= Symbolic potential
{title2=$U:K^{\mathbb N}\to\mathbb R$}
A symbolic potential assigns a real weight to an infinite symbolic sequence. Its orbit sum gives the energy in a weighted <partition function>. Agreement on the first $r$ symbols defines the variation $\operatorname{var}_rU$; summable variations control sensitivity to a remote history. Geometric potentials encode interval contraction, while other potentials can assign different statistical weights to the same symbolic dynamics.
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