It has been well-known since foundational work of Hochman and Meyerovitch that that the topological entropy of a multidimensional shift of finite type may have no closed form, and in fact may even be noncomputable. For this reason, it is worthwhile to find provable approximation schemes for the entropy/pressure of "well-behaved" multidimensional models. I will describe some results guaranteeing such approximability schemes, ranging from general results requiring only mixing con-ditions on the underlying SFT to specific results tailored to individual models, and will outline some of the ways in which such results can be proven.[-]

These lectures introduce the dynamical systems approach to tilings of Euclidean space, especially quasicrystalline tilings that have been constructed using a ‘supertile method'. Because tiling dynamics parallels one-dimensional symbolic dynamics, we discuss this case as well, highlighting the differences and similarities in the methods of study and the results that can be obtained.
In the first lecture we motivate the field with the discovery of quasicrystals, which led to D. Schectman's winning the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Then we set up the basics of tiling dynamics, describing tiling spaces, a tiling metric, and the shift or translation actions. Shift-invariant and ergodic measures are discussed, along with fundamental topological and dynamical properties.
The second lecture brings in the supertile construction methods, including symbolic substitutions, self-similar tilings, $S$-adic systems, and fusion rules. Numerous examples are given, most of which are not the “standard” examples, and we identify many commonalities and differences between these interrelated methods of construction. Then we compare and contrast dynamical results for supertile systems, highlighting those key insights that can be adapted to all cases.
In the third lecture we investigate one of the many current tiling research areas: spectral theory. Schectman made his Nobel-prize-winning discovery using diffraction analysis, and studying the mathematical version has been quite fruitful. Spectral theory of tiling dynamical systems is also of broad interest. We describe how these types of spectral analysis are carried out, give examples, and discuss what is known and unknown about the relationship between dynamical and diffraction analysis. Special attention is paid to the “point spectrum”, which is related to eigenfunctions and also to the bright spots that appear on diffraction images.[-]

The automorphism group of a symbolic system captures its symmetries, reecting the dynamical behavior and the complexity of the system. It can be quite complicated: for example, for a topologically mixing shift of
nite type, the automorphism group contains isomorphic copies of all
nite groups and the free group on two generators and such behavior is common for shifts of high complexity. In the opposite setting of low complexity, there are numerous restrictions on the automorphism group, and for many classes of symbolic systems, it is known to be virtually abelian. I will give an overview of relations among dynamical properties of the system, algebraic properties of the automorphism group, and measurable properties of associated systems, all of which quickly lead to open questions.[-]

An automorphism of a subshift $X$ is a self-homeomorphism of $X$ that commutes with the shift map. The study of these automorphisms started at the very beginning of the symbolic dynamics. For instance, the well known Curtis-Hedlund-Lyndon theorem asserts that each automorphism is a cellular automaton. The set of automorphisms forms a countable group that may be very complicated for mixing shift of finite type (SFT). The study of this group for low complexity subshifts has become very active in the last five years. Actually, for zero entropy subshift, this group is much more tame than in the SFT case. In a first lecture we will recall some striking property of this group for subshift of finite type. The second lecture is devoted to the description of this group for classical minimal sub shifts of zero entropy with sublinear complexity and for the family of Toeplitz subshifts. The last lecture concerns the algebraic properties of the automorphism group for subshifts with sub-exponential complexity. We will also explain why sonic group like the Baumslag-Solitar $BS(1,n)$ or $SL(d,Z), d >2$, can not embed into an automorphism group of a zero entropy subshift.[-]

Subshifts of finite type are of high interest from a computational point of view, since they can be described by a finite amount of information - a set of forbidden patterns that defines the subshift - and thus decidability and algorithmic questions can be addressed. Given an SFT $X$, the simplest question one can formulate is the following: does $X$ contain a configuration? This is the so-called domino problem, or emptiness problem: for a given finitely presented group $0$, is there an algorithm that determines if the group $G$ is tilable with a finite set of tiles? In this lecture I will start with a presentation of two different proofs of the undecidability of the domino problem on $Z^2$. Then we will discuss the case of finitely generated groups. Finally, the emptiness problem for general subshifts will be tackled.[-]

I will speak about multidimensional shifts of finite type and their measures of maximal entropy. In particular, I will present results about computability of topological entropy for SFTs and measure-theoretic entropy. I'll focus on various mixing hypotheses, both topological and measure-theoretic, which imply different rates of computability for these objects, and give applications to various systems, including the hard square model, k-coloring, and iceberg model.[-]

I will speak about multidimensional shifts of finite type and their measures of maximal entropy. In particular, I will present results about computability of topological entropy for SFTs and measure-theoretic entropy. I'll focus on various mixing hypotheses, both topological and measure-theoretic, which imply different rates of computability for these objects, and give applications to various systems, including the hard square model, k-coloring, and iceberg model.[-]

I will speak about multidimensional shifts of finite type and their measures of maximal entropy. In particular, I will present results about computability of topological entropy for SFTs and measure-theoretic entropy. I'll focus on various mixing hypotheses, both topological and measure-theoretic, which imply different rates of computability for these objects, and give applications to various systems, including the hard square model, k-coloring, and iceberg model.[-]