This dissertation is devoted to groups generated by bounded automata and geometric objects related to these groups (limit spaces, Schreier graphs, etc.). It is shown that groups generated by bounded automata are contracting. We introduce the notion of a post-critical set of a finite automaton and prove that the limit space of a contracting self-similar group generated by a finite automaton is post-critically finite (finitely-ramified) if and only if the automaton is bounded. We show that the Schreier graphs on levels of automaton groups can be constructed by an iterative procedure of inflation of graphs. This was used to associate a piecewise linear map of the form fK(v) = minA?KAv, where K is a finite set of nonnegative matrices, with every bounded automaton. We give an effective criterium for the existence of a strictly positive eigenvector of fK. The existence of nonnegative generalized eigenvectors of fK is proved and used to give an algorithmic way for finding the exponents ?max and ?min of the maximal and minimal growth of the components of f(n) K (v). We prove that the growth exponent of diameters of the Schreier graphs is equal to ?max and the orbital contracting coefficient of the group is equal to 1/?min . We prove that the simple random walks on orbital Schreier graphs are recurrent. A number of examples are presented to illustrate the developed methods with special attention to iterated monodromy groups of quadratic polynomials. We present the first example of a group whose coefficients ?min and ?max have different values.
