Integers in number systems with positive and negative quadratic Pisot base

We consider numeration systems with base $\beta$ and $-\beta$, for quadratic Pisot numbers $\beta$ and focus on comparing the combinatorial structure of the sets $\Z_\beta$ and $\Z_{-\beta}$ of numbers with integer expansion in base $\beta$, resp. $-\beta$. Our main result is the comparison of languages of infinite words $u_\beta$ and $u_{-\beta}$ coding the ordering of distances between consecutive $\beta$- and $(-\beta)$-integers. It turns out that for a class of roots $\beta$ of $x^2-mx-m$, the languages coincide, while for other quadratic Pisot numbers the language of $u_\beta$ can be identified only with the language of a morphic image of $u_{-\beta}$. We also study the group structure of $(-\beta)$-integers.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Rational numbers with purely periodic β\beta-expansion

We study real numbers $\beta$ with the curious property that the $\beta$-expansion of all sufficiently small positive rational numbers is purely periodic. It is known that such real numbers have to be Pisot numbers which are units of the number field they generate. We complete known results due to Akiyama to characterize algebraic numbers of degree 3 that enjoy this property. This extends results previously obtained in the case of degree 2 by Schmidt, Hama and Imahashi. Let $\gamma(\beta)$ denote the supremum of the real numbers $c$ in $(0,1)$ such that all positive rational numbers less than $c$ have a purely periodic $\beta$-expansion. We prove that $\gamma(\beta)$ is irrational for a class of cubic Pisot units that contains the smallest Pisot number $\eta$. This result is motivated by the observation of Akiyama and Scheicher that $\gamma(\eta)=0.666 666 666 086 ...$ is surprisingly close to 2/3

Combinatorial and Arithmetical Properties of Infinite Words Associated with Non-simple Quadratic Parry Numbers

We study arithmetical and combinatorial properties of $\beta$-integers for $\beta$ being the root of the equation $x^2=mx-n, m,n \in \mathbb N, m \geq n+2\geq 3$. We determine with the accuracy of $\pm 1$ the maximal number of $\beta$-fractional positions, which may arise as a result of addition of two $\beta$-integers. For the infinite word $u_\beta$ coding distances between consecutive $\beta$-integers, we determine precisely also the balance. The word $u_\beta$ is the fixed point of the morphism $A \to A^{m-1}B$ and $B\to A^{m-n-1}B$. In the case $n=1$ the corresponding infinite word $u_\beta$ is sturmian and therefore 1-balanced. On the simplest non-sturmian example with $n\geq 2$, we illustrate how closely the balance and arithmetical properties of $\beta$-integers are related.Comment: 15 page

A new method for constructing Anosov Lie algebras

It is conjectured that every manifold admitting an Anosov diffeomorphism is, up to homeomorphism, finitely covered by a nilmanifold. Motivated by this conjecture, an important problem is to determine which nilmanifolds admit an Anosov diffeomorphism. The main theorem of this article gives a general method for constructing Anosov diffeomorphisms on nilmanifolds. As a consequence, we give counterexamples to a corollary of the classification of low-dimensional nilmanifolds with Anosov diffeomorphisms and a correction to this statement is proven. This method also answers some open questions about the existence of Anosov diffeomorphisms which are minimal in some sense.Comment: 18 pages, some small revisions according to referee report, to appear in Transactions of the AM

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