English

Free monoids and forests of rational numbers

Number Theory 2016-12-22 v2

Abstract

The Calkin-Wilf tree is an infinite binary tree whose vertices are the positive rational numbers. Each such number occurs in the tree exactly once and in the form a/ba/b, where are aa and bb are relatively prime positive integers. This tree is associated with the matrices L1=(1011)L_1 = \left( \begin{matrix} 1 & 0 \\ 1 & 1 \end{matrix} \right) and R1=(1101)R_1 = \left( \begin{matrix} 1 & 1 \\ 0 & 1 \end{matrix} \right), which freely generate the monoid SL2(N0)SL_2(\mathbf{N}_0) of 2×22 \times 2 matrices with determinant 1 and nonnegative integral coordinates. For other pairs of matrices LuL_u and RvR_v that freely generate submonoids of GL2(N0)GL_2(\mathbf{N}_0), there are forests of infinitely many rooted infinite binary trees that partition the set of positive rational numbers, and possess a remarkable symmetry property.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1406.2054,
  title  = {Free monoids and forests of rational numbers},
  author = {Melvyn B. Nathanson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1406.2054},
  year   = {2016}
}

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10 pages