Dynamical spectrum of power-free integers in quadratic number fields and beyond

Abstract

Power-free integers and related lattice subsets give rise to interesting dynamical systems. They are revisited from a spectral perspective, in the setting of the Halmos--von Neumann theorem. With respect to the natural patch frequency measure, also known as the Mirsky measure, many of these systems have pure-point dynamical spectrum, but trivial topological point spectrum. We calculate the spectra explicitly, in additive notation, and derive their group structure, both for a large class of $\cB$-free lattice systems in $\RR^d$ and for power-free integers in quadratic number fields. Further, in all cases, the eigenfunctions can be given in closed form, via the Fourier--Bohr coefficients of generic elements and their translates, which form a subset of full Mirsky measure. Based on a simple argument via Kolmogorov's strong law of large numbers, we show how the Fourier--Bohr coefficients also provide the eigenfunctions for the unique measure of maximal entropy, and that we get phase consistency for both measures.