Cantor Sets : the math behind them

The Cantor set T_infty, sometimes also called the Cantor comb or no middle third set (Cullen 1968, pp. 78-81), is given by taking the interval [0,1] (set T_0), removing the open middle third (T_1), removing the middle third of each of the two remaining pieces (T_2), and continuing this procedure ad infinitum. It is therefore the set of points in the interval [0,1] whose ternary expansions do not contain 1, illustrated above.

Iterating the process 1 -> 101, 0 -> 000 starting with 1 gives the sequence 1, 101, 101000101, 101000101000000000101000101, …. The sequence of binary bits thus produced is therefore 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, … whose nth term is amazingly given by D(n,n)=P_n(3) (mod 3), where D(n,n) is a (central) Delannoy number and P_n(x) is a Legendre polynomial.

This produces the set of real numbers {x} such that

 x=(c_1)/3+...+(c_n)/(3^n)+..., (1)

where c_n may equal 0 or 2 for each n. This is an infinite, perfect set. The total length of the line segments in the nth iteration is

 l_n=(2/3)^n, (2)

and the number of line segments is N_n=2^n, so the length of each element is

 epsilon_n=l/N=(1/3)^n (3)

and the capacity is

d_(cap)=-lim_(epsilon->0^+)(lnN)/(lnepsilon)”></td><td>(4)</td></tr><tr><td><img loading==log_32(5)
=(ln2)/(ln3)(6)
=0.630929...(7)

The Cantor set is nowhere dense and has Lebesgue measure 0.

A general Cantor set is a closed set consisting entirely of boundary points. Such sets are uncountable and ma have lebesgue measure > = 0. The Cantor set is the only totally disconnected, perfect, compact space up to a homeomorphism

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