Using a Chacon-Ornstein type lemma the proof is reduced to a statement about the amount of mass of a probability measure that can concentrate on (thickened) boundaries of balls in $R^d$. The proof relies on geometric properties of norms, including the Besicovitch covering lemma and the fact that boundaries of balls have lower dimension than the ambient space. We also show that for general group actions, the Besicovitch covering property not only implies the maximal inequality, but is equivalent to it, implying that further generalization may require new methods.

math.DS↗
arXiv2007

Genericity in Topological Dynamics

We study genericity of dynamical properties in the space of homeomorphisms of the Cantor set and in the space of subshifts of a suitably large shift space. These rather different settings are related by a Glasner-King type correspondence: genericity in one is equivalent to genericity in the other. By applying symbolic techniques in the shift-space model we derive new results about genericity of dynamical properties for transitive and totally transitive homeomorphisms of the Cantor set. We show that the isomorphism class of the universal odometer is generic in the space of transitive systems. On the other hand, the space of totally transitive systems displays much more varied dynamics. In particular, we show that in this space the isomorphism class of every Cantor system without periodic points is dense, and the following properties are generic: minimality, zero entropy, disjointness from a fixed totally transitive system, weak mixing, strong mixing, and minimal self joinings. The last two stand in striking contrast to the situation in the measure-preserving category. We also prove a correspondence between genericity of dynamical properties in the measure-preserving category and genericity of systems supporting an invariant measure with the same property.

math.DS↗
arXiv2007

A Characterization of the Entropies of Multidimensional Shifts of Finite Type

We show that the values of entropies of multidimensional shifts of finite type (SFTs) are characterized by a certain computation-theoretic property: a real number $h\geq 0$ is the entropy of such an SFT if and only if it is right recursively enumerable, i.e. there is a computable sequence of rational numbers converging to $h$ from above. The same characterization holds for the entropies of sofic shifts. On the other hand, the entropy of an irreducible SFT is computable.

math.DS↗