ANINTRODUCTIONTO

ANALYSIS ONFRACTALS
ALEXANDER TEPLYAEV
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
HTTP://WWW.MATH.UCONN.EDU/~ TEPLYAEV/GREGYNOG/
LMS/EPSRC SHORT COURSE
10 - 15 JANUARY 2007
GREGYNOG HALL
IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ANALYSIS ON GRAPHS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
ISAAC NEWTON INSTITUTE FOR MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 8 JANUARY - 29 JUNE 2007
Major general references (books)
[1] M. T. Barlow, Diusions on fractals. Lectures on Probability Theory and
Statistics (Saint-Flour, 1995), 1121, Lecture Notes in Math., 1690, Springer,
Berlin, 1998.
[2] J. Kigami, Analysis on fractals. Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics 143, Cam-
bridge University Press, 2001.
[3] M. L. Lapidus and M. van Frankenhuysen, Fractal geometry, complex dimen-
sions and zeta functions. Geometry and spectra of fractal strings. Springer
Monographs in Mathematics. Springer, New York, 2006.
[4] R. S. Strichartz, Dierential equations on fractals: a tutorial. Princeton
University Press, 2006.
Contents
Major general references (books) 2
Lecture 1
Laplacians on self-similar graphs
and relation to self-similar groups 6
Abbreviated list of references 30
Lecture 2
Laplacians on self-similar fractals
and spectral zeta functions 36
Abbreviated list of references 54
Lecture 3
Kigamis resistance forms on fractals
and relation to quantum graphs 64
Abbreviated list of references 87
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Lecture 1
Laplacians on self-similar graphs
and relation to self-similar groups
R. Rammal and G. Toulouse, Random walks on fractal structures and percolation
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R. Rammal, Spectrum of harmonic excitations on fractals. J. Physique 45 (1984).
S. Alexander, Some properties of the spectrum of the Sierpi nski gasket in a mag-
netic eld. Phys. Rev. B 29 (1984).
E. Domany, S. Alexander, D. Bensimon and L. Kadano, Solutions to the Schrodinger
equation on some fractal lattices. Phys. Rev. B (3) 28 (1984).
Y. Gefen, A. Aharony and B. B. Mandelbrot, Phase transitions on fractals.
I. Quasilinear lattices. II. Sierpi nski gaskets. III. Innitely ramied lattices. J. Phys.
A 16 (19831984).
R. B. Stinchcombe, Fractals, phase transitions and criticality. Fractals in the natural
sciences. Proc. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A 423 (1989), 1733.
J. Bellissard, Renormalization group analysis and quasicrystals, Ideas and methods
in quantum and statistical physics (Oslo, 1988). Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992.

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0
Let be the probabilistic Laplacian (generator of a simple random walk) on the
Sierpi nski lattice. If z ,=
3
2
,
5
4
,
1
2
, and R(z) = z(4z + 5), then
R(z) () z ()
() = J
R

D
where D
def
= |
3
2
|

m=0
R
m
|
3
4
|
_
and J
R
is the Julia set of R(z).
E
T
0
3
2
5
4
3
4
1
2
3
2
5
4
,
, , ,
,
, , , , ,
There are uncountably many nonisomorphic
Sierpi nski lattices.
Theorem (T). The spectrum of is pure point.
Eigenfunctions with nite support are complete.
v v
vv v
v
v v
v
v v
vv v
v
v v
v
v v
vv v
v
v v
v
v v
vv v
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v v
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v v
vv v
v
v v
v
v v
vv v
v
v v
v
v v
vv v
v
v v
v
v v
vv v
v
v v
v
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vv v
v
v v
v
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vv v
v
v v
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v
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T
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0

r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r

_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
`
_
`
_
`
_
`
_
`
_
`
_
Let
(0)
be the Laplacian with zero (Dirichlet) boundary condition at L. Then
the compactly supported eigenfunctions of
(0)
are not complete (eigenvalues in
E is not the whole spectrum).

_
0
0
0
1
g
1g
0
0 0
0
0 0
0
0 0

. . .

. . .
Let L
(0)
be the set of two points adjacent to L and
(0)

be the spectral
measure of
(0)
associated with 1
L
(0)
. Then supp(
(0)

) = J
R
has Lebesgue
measure zero and
d(
(0)

R
1,2
)
d
(0)

(z) =
(8z + 5)(2z + 3)
(2z + 1)(4z + 5)
Fix p, q>0, p+q=1, and dene probabilistic Laplacians
n
on the segments
[0, 3
n
] of Z
+
inductively as a generator of the random walks:
0 1
g g
E '
1 1
0 1 3
g g g g
E E E ' ' '
1 q p p q 1
0 1 3 6 9
g g g g g g g g g g
E E E E E E E E E ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
1 q p p q q p q p p q p q q p p q 1
0 3
n
2(3
n
) 3
n+1
g , , , , , , , , , g g g
E E E ' ' '
1 q p p q 1
and let = lim
n

n
be the corresponding probabilistic Laplacian on Z
+
.
If z ,=1p and R(z)=z(z
2
+3z+2+pq)/pq, then R(z) (
n
)
z (
n+1
)
E
T
0
2
2
1 p
, , ,
Theorem(T). () = J
R
, the Julia set of R(z).
If p=q, then ()=[2, 0], spectrum is a.c.
If p ,= q, then () is a Cantor set of Lebesgue measure zero, spectrum is
singularly continuous.
There are uncountably many random self-similar Laplacians on Z:
For a sequence K = |k
j
|

j=1
, k
j
|0, 1, 2|, let
X
n
=
n

j=1
k
j
3
j
and
n
is a probabilistic Laplacian on [X
n
, X
n
+3
n
]:
X
n
X
n
+3
n1
X
n
+2(3
n1
) X
n
+3
n
g , , , , , , , , , g g g
E E E ' ' '
1 q p p q 1
In the previous example k
j
= 0 for all j.
Theorem (T).
For any sequence K we have () = J
R
. The same is true for the Dirichlet
Laplacian on Z
+
(when k
j
0).
R. Grigorchuk and Z. Sunik, Asymptotic aspects of Schreier graphs and Hanoi
Towers groups, preprint.
,
,

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,
Sierpi nski 3-graph Sierpi nski 4-graph
(Hanoi Towers-3 group) (standard)
These three polynomials are conjugate:
Sierpi nski 3-graph (Hanoi Towers-3 group): f(x) = x
2
x 3
f(3) = 3, f
t
(3) = 5
Sierpi nski 4-graph, adjacency matrix Laplacian: P() = 5
2
P(0) = 0, P
t
(0) = 5
Sierpi nski 4-graph, probabilistic Laplacian: R(z) = 4z
2
+ 5z
R(0) = 0, R
t
(0) = 5
,

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Theorem. Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions on the
Sierpi nski 3-graphs and Sierpi nski 4-graphs are in
one-to-one correspondence, with the exception of the
eigenvalue z =
3
2
for the 4-graphs.
,

,

4z
2
+ 5z
,

,
,

,,

,
,

,

4
3
z
2
+
8
3
z
,
,
, ,
, ,

2z
2
+ 4z

, ,
,

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,
,

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,

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,
,

,,

,
,

,
,

,,

,
Sierpi nski 3-graph Sierpi nski 4-graph
(Hanoi Towers-3 group) (standard)
R(z) = 2z
2
+ 4z R(z) =
4
3
z
2
+
8
3
z
Let H and H
0
be Hilbert spaces, and U : H
0
H be an isometry.
Denition. We call an operator H spectrally similar to an operator H
0
with
functions
0
and
1
if
U

(H z)
1
U = (
0
(z)H
0

1
(z))
1
In particular, if
0
(z) ,= 0 and R(z) =
1
(z)/
0
(z), then
U

(H z)
1
U =
1

0
(z)
(H R(z))
1
.
If H =
_
S

X
X Q
_
then
S zI
0

X(QzI
1
)
1
X =
0
(z)H
0

1
(z)I
0
Theorem (Malozemov, Teplyaev). If is the graph Laplacian on a self-
similar symmetric innite graph, then
J
R
(

) J
R
D

where D

is a discrete set and J

R
is the Julia set of the rational function R.
Abbreviated list of references
[1] S. Alexander, Some properties of the spectrum of the Sierpi nski gasket in
a magnetic eld. Phys. Rev. B 29 (1984), 5504-5508.
[2] Bartholdi, Laurent ; W. Woess, Spectral computations on lamplighter groups
and Diestel-Leader graphs. J. Fourier Anal. Appl. 11 (2005), 175202.
[3] J. Bellissard, Renormalization group analysis and quasicrystals, Ideas and
methods in quantum and statistical physics (Oslo, 1988), 118148. Cambridge
Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1992.
[4] S. Broerio, W. Woess, Green kernel estimates and the full Martin bound-
ary for random walks on lamplighter groups and Diestel-Leader graphs.
Ann. Inst. H. Poincare Probab. Statist. 41 (2005), 11011123.
[5] S. Broerio, W. Woess, Positive harmonic functions for semi-isotropic ran-
dom walks on trees, lamplighter groups, and DL-graphs. Potential Anal. 24
(2006), 245265.
[6] E. Domany, S. Alexander, D. Bensimon and L. Kadano, Solutions to the
Schrodinger equation on some fractal lattices. Phys. Rev. B (3) 28 (1984),
31103123.
[7] Y. Gefen, A. Aharony and B. B. Mandelbrot, Phase transitions on fractals. I.
Quasilinear lattices. II. Sierpi nski gaskets. III. Innitely ramied lattices.
J. Phys. A 16 (1983), 12671278; 17 (1984), 435444 and 12771289.
[8] S. Goldstein, Random walks and diusions on fractals, in Percolation The-
ory and Ergodic Theory of Innite Particle Systems (H.Kesten, ed.), 121129,
IMA Math. Appl., Vol. 8, Springer, New York, 1987.
[9] P. Grabner, Functional iterations and stopping times for Brownian motion
on the Sierpi nski gasket. Mathematika 44 (1997), 374400.
[10] R. Grigorchuk and Z. Sunik, Asymptotic aspects of Schreier graphs and
Hanoi Towers groups, preprint.
[11] V. A. Kamanovich and A. M. Vershik, Random walks on discrete groups:
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Lecture 2
Laplacians on self-similar fractals
and spectral zeta functions
Three contractions F
1
, F
2
, F
3
: R
1
R
1
, F
j
(x) =
1
3
(x+p
j
), with xed
points p
j
= 0,
1
2
, 1. The interval I=[0, 1] is a unique compact set such that
I =
_
j=1, 2, 3
F
j
(I)
The boundary of I is I = V
0
= |0, 1| and the discrete approxima-
tions to I are V
n
=

j=1, 2, 3
F
j
(V
n1
) =
_
k
3
n
_
3
n
k=0
V
0
=I : _ _
c

q
V
1
: _ _ _ _
c

q
V
2
: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Denition. The discrete Dirichlet (energy) form on V
n
is
E
n
(f) =

x,yV
n
yx
(f(y)f(x))
2
and the Dirichlet (energy) form on I is E(f) = lim
n
3
n
E
n
(f) =
_
1
0
|f
t
(x)|
2
dx
Denition. A function h is harmonic if it minimizes the energy given the
boundary values.
Proposition. 3E
n+1
(f) E
n
(f) and 3E
n+1
(h) = E
n
(h) = 3
n
E(h)
for a harmonic h.
Proposition. The Dirichlet (energy) form on I is self-similar in the sense that
E(f) = 3

j = 1, 2, 3
E(fF
j
)
Denition. The discrete Laplacians on V
n
are

n
f(x) =
1
2

yV
n
yx
f(y)f(x), xV
n
\V
0
and the Laplacian on I is f(x) = lim
n
9
n

n
f(x) = f
tt
(x)
GaussGreen (integration by parts) formula:
E(f) =
_
1
0
ffdx +ff
t

1
0
Spectral asymptotics: Let () be the eigenvalue counting function of
the Dirichlet or Neumann Laplacian :
() = #|j :
j
< |.
Then
lim

()

d
s
/2
=
1

where d
s
= 1 is the spectral dimension.
Denition. The spectral zeta function is

(s) =

j
,=0
_

j
_
s/2
Its poles are the complex spectral dimensions.
Let R(z) be a polynomial of degree N such that its Julia set J
R
(, 0],
R(0) = 0 and c = R
t
(0) > 1.
Denition. The zeta function of R(z) for Re(s) > d
R
=
2 log N
log c
is

z
0
R
(s) = lim
n

zR
n
|z
0
|
(c
n
z)
s/2
=

s/2
j
Theorem.
z
0
R
(s) =
f
1
(s)
1Nc
s/2
+f
z
0
2
(s), where f
1
(s) and f
z
0
2
(s) are ana-
lytic for Re(s)>0. If J
R
is totally disconnected, then this meromorphic continuation
extends to Re(s)>, where >0.
In the case of polynomials this theorem has been improved by Grabner et al.
d
R
the poles of
z
0
R

_
2 log N+4in
log c
: nZ
_
0
E

d
R

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Theorem.

(s) =
0
R
(s) where R(z) = z(4z
2
+12z+9).
The Riemann zeta function (s) satises (s) =
s

0
R
(s) The only complex
spectral dimension is the pole at s = 1.
A sketch of the proof: If z,=
1
2
,
3
2
, then
R(z) (
n
) z (
n+1
)
and so

(s) =
0
R
(s) since the eigenvalues
j
of are limits of the eigenvalues
of 9
n

n
.
Also
j
=
2
j
2
and so

(s) =

j=1
_

2
j
2
_
s/2
=
s
(s)
where (s) is the Riemann zeta function. Q.E.D.
(s) =
s
lim
n

zR
n
|0|
z,=0
_
9
n
z
_
s/2
Denition.

is Laplacian if
E(f) =
_
1
0
|f
t
(x)|
2
dx=
_
1
0
f

fd +ff
t

1
0
.
Denition. A probability measure is self-similar with weights m
1
, m
2
, m
3
if =

j=1, 2, 3
m
j
F
j
.
Proposition.

f(x)=
f
tt

= lim
n
_
1+
2
pq
_
n

n
f(x).

n
f(
k
3
n
)=
_
pf(
k1
3
n
) +qf(
k+1
3
n
) f(
k
3
n
)
qf(
k1
3
n
) +pf(
k+1
3
n
) f(
k
3
n
)
where m
1
=m
3
, p=
m
2
m
1
+m
2
, q=
m
1
m
1
+m
2
, and
_ _ _ _
E E E ' ' '
1
m
1
m
2
m
3
q p p q 1
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
E E E E E E E E E ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
1 q p p q q p q p p q p q q p p q 1
Spectral asymptotics: If () is the eigenvalue counting function of the Dirichlet
or Neumann Laplacian

, then
0 < liminf

()

d
s
/2
limsup

()

d
s
/2
<
where the spectral dimension is
d
s
=
log 9
log(1+
2
pq
)
1.
All the inequalities are strict if and only if p ,= q.
Proposition. R(z) (
n
) z (
n+1
)
where z,=1p and R(z)=z(z
2
+3z+2+pq)/pq.
Note that R
t
(0)=1 +
2
pq
, and d
s
=d
R
.
Theorem.

(s)=
0
R
(s)
Three contractions F
1
, F
2
, F
3
: R
2
R
2
,
F
j
(x) =
1
2
(x+p
j
), with xed points p
1
, p
2
, p
3
.
p
1
p
2
p
3
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The Sierpi nski gasket is a unique compact set S such that
S =

j=1, 2, 3
F
j
(S)
Denition. The boundary of S is
S = V
0
= |p
1
, p
2
, p
3
|
and discrete approximations to S are
V
n
=

j=1, 2, 3
F
j
(V
n1
)
V
0
:
y y
y

T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
V
1
:
x x
xx x
x
x x
x

T
T
T
T
T

T
T
T
T
T

T
T
T
T
T
V
2
:
w w
ww w
w
w w
w
w w
ww w
w
w w
w
w w
ww w
w
w w
w

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T

T
T
T
Denition. The discrete Dirichlet (energy) form on V
n
is
E
n
(f) =

x,yV
n
yx
(f(y)f(x))
2
and the Dirichlet (energy) form on S is
E(f) = lim
n
_
5
3
_
n
E
n
(f)
Denition. A function h is harmonic if it minimizes the energy given the
boundary values.
Proposition.
5
3
E
n+1
(f) E
n
(f)
5
3
E
n+1
(h)=E
n
(h)=
_
5
3
_
n
E(h) for a harmonic h.
Theorem (Kigami). E is a local regular Dirichlet form on S which is self-similar
in the sense that
E(f) =
5
3

j = 1, 2, 3
E(fF
j
)
Denition. The discrete Laplacians on V
n
are

n
f(x) =
1
4

yV
n
yx
f(y)f(x), xV
n
\V
0
and the Laplacian on S is

f(x) = lim
n
5
n

n
f(x)
if this limit exists and

f is continuous.
GaussGreen (integration by parts) formula:
E(f) =
_
S
f

fd +

pS
f(p)
n
f(p)
where is the normalized Hausdor measure, which is self-similar with weights
1
3
,
1
3
,
1
3
:
=
1
3

j = 1, 2, 3
F
j
.
Spectral asymptotics: If () is the eigenvalue counting function of the Dirichlet
or Neumann Laplacian

, then
0 < liminf

()

d
s
/2
< limsup

()

d
s
/2
<
where the spectral dimension is
1 < d
s
=
log 9
log 5
< 2.
Proposition. R(z) (
n
) z (
n+1
) where z,=
1
2
,
3
4
,
5
4
and R(z) = z(5 + 4z).
Theorem (Fukushima, Shima). Every eigenvalue of

has a form
=5
m
lim
n
5
n
R
n
(z
0
)
where R
n
(z
0
) is a preimage of z
0
=
3
4
,
5
4
under the n-th iteration power
of the polynomial R(z). The multiplicity of such an eigenvalue is C
1
3
m
+C
2
.
Theorem. Zeta function of the Laplacian on the Sierpi nski gasket is

(s) =
1
2

3
4
R
(s)
_
1
5
s/2
3
+
3
5
s/2
1
_
+
1
2

5
4
R
(s)
_
35
s/2
5
s/2
3

5
s/2
5
s/2
1
_
d
s
d
R
=
log 9
log 5
=
log 4
log 5
T
0
d
R
1 d
s
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
E
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Denition. If L is a fractal string, that is, a disjoint collection of intervals of
lengths l
j
, then its geometric zeta function is
L
(s) =

l
s
j
.
Theorem (Lapidus). If A=
d
2
dx
2
is a Neumann or Dirichlet Laplacian on L,
then
A
(s) =
s
(s)
L
(s).
Example: Cantor self-similar fractal string.
If L is the complement of the middle third Cantor set in [0, 1], then the complex
spectral dimensions are 1 and |
log 2+2in
log 3
: nZ|,

L
(s) =
1
123
s
,
A
(s) = (s)

s
123
s
E
T
0
log 2
log 3
1
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
Denition. A post critically nite (p.c.f.) self-similar set F is a compact con-
nected metric space with a nite boundary F F and contractive injections

i
: F F such that
F = (F) =
k
_
i=1

i
(F)
and

v
(F)

w
(F)
v
(F)

w
(F),
for any two dierent words v and w of the same length. Here for a nite word
w |1, . . . , k|
m
we dene
w
=
w
1
. . .
w
m
.
We assume that F is a minimal such subset of F. We call
w
(F) an m-cell.
The p.c.f. assumption is that every boundary point is contained
in a single 1-cell.
Theorem (Kigami, Lapidus). The spectral dimension of the Laplacian

is
the unique solution of the equation
k

i=1
(r
i

i
)
d
s
/2
= 1
Conjecture. On every p.c.f. fractal F there exists a local regular Dirichlet form E
which gives positive capacity to the boundary points and is self-similar in the sense
that
E(f) =
k

i=1

i
E(f
i
)
for a set of positive renement weights = |
i
|
k
i=1
.
Denition. The group G of acts on a nitely ramied fractal F if each g G is
a homeomorphism of F such that g(V
n
) = V
n
for all n 0.
Proposition. Suppose a group G of acts on a self-similar nitely ramied fractal
F and G restricted to V
0
is the whole permutation group of V
0
. Then there exists
a unique, up to a constant, G-invariant self-similar resistance form E with equal
energy renormalization weights
i
and
E
0
(f, f) =

x,yV
0
_
f(x) f(y)
_
2
.
Moreover, for any G-invariant self-similar measure the Laplacian

has the
spectral self-similarity property (a.k.a. spectral decimation).
Abbreviated list of references
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Lecture 3
Kigamis resistance forms on fractals
and relation to quantum graphs
Denition. A compact connected metric space F is called a nitely ramied
self-similar set if there are injective contraction maps
1
, ...,
m
: F F
and a nite set V
0
F such that
F =
m
_
i=1

i
(F) = (F)
and
F
w
F
w
t = V
w
V
w
t
for any two distinct words w, w
t
W
n
= |1, ..., m|
n
, where F
w
=
w
(F),
V
w
=
w
(V
0
) and
w
=
w
1
...
w
n
.
The vertices of generation n are dened by V
n
= (V
n1
) =
n
(V
0
).
The fractal F can be uniquely reconstructed from its combinatorial skeleton or
ancestor: |F = V
0
, V
1
, |
V
0
| [Kigami, 1993, Appendix A].
A symmetric vanishing on the diagonal function c
0
: V
2
0
R
+
(set of conduc-
tances) denes a discrete Dirichlet form
E
0
(f) =

x,yV
0
(f(y) f(x))
2
c
0
(x, y).
Its renement by is
E
1
(f) =

(E
0
)(f) =
k

i=1

i
E
0
(f
i
).
and the trace map is
Tr(E
1
)(f) = inf |E
1
(g)|g : V
1
R, g|
V
0
= f|.
Theorem (Kigami). For given a set of positive renement weights = |
i
|
k
i=1
self-similar local regular Dirichlet forms E which gives positive capacity to the
boundary points are in one-to-one correspondence with the xed points E
0
of the
renormalization map

= Tr

.
Denition. A resistance form E is self-similar if
E(f, f) =
m

i=1

i
E(f
i
, f
i
).
Conjecture. Any nitely ramied self-similar set has a self-similar resistance form.
Any p.c.f. self-similar set has a regular self-similar resistance form.
Thus we are looking for nonlinear eigenvectors E
0
D P

(E
0
) = E
0
where D is the cone of Dirichlet forms on V
0
with and P is the cone of nonnegative
quadratic forms. Its interior P

consists of positive forms.

Proposition.
(1)

: D D, P P, P

.
(2)

is continuous on D P

(3)

(E) =

(E) for all 0

(4)

(E +F)

(E) +

(F)
Hilberts projective metric (a pseudo distance on P

) is
h(E/F) = ln
M(E/F)
m(E/F)
.
where E,FP

is the biggest lower bound of E/F,

m(E/F) = sup| > 0|F E| > 0
and M(E/F) = m(F/E)
1
.
Proposition.
(1) h(E, F) = h(E, F) for all , > 0.
(2) Let H=|EB|trace(E)=1| (an ane hyperplane). Then (H P

, h)
is a complete metric space.
(3) The h- and the ] ]-topology coincide on H P

.
(4) h(E, F) = 0 if and only if E = F.
(5) lim
FP
h(E, F) = +
(6)

is h-nonexpansive on P

, that is, lower q

-level sets are

-invariant.
Let H = H D P

and q

: H R
+
,
q

(E) = h(

(E), E).
Proposition.
(1)

has a unique eigenvector F H if and only if q

|
H
vanishes only at F.
(2)

has multiple eigenvectors in H if and only if q

vanishes on a connected
set which accumulates at P.
(3) When a

-forward orbit started in H is contained in B

r
(E) for some r > 0
and E H, then there exists a

-eigenvector in B
3r
(E) H.
Proposition. Let |
n
| be such that

n
converges to in (C(H), ] ]

). If
q = h((), ) : H R
+
vanishes only at a single point, then there exists an
m N such that

n
has a unique eigenvector in H, for n m.
Denition. A collection of renement weights is admissible if and only if

(E
0
) = E
0
has a solution E
0
D P

.
Proposition. The set of admissible weights is open.
Theorem. (Hambly, Metz, T.) Let
n
,

(0, ]
k
and

has a
unique eigenvector in H. Then there exist nite admissible renement weights.
This result can be summarized as follows: If, by collapsing a subset of cells of F,
one can obtain a structure which has admissible weights, then F also has admissible
nite weights.
Proposition. If #V
0
= 3 then admissible weights exist.
Denition. The group G of acts on a nitely ramied fractal F if each g G is
a homeomorphism of F such that g(V
n
) = V
n
for all n 0.
Proposition. Suppose a group G of acts on a self-similar nitely ramied fractal
F and G restricted to V
0
is the whole permutation group of V
0
. Then there exists
a unique, up to a constant, G-invariant self-similar resistance form E with equal
energy renormalization weights
i
and E
0
(f, f) =

x,yV
0
_
f(x) f(y)
_
2
.
Theorem (Hambly, Metz, T.) Suppose a self-similar nitely ramied fractal
F has connected interior and a group G acts on F such that its action on V
0
is
transitive. Then there exists a G-invariant self-similar resistance form E on F.
Theorem (Hambly, Metz, T.) Suppose a self-similar nitely ramied fractal F
has connected interior and a symmetric boundary. Then there exists a G-invariant
self-similar resistance form E on F.
Examples.
Generalized non-symmetric Sierpi nski gaskets in R
2
:

1
2
+
1
3
>
1
1

1
1
+
1
2
>
1
3

1
1
+
1
3
>
1
2
Cut Sierpi nski gasket:

1
+
2
= 1

3
+
2
= 1
Unit interval:

1
+
2
= 1
Vicsek set:

1
+
3
+
5
= 1

2
+
4
+
5
= 1
A generalized Vicsek set
A generalized Sierpi nski gasket
GRAPH-DIRECTED FRACTALS
v
1
v
2
v
3
v
4
v
5
v
6
v
7
v
8
v
9
v
10
v
11
v
12
The house fractal.
Denition. A pair (E, DomE) is a resistance form on a countable set V

if
DomE is a linear subspace of (V

) containing constants, E is a nonnegative

symmetric quadratic form on DomE, and E(u, u) = 0 if and only if u is
constant.
Let be an equivalence relation on DomE dened by u v if and only if
u v is constant on V

. Then (E/, DomE) is a Hilbert space.

For any nite subset V V

and for any v (V ) there exists

u DomE such that u

V
= v.
For any p, q V

there exists the eective resistance between metric

R(p, q) = sup
_
_
u(p)u(q)
_
2
E(u,u)
: uDomE
_
<
Hence any u DomE has a unique R-Holder continuous extension to ,
the R-completion of V

.
Markov property: for any u DomE we have that E( u, u) E(u, u),
where
u(p) =
_

_
1 if u(p) 1,
u(p) if 0 < u(p) < 1,
0 if u(p) 1.
For any nite subset U V

the nite dimensional Dirichlet form E

U
on U is
E
U
(f, f) = inf |E(g, g) : g DomE, g

U
= f|
and is called the trace of E on U.
If U
1
U
2
then E
U
1
is the trace of E
U
2
on U
1
.
Theorem (Kigami). Suppose that V
n
are nite subsets of V

and that

n=0
V
n
is R-dense in V

. Then
E(f, f) = lim
n
E
V
n
(f, f)
for any f DomE, where the limit is non-decreasing.
Theorem (Kigami). Suppose that V
n
are nite sets, and the nite dimensional
resistance forms E
V
n
on V
n
are compatible: each E
V
n
is the trace of E
V
n+1
on V
n
.
Then there exists a resistance form E on V

n=0
V
n
such that
E(f, f) = lim
n
E
V
n
(f, f)
for any f DomE, and the limit is non-decreasing.
Denition. A nitely ramied fractal F is a compact metric space with
a cell structure F = |F

|
A
and a boundary (vertex) structure
V = |V

|
A
such that the following conditions hold.
A is a countable index set;
each F

is a distinct compact connected subsets of F;

each V

is a nite subset of F

with at least two elements;

if F

k
j=1
F

j
then V

k
j=1
V

j
;
there exists a ltration |A
n
|

n=0
such that
(1) A
n
are nite subsets of A, A
0
= |0|, F
0
= F;
(2) A
n
A
m
= if n ,= m;
(3) for any A
n
there are
1
, ...,
k
A
n+1
such that F

k
j=1
F

j
;
F

= V

for any two distinct ,

t
A
n
;
for any strictly decreasing innite sequence of cells there exists x F such
that

n1
F

n
= |x|.
If these conditions are satised, then
(F, F, V) = (F, |F

|
A
, |V

|
A
)
is called a nitely ramied cell structure.
Denition. A function is harmonic if it minimizes the energy for the given set of
boundary values. A function is n-harmonic if it minimizes the energy for the given
set of values on V
n
.
Theorem. Suppose that all n-harmonic functions are continuous. Then any con-
tinuous function is R-continuous, and any R-Cauchy sequence converges in the
topology of F. Also, there is a continuous injective map : F which is the
identity on V

.
Then we can (and will) consider as a subset of F. Then is the R-closure of
V

. In a sense, is the set where the Dirichlet form E lives.

Theorem. Suppose that all n-harmonic functions are continuous. Then E is a
local regular Dirichlet form on (with respect to any measure that charges every
nonempty open set).
Denition. We x a complete, up to constant functions, energy orthonormal set
of harmonic functions h
1
, ..., h
k
, where k = |V
0
| 1, and dene the Kusuoka
energy measure by
=
h
1
+... +
h
k
.
If F

t F

, then
M
,
t : (V

) (V

t)
is the linear map which is dened as follows. If f

is a function on V

then let h
f

be the unique harmonic function on F

that coincides with f

on V

. Then we
dene
M
,
tf

= h
f

t
.
Proposition. If F

j
then D

,
j
D

j
M
,
j
and
(F

) = Tr M

where M

= M
0,
and D

is the matrix of the Dirichlet form E

on V

.
We denote Z

=
M

(F

)
if (F

) ,= 0. Then we dene matrix valued

functions Z
n
(x) = Z

if (F

) ,= 0, A
n
and x F

\V

. Note that
Tr Z
n
(x) = 1 by denition.
Theorem. For -almost all x there is a limit Z(x) = lim
n
Z
n
(x).
Proof. One can see, following Kusuokas idea, that Z
n
is a bounded -martingale.

The energy measures

h
are the same as the energy measures in the general theory
of Dirichlet forms. The matrix Z is the matrix whose entries are the densities
Z
ij
=
d
h
i
,h
j
d
It has been recently proved by Hino that is singular with respect to any product
measure for a large class of fractals.
Theorem. If the space of piecewise harmonic functions is dense in DomE then
any f DomE has a weak gradient f such that
E(f, f) =
_
F
{f, Zf)d
Conjecture. For any nitely ramied fractal
rankZ(x) = 1
for -almost all x.
This has been recently proved by Hino for a large class of p.c.f. fractals.
GRADIENT IN HARMONIC COORDINATED
Let V
0
= |v
1
, ..., v
m
| and let h
j
be the unique harmonic function with boundary
values h
j
(v
i
) =
i,j
.
Kigamis harmonic coordinate map : F R
m
is
(x)=(h
1
(x), ..., h
m
(x)).
In what follows we assume that : F F
H
= (F) is a homeomorphism,
F = F
H
, (x) = x and identify (V
0
) with R
m
in the natural way.
Theorem. If f is the restriction to F of a C
1
(R
m
) function then f DomE,
and such functions are dense in DomE. Moreover,
E(f, f) =
_
F
{f, Zf)d
for any f C
1
(R
m
).
We have the analog of the Gauss-Green formula:
E(f, g) =
_
F
g

fd,
for any function g DomE, vanishing on the boundary V
0
, and any function
f Dom

, where

is the energy Laplacian.

Theorem. If f is the restriction to F of a C
2
(R
m
) function then f Dom

,
and such functions are dense in Dom

. Moreover, -almost everywhere

f = Tr (ZD
2
f)
where D
2
f is the matrix of the second derivatives of f.
Conjecture. On the Sierpi nski gasket, if f Dom

then f is the restriction

to F of a C
1
(R
m
) function.
We also can dene a dierent sequence of approximating energy forms. In various
situations these forms are associated with so called quantum graphs, photonic
crystals and cable systems. If f C
1
(R
m
) then
E
Q
n
(f, g) =

x,yV
n
c
n,x,y
E
Q
x,y
(f, f)
where
E
Q
x,y
(f, f) =
_
1
0
_
d
dt
f
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
_
2
dt
is the integral of the square of the derivative
d
dt
f
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
= {f
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
, y x)
of f along the straight line segment connecting x and y. Thus E
Q
x,y
(f, f) is the
usual one dimensional energy of a function on a straight line segment.
If f is linear then E
Q
x,y
(f, f) =
_
f(x) f(y)
_
2
. Therefore if f is piecewise
harmonic then E
Q
n
(f, f) = E
n
(f, f) for all large enough n.
Therefore for any C
1
(R
m
)-function we have
lim
n
E
Q
n
(f, f) = E(f, f)
It is easy to see that if g is a C
1
(R
m
)-function vanishing on V
0
and f is a
C
2
(R
m
)-function then
E
Q
n
(f, g) =

x,yV
n
c
n,x,y
_
1
0
g
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
_
d
2
dt
2
f
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
_
dt
because after integration by parts all the boundary terms are canceled. Then if
A
n
then

x,yV

c
n,x,y
d
2
dt
2
f
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
=

x,yV

c
n,x,y
m

i,j=1
D
2
ij
f
_
x(1 t) +ty
_
(y
i
x
i
)(y
j
x
j
) =
Tr
_
M

_
D
2
f(x

) +R
n
(x, y, t, f, , x

)
_
_
where x

and
lim
n
|R
n
(x, y, t, f, , x

)| = 0
uniformly.
Let H
x
be the space of harmonic functions on F that vanishes at x.
Denition. If h H
x
then the intrinsic derivative
df
dh
(x) R exists if
f(y) = f(x) +h(y)
df
dh
(x) +o

h(y)

yx
.
The intrinsic gradient Grad
x
f H
x
exists if for any non constant h H
x
f(y) = f(x) + Grad
x
(y) +o

h(y)

yx
.
Theorem (Pelander, T). Let be a self-similar measure on a p.c.f. s-s set with
weights
j
. Let
+
and

be the upper and lower Lyapunov exponents of the

matrices M
j
with respect to the measure and log =

m
j=1

j
log(r
j

j
).
If
+
> then
df
dh
(x) exists for any f Dom

, any non constant h H

and -almost all x.
If

> then Grad

x
f exists for any f Dom

, any non constant h H

and -almost all x.
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Sierpi nski gasket
in harmonic coordinates