Collinear Fractals and Bandt’s Conjecture

Abstract

For a complex parameter c outside the unit disk and an integer n≥2, we examine the n-ary collinear fractal E(c,n), defined as the attractor of the iterated function system {fk:C⟶C}k=1n, where fk(z):=1+n−2k+c−1z. We investigate some topological features of the connectedness locus Mn defined as the set of those c for which E(c,n) is connected. In particular, we provide a detailed answer to an open question posed by Calegari, Koch, and Walker in 2017. We also extend and refine the technique of the “covering property” by Solomyak and Xu to any n≥2. We use it to show that a nontrivial portion of Mn is regular closed. When n≥21, we enhance this result by showing that in fact, the whole Mn∖R lies within the closure of its interior, thus proving that the generalized Bandt’s conjecture is true.