Smooth Ergodic Theory And Its Applications

During the past decade, there have been several major new developments in smooth ergodic theory, which have attracted substantial interest to the field from mathematicians as well as scientists using dynamics in their work. In spite of the impressive literature, it has been extremely difficult for a student-or even an established mathematician who is not an expert in the area-to acquire a working knowledge of smooth ergodic theory and to learn how to use its tools. Accordingly, the AMS Summer Research Institute on Smooth Ergodic Theory and Its Applications (Seattle, WA) had a strong educational component, including ten mini-courses on various aspects of the topic that were presented by leading experts in the field. This volume presents the proceedings of that conference. Smooth ergodic theory studies the statistical properties of differentiable dynamical systems, whose origin traces back to the seminal works of Poincare and later, many great mathematicians who made contributions to the development of the theory. The main topic of this volume, smooth ergodic theory, especially the theory of nonuniformly hyperbolic systems, provides the principle paradigm for the rigorous study of complicated or chaotic behavior in deterministic systems. This paradigm asserts that if a non-linear dynamical system exhibits sufficiently pronounced exponential behavior, then global properties of the system can be deduced from studying the linearized system. One can then obtain detailed information on topological properties (such as the growth of periodic orbits, topological entropy, and dimension of invariant sets including attractors), as well as statistical properties (such as the existence of invariant measures, asymptotic behavior of typical orbits, ergodicity, mixing, decay of corre This volume serves a two-fold purpose: first, it gives a useful gateway to smooth ergodic theory for students and nonspecialists, and second, it provides a state-of-the-art report on important current aspects of the subject. The book is divided into three parts: lecture notes consisting of three long expositions with proofs aimed to serve as a comprehensive and self-contained introduction to a particular area of smooth ergodic theory; thematic sections based on mini-courses or surveys held at the conference; and original contributions presented at the meeting or closely related to the topics that were discussed there.

This book is the first comprehensive introduction to smooth ergodic theory. It consists of two parts: the first introduces the core of the theory and the second discusses more advanced topics. In particular, the book describes the general theory of Lyapunov exponents and its applications to the stability theory of differential equations, the concept of nonuniform hyperbolicity, stable manifold theory (with emphasis on absolute continuity of invariant foliations), and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems with nonzero Lyapunov exponents. A detailed description of all the basic examples of conservative systems with nonzero Lyapunov exponents, including the geodesic flows on compact surfaces of nonpositive curvature, is also presented. There are more than 80 exercises. The book is aimed at graduate students specializing in dynamical systems and ergodic theory as well as anyone who wishes to get a working knowledge of smooth ergodic theory and to learn how to use its tools. It can also be used as a source for special topics courses on nonuniform hyperbolicity. The only prerequisite for using this book is a basic knowledge of real analysis, measure theory, differential equations, and topology, although the necessary background definitions and results are provided. In this second edition, the authors improved the exposition and added more exercises to make the book even more student-oriented. They also added new material to bring the book more in line with the current research in dynamical systems.

"The authors consider several nontrivial examples of dynamical systems with nonzero Lyapunov exponents to illustrate some basic methods and ideas of the theory.".

This book is the first comprehensive introduction to smooth ergodic theory. It consists of two parts: the first introduces the core of the theory and the second discusses more advanced topics. In particular, the book describes the general theory of Lyapunov exponents and its applications to the stability theory of differential equations, the concept of nonuniform hyperbolicity, stable manifold theory (with emphasis on absolute continuity of invariant foliations), and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems with nonzero Lyapunov exponents. A detailed description of all the basic examples of conservative systems with nonzero Lyapunov exponents, including the geodesic flows on compact surfaces of nonpositive curvature, is also presented. There are more than 80 exercises. The book is aimed at graduate students specializing in dynamical systems and ergodic theory as well as anyone who wishes to get a working knowledge of smooth ergodic theory and to learn how to use its tools. It can also be used as a source for special topics courses on nonuniform hyperbolicity. The only prerequisite for using this book is a basic knowledge of real analysis, measure theory, differential equations, and topology, although the necessary background definitions and results are provided. In this second edition, the authors improved the exposition and added more exercises to make the book even more student-oriented. They also added new material to bring the book more in line with the current research in dynamical systems.

This EMS volume, the first edition of which was published as Dynamical Systems II, EMS 2, familiarizes the reader with the fundamental ideas and results of modern ergodic theory and its applications to dynamical systems and statistical mechanics. The enlarged and revised second edition adds two new contributions on ergodic theory of flows on homogeneous manifolds and on methods of algebraic geometry in the theory of interval exchange transformations.

Focussing on the mathematics related to the recent proof of ergodicity of the (Weil–Petersson) geodesic flow on a nonpositively curved space whose points are negatively curved metrics on surfaces, this book provides a broad introduction to an important current area of research. It offers original textbook-level material suitable for introductory or advanced courses as well as deep insights into the state of the art of the field, making it useful as a reference and for self-study. The first chapters introduce hyperbolic dynamics, ergodic theory and geodesic and horocycle flows, and include an English translation of Hadamard's original proof of the Stable-Manifold Theorem. An outline of the strategy, motivation and context behind the ergodicity proof is followed by a careful exposition of it (using the Hopf argument) and of the pertinent context of Teichmüller theory. Finally, some complementary lectures describe the deep connections between geodesic flows in negative curvature and Diophantine approximation.

Robust chaos is defined by the absence of periodic windows and coexisting attractors in some neighborhoods in the parameter space of a dynamical system. This unique book explores the definition, sources, and roles of robust chaos. The book is written in a reasonably self-contained manner and aims to provide students and researchers with the necessary understanding of the subject. Most of the known results, experiments, and conjectures about chaos in general and about robust chaos in particular are collected here in a pedagogical form. Many examples of dynamical systems, ranging from purely mathematical to natural and social processes displaying robust chaos, are discussed in detail. At the end of each chapter is a set of exercises and open problems intended to reinforce the ideas and provide additional experiences for both readers and researchers in nonlinear science in general, and chaos theory in particular.

This volume in the Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science, Second Edition, covers recent developments in classical areas of ergodic theory, including the asymptotic properties of measurable dynamical systems, spectral theory, entropy, ergodic theorems, joinings, isomorphism theory, recurrence, nonsingular systems. It enlightens connections of ergodic theory with symbolic dynamics, topological dynamics, smooth dynamics, combinatorics, number theory, pressure and equilibrium states, fractal geometry, chaos. In addition, the new edition includes dynamical systems of probabilistic origin, ergodic aspects of Sarnak's conjecture, translation flows on translation surfaces, complexity and classification of measurable systems, operator approach to asymptotic properties, interplay with operator algebras