Restoration of isotropy on fractals

We report a new type of restoration of macroscopic isotropy (homogenization) in fractals with microscopic anisotropy. The phenomenon is observed in various physical setups, including diffusions, random walks, resistor networks, and Gaussian field theories. The mechanism is unique in that it is absent in spaces with translational invariance, while universal in that it is observed in a wide class of fractals.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX, 3 postscript figures. (Compressed and encoded figures archived by "figure" command). To appear in Physical Review Letter

Some results on embeddings of algebras, after de Bruijn and McKenzie

In 1957, N. G. de Bruijn showed that the symmetric group Sym(\Omega) on an infinite set \Omega contains a free subgroup on 2^{card(\Omega)} generators, and proved a more general statement, a sample consequence of which is that for any group A of cardinality \leq card(\Omega), Sym(\Omega) contains a coproduct of 2^{card(\Omega)} copies of A, not only in the variety of all groups, but in any variety of groups to which A belongs. His key lemma is here generalized to an arbitrary variety of algebras \bf{V}, and formulated as a statement about functors Set --> \bf{V}. From this one easily obtains analogs of the results stated above with "group" and Sym(\Omega) replaced by "monoid" and the monoid Self(\Omega) of endomaps of \Omega, by "associative K-algebra" and the K-algebra End_K(V) of endomorphisms of a K-vector-space V with basis \Omega, and by "lattice" and the lattice Equiv(\Omega) of equivalence relations on \Omega. It is also shown, extending another result from de Bruijn's 1957 paper, that each of Sym(\Omega), Self(\Omega) and End_K (V) contains a coproduct of 2^{card(\Omega)} copies of itself. That paper also gave an example of a group of cardinality 2^{card(\Omega)} that was {\em not} embeddable in Sym(\Omega), and R. McKenzie subsequently established a large class of such examples. Those results are shown to be instances of a general property of the lattice of solution sets in Sym(\Omega) of sets of equations with constants in Sym(\Omega). Again, similar results -- this time of varying strengths -- are obtained for Self(\Omega), End_K (V), and Equiv(\Omega), and also for the monoid \Rel of binary relations on \Omega. Many open questions and areas for further investigation are noted.Comment: 37 pages. Copy at http://math.berkeley.edu/~gbergman/papers is likely to be updated more often than arXiv copy Revised version includes answers to some questions left open in first version, references to results of Wehrung answering some other questions, and some additional new result

Rigidity and Non-recurrence along Sequences

Two properties of a dynamical system, rigidity and non-recurrence, are examined in detail. The ultimate aim is to characterize the sequences along which these properties do or do not occur for different classes of transformations. The main focus in this article is to characterize explicitly the structural properties of sequences which can be rigidity sequences or non-recurrent sequences for some weakly mixing dynamical system. For ergodic transformations generally and for weakly mixing transformations in particular there are both parallels and distinctions between the class of rigid sequences and the class of non-recurrent sequences. A variety of classes of sequences with various properties are considered showing the complicated and rich structure of rigid and non-recurrent sequences

Electronic shot noise in fractal conductors

By solving a master equation in the Sierpinski lattice and in a planar random-resistor network, we determine the scaling with size L of the shot noise power P due to elastic scattering in a fractal conductor. We find a power-law scaling P ~ L^(d_f-2-alpha), with an exponent depending on the fractal dimension d_f and the anomalous diffusion exponent alpha. This is the same scaling as the time-averaged current I, which implies that the Fano factor F=P/2eI is scale independent. We obtain a value F=1/3 for anomalous diffusion that is the same as for normal diffusion, even if there is no smallest length scale below which the normal diffusion equation holds. The fact that F remains fixed at 1/3 as one crosses the percolation threshold in a random-resistor network may explain recent measurements of a doping-independent Fano factor in a graphene flake.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

The universal Glivenko-Cantelli property

Let F be a separable uniformly bounded family of measurable functions on a standard measurable space, and let N_{[]}(F,\epsilon,\mu) be the smallest number of \epsilon-brackets in L^1(\mu) needed to cover F. The following are equivalent: 1. F is a universal Glivenko-Cantelli class. 2. N_{[]}(F,\epsilon,\mu)0 and every probability measure \mu. 3. F is totally bounded in L^1(\mu) for every probability measure \mu. 4. F does not contain a Boolean \sigma-independent sequence. It follows that universal Glivenko-Cantelli classes are uniformity classes for general sequences of almost surely convergent random measures.Comment: 26 page

Remarks on the Cauchy functional equation and variations of it

This paper examines various aspects related to the Cauchy functional equation $f(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)$, a fundamental equation in the theory of functional equations. In particular, it considers its solvability and its stability relative to subsets of multi-dimensional Euclidean spaces and tori. Several new types of regularity conditions are introduced, such as a one in which a complex exponent of the unknown function is locally measurable. An initial value approach to analyzing this equation is considered too and it yields a few by-products, such as the existence of a non-constant real function having an uncountable set of periods which are linearly independent over the rationals. The analysis is extended to related equations such as the Jensen equation, the multiplicative Cauchy equation, and the Pexider equation. The paper also includes a rather comprehensive survey of the history of the Cauchy equation.Comment: To appear in Aequationes Mathematicae (important remark: the acknowledgments section in the official paper exists, but it appears before the appendix and not before the references as in the arXiv version); correction of a minor inaccuracy in Lemma 3.2 and the initial value proof of Theorem 2.1; a few small improvements in various sections; added thank

Self-Organization and Complex Networks

In this chapter we discuss how the results developed within the theory of fractals and Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) can be fruitfully exploited as ingredients of adaptive network models. In order to maintain the presentation self-contained, we first review the basic ideas behind fractal theory and SOC. We then briefly review some results in the field of complex networks, and some of the models that have been proposed. Finally, we present a self-organized model recently proposed by Garlaschelli et al. [Nat. Phys. 3, 813 (2007)] that couples the fitness network model defined by Caldarelli et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 258702 (2002)] with the evolution model proposed by Bak and Sneppen [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 4083 (1993)] as a prototype of SOC. Remarkably, we show that the results obtained for the two models separately change dramatically when they are coupled together. This indicates that self-organized networks may represent an entirely novel class of complex systems, whose properties cannot be straightforwardly understood in terms of what we have learnt so far.Comment: Book chapter in "Adaptive Networks: Theory, Models and Applications", Editors: Thilo Gross and Hiroki Sayama (Springer/NECSI Studies on Complexity Series

Characterizing stable complete Erdös space

We focus on the space