An. St. Univ. Ovidius Constant a Vol.

13(2), 2005, 1522

Boundedness conditions of Hausdor
h-measure in metric spaces
Alina Barbulescu
Abstract
The fractal dimensions are very important characteristics of the frac-
tal sets. A problem which arises in the study of the fractal sets is the
determination of their dimensions. The Hausdor dimension of this type
of sets is dicult to be determined, even if the Box dimensions can be
computed. In this article we present some boundedness conditions on
the Hausdor h-measure of a set, using their Box dimensions.
Subject Classication: 28A78.
1 Background
The calculus of the dimensions is fundamental in the study of fractals. The
Hausdor measures and the h-measures, the box dimensions, the packing di-
mensions are widely used and in many articles the relations between them are
given ([5] - [8]).
In the papers [1] - [4] we gave some boundedness conditions for a class of
fractal sets, in R
n
. This type of conditions is important in order to prove
theorems concerning the module and the capacities and the relations between
them ([10]).
In this paper we work in metric spaces and we give some boundedness
conditions of the Hausdor h - measures.
Denition 1. Let (X, d) be a metric space.
If r
0
> 0 is a given number, then, a continuous function h(r), dened on
[0, r
0
) , nondecreasing and such that lim
r0
h(r) = 0 is called a measure function.
Key Words: Hausdor dimension; Box dimension; Equivalence relation.
15
16 Alina B arbulescu
If 0 < < , E is a subset of (X, d) and h is a measure function, then,
the Hausdor h-measure of E is dened by:
H
h
(E) = lim
0
inf
_

i
h(|U
i
|) : E
_
i
U
i
: 0 < |U
i
| <
_
.
where | | denotes the diameter of the set U
i
.
Particularly, when h(r) = r
s
, 0 < s < , then the s-dimensional Hausdor
measure of E, denoted by H
s
(E), is obtained.
The Hausdor dimension of a nonempty set E X is the number dened
by
dim
H
E = inf {s : H
s
(E) = 0} = sup{s : H
s
(E) = } .
Remark. There are denitions where the covering of the set E is made with
balls. The relation between the new measure, denoted by H

h
and H
h
is:
H
h
(E) H

h
(E). Thus,
H

h
(E) < H
h
(E) < ,
H

h
(E) = 0 H
h
(E) = 0,
and
H
h
(E) > 0 H

h
(E) > 0.
Denition 2. Let be a positive number and E be a nonempty and
bounded subset of the metric space (X, d). Let N

(E) be the smallest number

of sets of diameter at most that cover E. Then the upper and lower Box
dimension of E are dened by:
dim
B
E = lim
0
log N

(E)
log
; dim
B
E = lim
0
log N

(E)
log
.
If these limits are equal, the common value is called the Box dimension of E
and is denoted by dim
B
E.
Denition 3. Let
1
,
2
> 0 be functions dened in a neighborhood of
0 R
n
. We say that
1
and
2
are equivalent and we denote by:
1

2
,
for x 0, if there exist r > 0, Q > 0, satisfying:
1
Q

1
(x)
2
(x) Q
1
(x), ()x R
n
, |x| < r,
where for x R
n
, x = (x
1
, ..., x
n
), |x| =

n
i=1
x
2
i
.
An analogous denition can be given for x . In this case,
1

2
means that the previous inequalities are valid in all the space.
Boundedness conditions 17
Remark. In what follows, if U is a set in a metric space, particularly in
R
n
, |U| means the diameter of U and if x R
n
, |x| has the signicance given
in the denition 3.
In the second part of the paper we shall use the following results:
Lemma 1. ([6]) If E is a set in R
2
, then
dim
H
E dim
B
E dim
B
E.
Remark. The previous lemma remains true in a nonempty compact metric
space.
2 Results
Theorem 1. Let (X, d) be a nonempty compact metric space, with dim
H
X =
s. Let h be a measure function such that there is m > 0, with
h(t)
t
s
> m.
Suppose that there exist
0
, > 0 such that for any set E X, with
|E| <
0
, there is a mapping : E X such that :
d(x, y) |E|d((x), (y)), ()x, y E.
Then H
h
(X) > 0.
Proof. First, it will be proved that H
s
(X)
s
.
Suppose that 0 H
s
(X) <
s
. Then, given 0 < < min{
0
,

2
}, there
are the sets U
1
, ..., U
k
, with |U
i
| < , for i = 1, 2, ..., k and X

k
i=1
U
i
such
that
k

i=1
|U
i
|
s
<
s
and so
k

i=1
|U
i
|
t
<
t
,
for some t < s.
By the hypotheses of the theorem there are the mappings
i
: U
i
X
such that
d(x, y)
1
|U
i
|d((x), (y)), ()x, y U
i

|
1
i
(U
q
)| = sup d(
1
i
(x),
1
i
(y)) <
1
|U
i
||U
q
| <
1
2

18 Alina B arbulescu
|
1
i
(U
q
)|
t
<
t
|U
i
|
t
|U
q
|
t

i=1
k

q=1
|
1
i
(U
q
)|
t
<
t
(
k

i=1
|U
i
|
t
)(
k

q=1
|U
q
|
t
) <
t
.
But X

k
i,q=1
|
1
i
(U
q
)|
t
. Therefore X has a covering by sets of dia-
meter less than
1
2
, with the same bound on the t-th power of the diameters.
Repeating the argument, we see that there are coverings V
i
of X, with dia-
meters at most 2
n
, such that

|V
i
|
t
<
t
. It follows that H
t
(X) <
t
and
dim
H
X = t < s, which is a contradiction.
So, H
s
(X)
s
> 0.
If {U
i
}
iN
X with |U
i
| < such that X

i=1
, then:

i=1
h(|U
i
|) =

i=1
_
h(|U
i
|)
|U
i
|
s
|U
i
|
s
_
> m

i=1
|U
i
|
s

H
h
(X) H
s
(X) m
s
> 0.
Proposition 1. Let (X, d) be a nonempty compact metric space, with
dim
H
X = s. Let h be a measure function such that there is M > 0,
h(t)
t
s
< M.
Then H
h
(X) M H
s
(X).
Proof. Let > 0 and {U
i
}
iN
be a covering of X with sets with |U
i
| < ,
()i N

i=1
h(|U
i
|) =

i=1
_
h(|U
i
|)
|U
i
|
s
|U
i
|
s
_
< M

i=1
|U
i
|
s

H
h
(X) M H
s
(X).
Remarks. 1. In the theorem 1 it was also proved that H
s
(X) > 0.
2. The Theorem 1 and the Proposition 1 give boundedness conditions for
the Hausdor h-measure of a compact metric space X, if h(t) t
s
.
Indeed, if h(t) t
s
, there is Q > 0, satisfying:
1
Q
t
s
h(t) Q t
s
, ()t > 0.
In the hypotheses of the mentioned theorems, for m =
1
Q
and M = Q,
0 <
1
Q

s

1
Q
H
s
(X) H
h
(X) Q H
s
(X).
Boundedness conditions 19
Theorem 2. Let (X, d) be a nonempty compact metric space, with dim
H
X =
s < . Suppose that there exist a, r
0
> 0 such that for any ball B in X of
radius r < r
0
there is a mapping : E B such that:
ard(x, y) d((x), (y)), ()x, y X.
Let h be a measure function such that there is M > 0, with
h(t)
t
s
< M. Then
H
h
(X) < Ms.
Proof. Following the proof of the theorem 4 [6], it results that
dim
B
X = dim
B
X = s
and H
s
(X) < . Using the relation (5), it results that H
h
(X) < Ms.
Examples.
1. Self-similar sets. For i = 1, ..., k, let
i
: R
n
R
n
be contracting
similarity transformations, i.e.
d(
i
(x),
i
(y)) = c
i
d(x, y),
where 0 < c
i
< 1 and d is the Euclidean metric. Then, there is a unique
nonempty compact set F R
n
that is self-similar ([8]), i.e.
F =
k
_
i=1

i
(F).
If s = dim
H
(F) and h is a measure function as in the Theorem 2, then
H
h
(F) < .
2. Dynamical repeller. If f is a C
1+
conformal mapping on a Riemann
manifold with mixing repeller J ([5]), s = dim
H
J and h is a measure function
such that there is M > 0, with
h(t)
t
s
< M, then H
h
(J) < .
In ([5]) it was proved that in the previous hypotheses, 0 < H
s
(J) < .
Using the Theorem 2, it results H
h
(J) < .
Theorem 3. Let (X, d) be a nonempty metric space, E X, E = ,
compact and h be a measure function such that H

h
(E) < . Let F be the
family of the closed sets in the topology induced by the metric. Suppose that
there is : F R
+
such that is subadditive and satises the conditions:
a. (F) 0, ()F F.
b. If F E, then (F) b > 0, where b is a constant.
c. There is a constant, k = 0, such that (F) kh(|F|).
20 Alina B arbulescu
Then, H

h
(E) b/k.
Proof. Let > 0. If {U
i
} is a sequence of open discs that cover E, with
|U
i
| < , it will be proved that
Ui
h(U
i
)
b
k
.
Since E is a compact set,
()n N

: E =
n
_
i=1
U
i
.
We can take closed discs, U

i
, U

i
U
i
, with the radius

i
2
close enough to
|Ui|
2
, such that
h(|U

i
|) < (1 +)h(|U
i
|),
where > 0 is small enough.
Then,
h(|U

i
|)
1
k
(|U

i
|)
n

i=1
h(|U
i
|)
1
1 +
n

i=1
h(|U

i
|)
1
k(1 +)
n

i=1
(|U

i
|)

1
k(1 +)
(
n
_
i=1
U

i
)
b
k(1 +)
.
Thus, H

h
(E)
b
k
.
Remark. The previous theorem remains true if F is replaced by the set
G of the open sets.
The Theorem 3 is a generalization of the suciency of the Theorem 1 [9].
Theorem 4. Let (X, d) be a nonempty metric space, E X, E = ,
compact and h be a measure function such that H

h
(E) < and h(t)
P(t)e
T(t)
, t 0, where P and T are the polynomials:
P(t) =
p

j=1
a
j
t
j
, p 1, a
1
= 0, T(t) =
m

j=0
b
j
t
j
,
with positive coecients. Then H

h
(E) > 0.
The result remains true if p 2, a
1
= 0 and > 0.
Proof. Let us dene the function:
: F R
+
, (F) = |F|, ()F F.
Boundedness conditions 21
It will be proved that the function satises the conditions of the Theorem
3.
Since h(t) P(t)e
T(t)
, t 0, there is Q > 0 such that:
1
Q
h(t) P(t)e
T(t)
Q h(t), ()t > 0.
We obtain easily the results:
a. |F| 0, ()F F.
b. If F E, then (F) = |F| |E|.
So, b from the previous theorem is |E| > 0.
c.
(F)
h(|F|)
=
|F|
h(|F|)
=
|F|
P(|F|)e
T(|F|)

P(|F|)e
T(|F|)
h(|F|)

Q
|F|
P(|F|)e
T(|F|)
<
Q
e
b0
a
2
= k.
Using the previous theorem we deduce that:
H

h
(E)
|E| e
b0
a
2
Q
> 0.
Remark. Another function that could be used to prove the Theorem 4 is:
: F R
+
, (F) = |F

E|, ()F F.
a. |F| 0, ()F F.
b. If F E, then (F) = (E) = |E| > 0.
c.
(F)
h(|F|)
=
|F

E|
h(|F|)
=
|F

E|
P(|F|)e
T(|F|)

P(|F|)e
T(|F|)
h(|F|)

Q
|F|
P(|F|)e
T(|F|)
<
Q
e
b0
a
2
= k.
So, satises the hypotheses of the Theorem 4.
References
[1] A. Barbulescu, On the h-measure of a set, Revue Roumaine de Mathematique
Pures and Appliquees, 47 (2002), 547-552.
22 Alina B arbulescu
[2] A. Barbulescu, New results about the h-measure of a set, in Analysis and Op-
timization of Dierential Systems, (Eds.) Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003,
pp. 43 - 48.
[3] A. Barbulescu, About some properties of the Hausdor measure, Proceedings
of the 10-th Symposium of Mathematics and its applications, November, 6-9,
2003, Timisoara, Romania, pp. 17 -22.
[4] A. B arbulescu, Some results on the h-measure of a set, submitted.
[5] K. J. Falconer, The geometry of fractal sets, Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics,
Cambridge University, 1985.
[6] K. J. Falconer, Dimensions and measures of quasi self - similar sets, Proc.
Amer. Math. Soc.,106 (2) (1989), 543 - 554.
[7] K. J. Falconer, Fractal geometry: Mathematical foundations and applications,
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[8] J. E. Hutchinson, Fractals and Self Similarity, Indiana Univ. Math. J.,30, no.5
(1981), 713-747.
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Cambridge Phil. Soc., 42 (1946), 15-23.
[10] S. J. Taylor, On the connexion between Hausdor measures and generalized
capacity, Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc.,57, (1961), 524-531.
Ovidius University of Constanta
Department of Mathematics and Informatics,
900527 Constanta, Bd. Mamaia 124
Romania
e-mail: [email protected]