Bratteli diagram

In mathematics, a Bratteli diagram is a combinatorial structure: a graph composed of vertices labelled by positive integers ("level") and unoriented edges between vertices having levels differing by one. The notion was introduced by Ola Bratteli in 1972 in the theory of operator algebras to describe directed sequences of finite-dimensional algebras: it played an important role in Elliott's classification of AF-algebras and the theory of subfactors. Subsequently Anatoly Vershik associated dynamical systems with infinite paths in such graphs.