On the Structures of Generating Iterated Function Systems of Cantor Sets

A generating IFS of a Cantor set F is an IFS whose attractor is F . For a given Cantor set such as the middle-3rd Cantor set we consider the set of its generating IFSs. We examine the existence of a minimal generating IFS, i.e. every other generating IFS of F is an iterating of that IFS. We also study the structures of the semi-group of homogeneous generating IFSs of a Cantor set F in R under the open set condition (OSC). If dimH F < 1 we prove that all generating IFSs of the set must have logarithmically commensurable contraction factors. From this Logarithmic Commensurability Theorem we derive a structure theorem for the semi-group of generating IFSs of F under the OSC. We also examine the impact of geometry on the structures of the semi-groups. Several examples will be given to illustrate the difficulty of the problem we study.