We develop combinatorial tools to study partial rigidity within the class of minimal $\mathcal {S}$-adic subshifts. By leveraging the combinatorial data of well-chosen Kakutani–Rokhlin partitions, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for partial rigidity. Additionally, we provide an explicit expression to compute the partial rigidity rate and an associated partial rigidity sequence. As applications, we compute the partial rigidity rate for a variety of constant length substitution subshifts, such as the Thue–Morse subshift, where we determine a partial rigidity rate of 2/3. We also exhibit non-rigid substitution subshifts with partial rigidity rates arbitrarily close to 1 and, as a consequence, using products of the aforementioned substitutions, we obtain that any number in $[0, 1]$ is the partial rigidity rate of a system.

It has been recently proved that the automorphism group of a minimal subshift with non-superlinear word complexity is virtually $\mathbb {Z}$ [Cyr and Kra. The automorphism group of a shift of linear growth: beyond transitivity. Forum Math. Sigma3 (2015), e5; Donoso et al. On automorphism groups of low complexity subshifts. Ergod. Th. & Dynam. Sys.36(1) (2016), 64–95]. In this article we extend this result to a broader class proving that the automorphism group of a minimal $\mathcal {S}$ -adic subshift of finite alphabet rank is virtually $\mathbb {Z}$ . The proof is based on a fine combinatorial analysis of the asymptotic classes in this type of subshifts, which we prove are a finite number.

We introduce the notions of directional dynamical cubes and directional regionally proximal relation defined via these cubes for a minimal $\mathbb{Z}^{d}$-system $(X,T_{1},\ldots ,T_{d})$. We study the structural properties of systems that satisfy the so-called unique closing parallelepiped property and we characterize them in several ways. In the distal case, we build the maximal factor of a $\mathbb{Z}^{d}$-system $(X,T_{1},\ldots ,T_{d})$ that satisfies this property by taking the quotient with respect to the directional regionally proximal relation. Finally, we completely describe distal $\mathbb{Z}^{d}$-systems that enjoy the unique closing parallelepiped property and provide explicit examples.

In this article, we provide sufficient conditions on a self-similar interval exchange map, whose renormalization matrix has complex eigenvalues of modulus greater than one, for the existence of affine interval exchange maps with wandering intervals that are semi-conjugate with it. These conditions are based on the algebraic properties of the complex eigenvalues and the complex fractals built from the natural substitution emerging from self-similarity. We show that the cubic Arnoux–Yoccoz interval exchange map satisfies these conditions.

In this article, we study the automorphism group $\text{Aut}(X,{\it\sigma})$ of subshifts $(X,{\it\sigma})$ of low word complexity. In particular, we prove that $\text{Aut}(X,{\it\sigma})$ is virtually $\mathbb{Z}$ for aperiodic minimal subshifts and certain transitive subshifts with non-superlinear complexity. More precisely, the quotient of this group relative to the one generated by the shift map is a finite group. In addition, we show that any finite group can be obtained in this way. The class considered includes minimal subshifts induced by substitutions, linearly recurrent subshifts and even some subshifts which simultaneously exhibit non-superlinear and superpolynomial complexity along different subsequences. The main technique in this article relies on the study of classical relations among points used in topological dynamics, in particular, asymptotic pairs. Various examples that illustrate the technique developed in this article are provided. In particular, we prove that the group of automorphisms of a $d$-step nilsystem is nilpotent of order $d$ and from there we produce minimal subshifts of arbitrarily large polynomial complexity whose automorphism groups are also virtually $\mathbb{Z}$.

In this paper we characterize measure-theoretical eigenvalues of Toeplitz Bratteli–Vershik minimal systems of finite topological rank which are not associated to a continuous eigenfunction. Several examples are provided to illustrate the different situations that can occur.

An ∞-step nilsystem is an inverse limit of minimal nilsystems. In this article, it is shown that a minimal distal system is an ∞-step nilsystem if and only if it has no non-trivial pairs with arbitrarily long finite IP-independence sets. Moreover, it is proved that any minimal system without non-trivial pairs with arbitrarily long finite IP-independence sets is an almost one-to-one extension of its maximal ∞-step nilfactor, and each invariant ergodic measure is isomorphic (in the measurable sense) to the Haar measure on some ∞-step nilsystem. The question if such a system is uniquely ergodic remains open. In addition, the topological complexity of an ∞-step nilsystem is computed, showing that it is polynomial for each non-trivial open cover.

In this article we study conditions to be a continuous or a measurable eigenvalue of finite rank minimal Cantor systems, that is, systems given by an ordered Bratteli diagram with a bounded number of vertices per level. We prove that continuous eigenvalues always come from the stable subspace associated with the incidence matrices of the Bratteli diagram and we study rationally independent generators of the additive group of continuous eigenvalues. Given an ergodic probability measure, we provide a general necessary condition for there to be a measurable eigenvalue. Then, we consider two families of examples, a first one to illustrate that measurable eigenvalues do not need to come from the stable space. Finally, we study Toeplitz-type Cantor minimal systems of finite rank. We recover classical results in the continuous case and we prove that measurable eigenvalues are always rational but not necessarily continuous.

In this article we prove that given a self-similar interval exchange transformation T(λ,π), whose associated matrix verifies a quite general algebraic condition, there exists an affine interval exchange transformation with wandering intervals that is semi-conjugated to it. That is, in this context the existence of Denjoy counterexamples occurs very often, generalizing the result of Cobo [Piece-wise affine maps conjugate to interval exchanges. Ergod. Th. & Dynam. Sys.22 (2002), 375–407].

The representation of Cantor minimal systems by Bratteli–Vershik diagrams has been extensively used to study particular aspects of their dynamics. A main role has been played by the symbolic factors induced by the way vertices of a fixed level of the diagram are visited by the dynamics. The main result of this paper states that Cantor minimal systems that can be represented by Bratteli–Vershik diagrams with a uniformly bounded number of vertices at each level (called finite-rank systems) are either expansive or topologically conjugate to an odometer. More precisely, when expansive, they are topologically conjugate to one of their symbolic factors.

Let ${\mathbb{M}}={\mathbb{N}}^D$ be the positive orthant of a $D$-dimensional lattice and let $({\mathcal{G}},+)$ be a finite abelian group. Let ${\mathfrak{G}} \subseteq{\mathcal{G}}^{\mathbb{M}}$ be a subgroup shift, and let $\mu$ be a Markov random field whose support is ${\mathfrak{G}}$. Let $\Phi: {\mathfrak{G}} \longrightarrow {\mathfrak{G}}$ be a linear cellular automaton. Under broad conditions on ${\mathcal{G}}$, we show that the Cesaro average $N^{-1} \sum_{n=0}^{N-1} \Phi^n (\mu)$ converges to a measure of maximal entropy for the shift action on ${\mathfrak{G}}$.

Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for linearly recurrent Cantor dynamical systems to have measurable and continuous eigenfunctions. Also an example of a linearly recurrent system with a nontrivial Kronecker factor and a trivial maximal equicontinuous factor is constructed explicitly.

The class of linearly recurrent Cantor systems contains the substitution subshifts and some odometers. For substitutionsubshifts, measure-theoretical and continuous eigenvalues are the same. It is natural to ask whether this rigidity property remains true for the class of linearly recurrent Cantor systems. Partial answers are given to this question.

Consider a finite Abelian group $(G,+)$, with $|G|=p^r$, $p$ a prime number, and $\varphi: G^\mathbb{N} \to G^\mathbb{N}$ the cellular automaton given by $(\varphi x)_n=\mu x_n+\nu x_{n+1}$ for any $n\in \mathbb{N}$, where $\mu$ and $\nu$ are integers coprime to $p$. We prove that if $\mathbb{P}$ is a translation invariant probability measure on $G^\mathbb{Z}$ determining a chain with complete connections and summable decay of correlations, then for any ${\underline w}= (w_i:i<0)$the Cesàro mean distribution $${\cal M}_{\mathbb{P}_{\underline w}} =\lim_{M\to\infty} \frac{1}{M} \sum^{M-1}_{m=0}\mathbb{P}_{\underline w}\circ\varphi^{-m},$$ where $\mathbb{P}_{\underline w}$ is the measure induced by $\mathbb{P}$ on $G^\mathbb{N}$ conditioned by $\underline w$, exists and satisfies ${\cal M}_{\mathbb{P}_{\underline w}}=\lambda^\mathbb{N}$, the uniform product measure on $G^\mathbb{N}$. The proof uses a regeneration representation of $\mathbb{P}$.

It is not known in general whether any mixing sofic system is the limit set of some one-dimensional cellular automaton. We address two aspects of this question. We prove first that any mixing almost of finite type (AFT) sofic system with a receptive fixed point is the limit set of a cellular automaton, under which it is attained in finite time. The AFT condition is not necessary: we also give examples of non-AFT sofic systems having the same properties. Finally, we show that near Markov sofic systems (a subclass of AFT sofic systems) cannot be obtained as limit sets of cellular automata at infinity.