Renewal theorems for a class of processes with dependent interarrival times and applications in geometry

Abstract: Renewal theorems are developed for point processes with interarrival times $W_n=\xi(X_{n+1}X_n\cdots)$, where $(X_n)_{n\in\mathbb Z}$ is a stochastic process with finite state space $\Sigma$ and $\xi\colon\Sigma_A\to\mathbb R$ is a H\"older continuous function on a subset $\Sigma_A\subset\Sigma^{\mathbb N}$. The theorems developed here unify and generalise the key renewal theorem for discrete measures and Lalley's renewal theorem for counting measures in symbolic dynamics. Moreover, they capture aspects of Markov renewal theory. The new renewal theorems allow for direct applications to problems in fractal and hyperbolic geometry; for instance, results on the Minkowski measurability of self-conformal sets are deduced. Indeed, these geometric problems motivated the development of the renewal theorems.