ABSTRACT:
Given a Z^d shift of finite type and a nearest-neighbour interaction, we present sufficient conditions for efficient approximation of pressure and, in particular, topological entropy. Among these conditions, we introduce a combinatorial analog of the measure-theoretic property of Gibbs measures known as strong spatial mixing. The approximation techniques make use of a special representation theorem for pressure that may be of independent interest.
Part of this talk is joint work with Stefan Adams, Brian Marcus, and Ronnie Pavlov.