Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol. 90, Nos. 1/2. 1998. p. 261-284.
We show how transfer matrix models on chains that are self-similar (renor-malizable) with respect to a substitution rule can be transformed from multi-site models in which transfer matrices depend on the nature of a finite number of neighboring sites, to on-site models in which transfer matrices depend on the nature of one site only. We present sufficient conditions and show that these conditions are satisfied in the case of quasiperiodic chains of two symbols that are renormalizable with respect to an invertible substitution rule. We illustrate the application of our results to tight-binding Schrodinger equations modeling the electronic behavior of self-similar chains of atoms and to models describing the transmission of light through self-similarly stacked multilayers.