Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 May 2018
Let $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ be the projection on $[0,1]$ of a Gibbs measure on $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F4}=\{0,1\}^{\mathbb{N}}$ (or more generally a Gibbs capacity) associated with a Hölder potential. The thermodynamic and multifractal properties of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ are well known to be linked via the multifractal formalism. We study the impact of a random sampling procedure on this structure. More precisely, let $\{{I_{w}\}}_{w\in \unicode[STIX]{x1D6F4}^{\ast }}$ stand for the collection of dyadic subintervals of $[0,1]$ naturally indexed by the finite dyadic words. Fix $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}\in (0,1)$, and a sequence $(p_{w})_{w\in \unicode[STIX]{x1D6F4}^{\ast }}$ of independent Bernoulli variables of parameters $2^{-|w|(1-\unicode[STIX]{x1D702})}$. We consider the (very sparse) remaining values $\widetilde{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}=\{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I_{w}):w\in \unicode[STIX]{x1D6F4}^{\ast },p_{w}=1\}$. We study the geometric and statistical information associated with $\widetilde{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$, and the relation between $\widetilde{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$. To do so, we construct a random capacity $\mathsf{M}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$ from $\widetilde{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$. This new object fulfills the multifractal formalism, and its free energy is closely related to that of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$. Moreover, the free energy of $\mathsf{M}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$ generically exhibits one first order and one second order phase transition, while that of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ is analytic. The geometry of $\mathsf{M}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$ is deeply related to the combination of approximation by dyadic numbers with geometric properties of Gibbs measures. The possibility to reconstruct $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ from $\widetilde{\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}}$ by using the almost multiplicativity of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}$ and concatenation of words is discussed as well.