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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/T010835/1
Title: A New Approach to Bernoulli Convolutions and Salem Numbers
Principal Investigator: Kempton, Dr T
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Mathematics
Organisation: University of Manchester, The
Scheme: Overseas Travel Grants (OTGS)
Starts: 28 November 2019 Ends: 27 November 2022 Value (£): 28,700
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Algebra & Geometry Mathematical Analysis
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
04 Sep 2019 EPSRC Mathematical Sciences Prioritisation Panel September 2019 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Sets and measures exhibiting some kind of self-similar fractal structure are extremely common in nature, and come up surprisingly often in pure mathematics. Bernoulli convolutions are perhaps the simplest examples of fractal measures `with overlaps' and the question of the Hausdorff dimension of Bernoulli convolutions is an important mathematical problem, originally dating from the 1930s. The first examples of Bernoulli convolutions of dimension less than one were produced by Erdos in 1939, shortly after leaving the University of Manchester. Since then, researchers working across many mathematical disciplines, including number theory, harmonic analysis, additive combinatorics, fractal geometry and dynamical systems, have sought to understand better the dimension theory of Bernoulli convolutions. There has been very substantial recent progress but a complete theory remains elusive.

In this project we seek to combine recent progress of the applicant together with Akiyama, Feng and Persson on the study of Bernoulli convolutions using a family of matrices with ideas of Mercat that allow one to fully describe these matrices in particular cases. In particular, we will spend time visiting Mercat in Marseille and by combining our ideas will show that a particular Bernoulli convolution associated to a Salem number has dimension one. This is a first step towards proving the famous conjecture that the only parameters giving rise to Bernoulli convolutions of dimension less than one are Pisot numbers, the examples studied by Erdos in the 1930s.
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Organisation Website: http://www.man.ac.uk