Introduction To Topological Dynamics

The theory of differential equations originated at the end of the seventeenth century in the works of I. Newton, G. W. Leibniz and others. During the first century of its existence, this theory consisted only of isolated methods of solving certain types of differential equations; but the problem of the existence of a solution and its representability in quadratures was posed already in the second. As a result of numerous investigations it became clear that integrability in quadratures is an extremely rare phe nomenon and that the solution of many differential equations arising in applications cannot be expressed in quadratures. Also the methods of numerical integration of equations did not open the road to the general theory since these methods yield only one particular solution and this solution is obtained on a finite interval. Applications - especially the problems of celestial mechanics - required the clarification of at least the nature of the behavior of integral curves in the entire domain of their existence without integration of the equation. In this connection, at the end of the last century there arose the qualitative theory of differential equations, the creators of which one must by all rights consider to be H. Poincare and A. M. Lyapunov.

This book is designed as an introduction into what I call 'abstract' Topological Dynamics (TO): the study of topological transformation groups with respect to problems that can be traced back to the qualitative theory of differential equa is in the tradition of the books [GH] and [EW. The title tions. So this book (,Elements . . . ' rather than 'Introduction . . . ') does not mean that this book should be compared, either in scope or in (intended) impact, with the 'Ele ments' of Euclid or Bourbaki. Instead, it reflects the choice and organisation of the material in this book: elementary and basic (but sufficient to understand recent research papers in this field). There are still many challenging prob lems waiting for a solution, and especially among general topologists there is a growing interest in this direction. However, the technical inaccessability of many research papers makes it almost impossible for an outsider to under stand what is going on. To a large extent, this inaccessability is caused by the lack of a good and systematic exposition of the fundamental methods and techniques of abstract TO. This book is an attempt to fill this gap. The guiding principle for the organization of the material in this book has been the exposition of methods and techniques rather than a discussion of the leading problems and their solutions. though the latter are certainly not neglected: they are used as a motivation wherever possible.

There is no recent elementary introduction to the theory of discrete dynamical systems that stresses the topological background of the topic. This book fills this gap: it deals with this theory as 'applied general topology'. We treat all important concepts needed to understand recent literature. The book is addressed primarily to graduate students. The prerequisites for understanding this book are modest: a certain mathematical maturity and course in General Topology are sufficient.

A survey of some of the results, models, and problems of topological dynamics. For simplicity of presentation, attention is mostly confined to flows.

This groundbreaking volume is the first to elaborate the theory of set families as a tool for studying the phenomenon of recurrence. The theory is implicit in such seminal works as Hillel Furstenberg's Recurrence in Ergodic Theory and Combinational Number Theory, but Ethan Akin's study elaborates it in detail, defining such elements of theory as: open families of special subsets the unification of several ideas associated with transitivity, ergodicity, and mixing the Ellis theory of enveloping semigroups for compact dynamical systems and new notions of equicontinuity, distality, and rigidity.

The theory of differential equations originated at the end of the seventeenth century in the works of I. Newton, G. W. Leibniz and others. During the first century of its existence, this theory consisted only of isolated methods of solving certain types of differential equations; but the problem of the existence of a solution and its representability in quadratures was posed already in the second. As a result of numerous investigations it became clear that integrability in quadratures is an extremely rare phe nomenon and that the solution of many differential equations arising in applications cannot be expressed in quadratures. Also the methods of numerical integration of equations did not open the road to the general theory since these methods yield only one particular solution and this solution is obtained on a finite interval. Applications - especially the problems of celestial mechanics - required the clarification of at least the nature of the behavior of integral curves in the entire domain of their existence without integration of the equation. In this connection, at the end of the last century there arose the qualitative theory of differential equations, the creators of which one must by all rights consider to be H. Poincare and A. M. Lyapunov.

This book provided the first self-contained comprehensive exposition of the theory of dynamical systems as a core mathematical discipline closely intertwined with most of the main areas of mathematics. The authors introduce and rigorously develop the theory while providing researchers interested in applications with fundamental tools and paradigms. The book begins with a discussion of several elementary but fundamental examples. These are used to formulate a program for the general study of asymptotic properties and to introduce the principal theoretical concepts and methods. The main theme of the second part of the book is the interplay between local analysis near individual orbits and the global complexity of the orbit structure. The third and fourth parts develop the theories of low-dimensional dynamical systems and hyperbolic dynamical systems in depth. Over 400 systematic exercises are included in the text. The book is aimed at students and researchers in mathematics at all levels from advanced undergraduate up.

This book provides a broad introduction to the subject of dynamical systems, suitable for a one or two-semester graduate course. In the first chapter, the authors introduce over a dozen examples, and then use these examples throughout the book to motivate and clarify the development of the theory. Topics include topological dynamics, symbolic dynamics, ergodic theory, hyperbolic dynamics, one-dimensional dynamics, complex dynamics, and measure-theoretic entropy. The authors top off the presentation with some beautiful and remarkable applications of dynamical systems to areas such as number theory, data storage, and internet search engines.

The theory of dynamical systems is a broad and active research subject with connections to most parts of mathematics. Dynamical Systems: An Introduction undertakes the difficult task to provide a self-contained and compact introduction. Topics covered include topological, low-dimensional, hyperbolic and symbolic dynamics, as well as a brief introduction to ergodic theory. In particular, the authors consider topological recurrence, topological entropy, homeomorphisms and diffeomorphisms of the circle, Sharkovski's ordering, the Poincaré-Bendixson theory, and the construction of stable manifolds, as well as an introduction to geodesic flows and the study of hyperbolicity (the latter is often absent in a first introduction). Moreover, the authors introduce the basics of symbolic dynamics, the construction of symbolic codings, invariant measures, Poincaré's recurrence theorem and Birkhoff's ergodic theorem. The exposition is mathematically rigorous, concise and direct: all statements (except for some results from other areas) are proven. At the same time, the text illustrates the theory with many examples and 140 exercises of variable levels of difficulty. The only prerequisites are a background in linear algebra, analysis and elementary topology. This is a textbook primarily designed for a one-semester or two-semesters course at the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate levels. It can also be used for self-study and as a starting point for more advanced topics.