A P.C.F. Self-Similar Set with no Self-Similar Energy
Roberto Peirone

TL;DR
This paper constructs an example of a finitely ramified P.C.F. self-similar fractal that does not admit a self-similar energy, resolving a longstanding open problem in fractal analysis.
Contribution
It provides the first known example of a P.C.F. self-similar set lacking a self-similar energy, answering a key open question.
Findings
Existence of P.C.F. self-similar set without self-similar energy
Counterexample to previous assumptions in fractal analysis
Advances understanding of energy structures on fractals
Abstract
A general class of finitely ramified fractals is that of P.C.F. self-similar sets. An important open problem in analysis on fractals was whether there exists a self-similar energy on every P.C.F. self-similar set. In this paper, I solve the problem, showing an example of a P.C.F. self-similar set where there exists no self-similar energy.
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A P.C.F. Self-Similar Set with no Self-Similar Energy
Roberto Peirone
Università di Roma ”Tor Vergata”, Dipartimento di Matematica
via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133, Roma, Italy
e.mail: peironemat.uniroma2.it
Abstract A general class of finitely ramified fractals is that of P.C.F. self-similar sets. An important open problem in analysis on fractals was whether there exists a self-similar energy on every P.C.F. self-similar set. In this paper, I solve the problem, showing an example of a P.C.F. self-similar set where there exists no self-similar energy.
1. Introduction.
An important problem in analysis of fractals is the construction of a Laplace operator, or equivalently, an energy, more precisely, a self-similar Dirichlet form. The construction of a self-similar Dirichlet form has been investigated specially on finitely ramified fractals. Roughly speaking, a fractal is finitely ramified if the intersection of each pair of copies of the fractal is a finite set. The Sierpinski Gasket, the Vicsek Set and the Lindstrøm Snowflake are finitely ramified fractals, while the Sierpinski Carpet is not.
More specially, we consider the P.C.F. self similar-sets, a general class of finitely ramified fractals introduced by Kigami in [3]. A general theory with many examples can be found in [4]. On such a class of fractals, the basic tool used to construct a self-similar Dirichlet form is a discrete Dirichlet form defined on a special finite subset of the fractal. Such discrete Dirichlet forms have to be eigenforms, i.e. the eigenvectors of a special nonlinear operator called renormalization operator, which depends on a set of positive weights placed on the cells of the fractal. In [5], [10] and [6] criteria for the existence of an eigenform with prescribed weights are discussed. In particular, in [5], T. Lindstrøm proved that there exists an eigenform on the nested fractals with all weights equal to , C. Sabot in [10] proved a rather general criterion, and V. Metz in [6] improved the results in [10].
In [1], [7], [8] and [9], instead, the problem is considered whether on a given fractal there exists a G-eigenform. By this we mean a form which is an eigenform of the operator for some set of weights . In such papers the existence of a G-eigenform was proved on some classes of P.C.F. self-similar sets. In fact, the following open problem is well-known
Does a G-eigenform exist on every P.C.F.self-similar set?
In this paper, I solve such a problem showing an example of P.C.F.self-similar set with no G-eigenform. Here, I consider a very general class of P.C.F. self-similar sets, as usually in my previous papers on this topic (see Section 2 for the details), but also in other papers (for example it is considered in [11]. The example is constructed in Section 3. It is a variant of the -Gaskets, in the sense that every cell only intesects and , and has twenty vertices. The ptoof is based on the evaluation of the effective conductivities on pairs of close vertices and of far vertices. Note that in [9] the existence of a G-eigenform is proved on every fractal (of the class considered here) but only if we consider the fractal generated by a set of similarities which is not necessarily the given set of similarities (see [9] for the details).
2. Definitions and Notation.
I will now define the fractal setting, which is based on that in [9]. This kind of approach was firstly given in [2]. We define a fractal by giving a fractal triple, i.e., a triple where and are finite sets with , and is a finite set of one-to-one maps from into satisfying
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We put V^{(0)}=\big{\{}P_{1},...,P_{N}\big{\}}, and of course . A set of the form with will be called a cell or a -cell. We require that
a) For each there exists a (unique) map such that , and \Psi=\big{\{}\psi_{1},...,\psi_{k}\big{\}}, with .
b) when (in other words, if with , , then ).
c) Any two points in can be connected by a path any edge of which belongs to a -cell, depending of the edge.
Of course, it immediately follows . Let and put for each . Let . It is well-known that on every fractal triple we can construct a P.C.F.-self-similar set.
We denote by or simply the set of the Dirichlet forms on , invariant with respect to an additive constant, i.e., the set of the functionals from into of the form
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with . I will denote by or simply the set of the irreducible Dirichlet forms, i.e., if and moreover if and only if is constant. The numbers are called coefficients of . We also say that is the conductivity between and (with respect to ). Next, I recall the notion of effective conductivity. Let , and let , . Then we put
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It can be easily proved that the minimum exists, is attained at a unique function, and amounts to . So, for and , we define by
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The value or short , is called effective conductivity between and (with respect to ). Note that . The following remark can be easily verified (see Remark 2.9 in [9].
Remark 2.1. If , , and , then
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Recall that for every , ( the renormalization operator is defined as follows: for every and every ,
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It is well known that and that the infimum is attained at a unique function . When , an element of is said to be an -eigenform with eigenvalue if . As this amounts to , we could also require . The problem discussed in the present paper is that of the existence of a G-eigenform in , in other words, the existence of such that for some and . In next section, I will describe an example of a fractal triple where there exists no G-eigenform. To this aim, it will be useful the following standard lemma (see e.g., Lemma 3.3 in [9].
Lemma 2.2 For every and we have
\widetilde{C}_{\{j_{1},j_{2}\}}\big{(}\Lambda_{r}(E)\big{)}=\min\big{\{}S_{1,r}(E)(v):v\in H_{j_{1},j_{2}}\big{\}},
\text{where}\ \ H_{j_{1},j_{2}}=\big{\{}v\in\mathbb{R}^{V^{(1)}}:v(P_{j_{1}})=0,v(P_{j_{2}})=1\big{\}}\,.
3. The Example.
Let be a fractal triple so defined. Let be a positive even number. Let , and we fix so . Let . Here, thus, . In the following, the indices of the points and of the maps will be meant to be mod . For example, if . Suppose if , and
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In this way , , with Thus the points and are opposite in . Here we say that and are opposite in and that and are opposite in . In order to prove Theorem 3.2, we could use arguments based on effective resistances in series, but, in order to avoid some slightly technical points, I prefer to give a direct proof. We need the following well known lemma.
Lemma 3.1. For every positive integer and every , , we have
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Proof. Let be defined by . Since is continuous and , attains a minimum on the closed set at some point . We find using the Lagrange multiplier rule. We have for some and every . Thus, and \overline{x}_{i}=\lambda b_{i}^{-1}=b_{i}^{-1}\Big{(}\sum\limits_{j=1}^{n}b_{j}^{-1}\Big{)}^{-1}. Since , a simple calculation completes the proof.
Theorem 3.2. On there exists no -eigenform.
Proof. Suppose by contradiction there exist and such that . Of course, in view of Lemma 2.2, this implies
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Now, let \overline{r}=\max\Big{\{}\min\{r_{2h+1},r_{2h+2}\}:h=0,...,9\Big{\}}. Thus,
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Next, we evaluate using (3.1). Let . Then, since by definition , in view of (3.2) we have
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Let . Let , . Then we have
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By Remark 2.1 and Lemma 3.1 with , we thus have
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By (3.4) and (3.1) we have , thus
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Let now be so that
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Note that, in view of Remark 2.1, for every and every there exists such that
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Next, define , in terms of . Given such let , for . Let be so that
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We easily see that the definition of is correct, i.e., the definition of at the points (the only points lying in different cells) is independent of the two representations of , that is, and . Moreover, as , and . we immediately see that . Since , we have
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So far we have taken arbitrary . Now take those that minimize the sums in previous formula. By Lemma 3.1, with this we have
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By (3.3), for at least four we have , so \big{(}\sum\limits_{i=1}^{9}(r_{i+\widehat{l}})^{-1}\big{)}^{-1}<{\overline{r}\over 4}. Similarly, \big{(}\sum\limits_{i=1}^{9}(r_{i+\widehat{l}+10})^{-1}\big{)}^{-1}<{\overline{r}\over 4}. Since , by (3.8) and (3.1) we have
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Thus, , which contradicts (3.5).
References
[1] B.M. Hambly, V. Metz, A. Teplyaev, Self-similar energies on post-critically finite self-similar fractals, J. London Math Soc. (2) 74, pp. 93-112, 2006
[2] K.Hattori, T. Hattori, H. Watanabe, Gaussian field theories on general networks and the spectral dimension, Progr. Theoret. Phys. Suppl. 92, pp. 108-143, 1987
[3] J. Kigami, Harmonic calculus on p.c.f. self-similar sets, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 335, pp.721-755, 1993
[4] J. Kigami, Analysis on fractals, Cambridge University Press, 2001
[5] T. Lindstrm, Brownian motion on nested fractals, Mem. Amer. Math. Soc. 83 No. 420, 1990
[6] V. Metz, The short-cut test, J. Funct. Anal. 220, pp. 118-156, 2005
[7] R. Peirone, Existence of eigenforms on fractals with three vertices, Proc. Royal Soc. Edinburgh Sect. A 137, 2007
[8] R. Peirone, Existence of eigenforms on nicely separated fractals, in Analysis of graphs and its applications, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, pp. 231-241, 2008
[9] R. Peirone, Existence of self-similar energies on finitely ramified fractals, Journal d’Analyse Mathématique Volume 123 Issue 1, pp. 35-94, 2014
[10] C. Sabot, Existence and uniqueness of diffusions on finitely ramified self-similar fractals, Ann. Sci. École Norm. Sup. (4) 30, pp. 605-673, 1997
[11] R.S. Strichartz, Differential equations on fractals: a tutorial, Princeton University Press, 2006
