Abstract:
We consider a tree $\mathbb{T}$ all whose vertices have countable valency.
Its boundary is the Baire space $\mathbb{B}\simeq\mathbb{N}^\mathbb{N}$
and the set of irrational numbers $\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{Q}$
is identified with $\mathbb{B}$ by continued fraction expansions.
Removing $k$ edges from $\mathbb{T}$, we get a forest consisting of copies of $\mathbb{T}$.
A spheromorphism (or hierarchomorphism) of $\mathbb{T}$ is an isomorphism of two such subforests
regarded as a transformation of $\mathbb{T}$ or $\mathbb{B}$.
We denote the group of all spheromorphisms by $\operatorname{Hier}(\mathbb{T})$.
We show that the correspondence $\mathbb{R}\setminus \mathbb{Q}\simeq \mathbb{B}$ sends the Thompson group
realized by piecewise $\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$-transformations to a subgroup of $\operatorname{Hier}(\mathbb{T})$.
We construct some unitary representations of $\operatorname{Hier}(\mathbb{T})$, show that the group
$\operatorname{Aut}(\mathbb{T})$ of automorphisms is spherical in $\operatorname{Hier}(\mathbb{T})$
and describe the train (enveloping category) of $\operatorname{Hier}(\mathbb{T})$.
Keywords:Thompson group, continued fraction, Baire space, representation of categories, Bruhat–Tits tree.