Arithmetic-progression gap sets in Cantor sets

Abstract

We address the question of which common differences can arise in arithmetic progressions contained in fractal sets. For a compact set $C\subset\mathbb R$, we investigate not only whether arithmetic progressions occur in $C$, but the full collection of their common differences. More generally, for a finite pattern $P$, we study the set of scales at which affine copies of $P$ appear in $C$. For affine self-similar sets satisfying strong separation, we obtain explicit restrictions on admissible common differences. Specializing to middle-$\varepsilon$ Cantor sets, we prove that the longest arithmetic progression has length four whenever $3-2\sqrt2<\varepsilon\le 1/3$, showing that the maximal progression length drops immediately from six at the critical parameter $\varepsilon=3-2\sqrt2$. We further develop recursive bounds for the sets of admissible common differences and derive explicit blackout intervals, namely ranges of scales for which arithmetic progressions cannot occur. On the positive side, sufficiently thick Cantor sets exhibit the opposite behavior. Combining a refinement of the Hunt-Kan-Yorke construction with the Newhouse Gap Lemma, we prove that every sufficiently small common difference occurs in a three-term arithmetic progression. In particular, if the largest bounded gap of a Cantor set is at most $0.067 diam(C)$ and its thickness is at least $6.96268\ldots$, then every common difference in $(0,0.435 diam(C)]$ occurs in a three-term arithmetic progression contained in $C$. Analogous interval results are obtained for four-term arithmetic progressions and asymmetric three-point patterns.