Dimension of graphoids of rational vector-functions

Let $F$ be a countable family of rational functions of two variables with real coefficients. Each rational function $f\in F$ can be thought as a continuous function $f:dom(f)\to\bar R$ taking values in the projective line $\bar R=R\cup\{\infty\}$ and defined on a cofinite subset $dom(f)$ of the torus $\bar R^2$. Then the family \F determines a continuous vector-function $F:dom(F)\to\bar R^F$ defined on the dense $G_\delta$-set $dom(F)=\bigcap_{f\in F}dom(F)$ of $\bar R^2$. The closure $\bar\Gamma(F)$ of its graph $\Gamma(F)=\{(x,f(x)):x\in dom(F)\}$ in $\bar R^2\times\bar R^F$ is called the {\em graphoid} of the family $F$. We prove the graphoid $\bar\Gamma(F)$ has topological dimension $dim(\bar\Gamma(F))=2$. If the family $F$ contains all linear fractional transformations $f(x,y)=\frac{x-a}{y-b}$ for $(a,b)\in Q^2$, then the graphoid $\bar\Gamma(F)$ has cohomological dimension $dim_G(\bar\Gamma(F))=1$ for any non-trivial 2-divisible abelian group $G$. Hence the space $\bar\Gamma(F)$ is a natural example of a compact space that is not dimensionally full-valued and by this property resembles the famous Pontryagin surface.Comment: 20 page

Continuity argument revisited: geometry of root clustering via symmetric products

We study the spaces of polynomials stratified into the sets of polynomial with fixed number of roots inside certain semialgebraic region $\Omega$, on its border, and at the complement to its closure. Presented approach is a generalisation, unification and development of several classical approaches to stability problems in control theory: root clustering ($D$-stability) developed by R.E. Kalman, B.R. Barmish, S. Gutman et al., $D$-decomposition(Yu.I. Neimark, B.T. Polyak, E.N. Gryazina) and universal parameter space method(A. Fam, J. Meditch, J.Ackermann). Our approach is based on the interpretation of correspondence between roots and coefficients of a polynomial as a symmetric product morphism. We describe the topology of strata up to homotopy equivalence and, for many important cases, up to homeomorphism. Adjacencies between strata are also described. Moreover, we provide an explanation for the special position of classical stability problems: Hurwitz stability, Schur stability, hyperbolicity.Comment: 45 pages, 4 figure

Topology of definable Hausdorff limits

Let $A\sub \R^{n+r}$ be a set definable in an o-minimal expansion $\S$ of the real field, $A' \sub \R^r$ be its projection, and assume that the non-empty fibers $A_a \sub \R^n$ are compact for all $a \in A'$ and uniformly bounded, {\em i.e.} all fibers are contained in a ball of fixed radius $B(0,R).$ If $L$ is the Hausdorff limit of a sequence of fibers $A_{a_i},$ we give an upper-bound for the Betti numbers $b_k(L)$ in terms of definable sets explicitly constructed from a fiber $A_a.$ In particular, this allows to establish effective complexity bounds in the semialgebraic case and in the Pfaffian case. In the Pfaffian setting, Gabrielov introduced the {\em relative closure} to construct the o-minimal structure \S_\pfaff generated by Pfaffian functions in a way that is adapted to complexity problems. Our results can be used to estimate the Betti numbers of a relative closure $(X,Y)_0$ in the special case where $Y$ is empty.Comment: Latex, 23 pages, no figures. v2: Many changes in the exposition and notations in an attempt to be clearer, references adde

Entropy in Dimension One

This paper completely classifies which numbers arise as the topological entropy associated to postcritically finite self-maps of the unit interval. Specifically, a positive real number h is the topological entropy of a postcritically finite self-map of the unit interval if and only if exp(h) is an algebraic integer that is at least as large as the absolute value of any of the conjugates of exp(h); that is, if exp(h) is a weak Perron number. The postcritically finite map may be chosen to be a polynomial all of whose critical points are in the interval (0,1). This paper also proves that the weak Perron numbers are precisely the numbers that arise as exp(h), where h is the topological entropy associated to ergodic train track representatives of outer automorphisms of a free group.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures. This paper was completed by the author before his death, and was uploaded by Dylan Thurston. A version including endnotes by John Milnor will appear in the proceedings of the Banff conference on Frontiers in Complex Dynamic

Lectures on Klein surfaces and their fundamental group

The goal of these lectures is to give an introduction to the study of the fundamental group of a Klein surface. We start by reviewing the topological classification of Klein surfaces and by explaining the relation with real algebraic curves. Then we introduce the fundamental group of a Klein surface and present its main basic properties. Finally, we study the variety of unitary representations of this group and relate it to the representation variety of the topological fundamental group of the underlying Riemann surface.Comment: To appear in the collection Advanced Courses in Mathematics - CRM Barcelon