Shift Radix Systems - A Survey

Let $d\ge 1$ be an integer and ${\bf r}=(r_0,\dots,r_{d-1}) \in \mathbf{R}^d$. The {\em shift radix system} $\tau_\mathbf{r}: \mathbb{Z}^d \to \mathbb{Z}^d$ is defined by $$\tau_{{\bf r}}({\bf z})=(z_1,\dots,z_{d-1},-\lfloor {\bf r} {\bf z}\rfloor)^t \qquad ({\bf z}=(z_0,\dots,z_{d-1})^t).$$ $\tau_\mathbf{r}$ has the {\em finiteness property} if each ${\bf z} \in \mathbb{Z}^d$ is eventually mapped to ${\bf 0}$ under iterations of $\tau_\mathbf{r}$. In the present survey we summarize results on these nearly linear mappings. We discuss how these mappings are related to well-known numeration systems, to rotations with round-offs, and to a conjecture on periodic expansions w.r.t.\ Salem numbers. Moreover, we review the behavior of the orbits of points under iterations of $\tau_\mathbf{r}$ with special emphasis on ultimately periodic orbits and on the finiteness property. We also describe a geometric theory related to shift radix systems.