We study the dynamics of piecewise affine surface homeomorphisms from the point of view of their entropy. Under the assumption of positive topological entropy, we establish the existence of finitely many ergodic and invariant probability measures maximizing entropy and prove a multiplicative lower bound for the number of periodic points. This is intended as a step towards the understanding of surface diffeomorphisms. We proceed by building a jump transformation, using not first returns but carefully selected "good" returns to dispense with Markov partitions. We control these good returns through some entropy and ergodic arguments.
In this work we study the following realization problem: given a piecewise homeomorphism $Φ: S^1 \rightarrow S^1$, which geometrical and dynamical conditions on $Φ$ are sufficient to realize it as a Bowen-Series-like map associated to a surface group, seen as a discrete subgroup of ${\rm Homeo}^+ (S^1)$?
For a certain class of groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the interval, we prove that they admit no sufficiently regular faithful action on the line. Building on previous work of Brum, Matte Bon, Rivas, and the author [arXiv:2104.14678], the new ingredient is an observation from a recent work of Hyde and Tatch Moore [arXiv:2103.14911], which allows to reduce the problem to the case of the circle, and then apply Herman-Yoccoz theory.
Let $G$ be the group ${\rm PAff}_+({\bf S}^1)$ of piecewise--affine circle homeomorphisms or the group ${\Diff}^{\infty}(\mathbb R/\mathbb Z)$ of smooth circle diffeomorphisms. A constructive proof that all irrational rotations are distorted in $G$ is given.
We show that given a compact minimal system $(X,g)$ and an element $h$ of the topological full group $τ[g]$ of $g$, then the infinite orbits of $h$ admit a locally constant orientation with respect to the orbits of $g$. We use this to obtain a clopen partition of $(X,G)$ into minimal and periodic parts, where $G$ is any virtually polycyclic subgroup of $τ[g]$. We also use the orientation of orbits to give a refinement of the index map and to describe the role in $τ[g]$ of the submonoid generated by the induced transformations of $g$. Finally, we consider the problem, given a homeomorphism $h$ …
We construct a chaotic discrete-time continuous-state Hopfield network with piecewise-affine nonnegative activation functions and weight matrix with small positive entries. More precisely, there exists a Cantor set $C$ in the state space such that the network has sensitive dependence on initial conditions at initial states in $C$ and the network orbit of each initial state in $C$ has $C$ as its $ω$-limit set. The approach we use is based on tools developed and employed recently in the study of the topological dynamics of piecewise-contractions. The parameters of the chaotic network are explici…
Let $I=[0,1)$, $-1<λ<1$ and $f\colon I\to I$ be a piecewise $λ$-affine map of the interval $I$, i.e., there exist a partition $0=a_0<a_1<\cdots< a_{k-1}<a_k=1$ of the interval $I$ into $k\geq2$ subintervals and $b_1,\ldots, b_k\in\mathbb{R}$ such that $f(x)=λx+ b_i$ for every $x\in[a_{i-1},a_{i})$ and $i=1,\ldots,k$. The exceptional set $\mathcal{E}_f$ of $f$ is the set of parameters $δ\in\mathbb{R}$ such that $R_δ\circ f$ is not asymptotically periodic, where $R_δ\colon I\to I$ is the rotation of angle $δ$. In this paper we prove that $\mathcal{E}_f$ has zero Hausdorff dimension. We derive th…
We study maps of the unit interval whose graph is made up of two increasing segments and which are injective in an extended sense. Such maps $f_{\p}$ are parametrized by a quintuple $\p$ of real numbers satisfying inequations. Viewing $f_{\p}$ as a circle map, we show that it has a rotation number $ρ(f_{\p})$ and we compute $ρ(f_{\p})$ as a function of $\p$ in terms of Hecke-Mahler series. As a corollary, we prove that $ρ(f_{\p})$ is a rational number when the components of $\p$ are algebraic numbers.
Mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) are complex oscillatory patterns in which large-amplitude relaxation oscillations (LAOs) alternate with small-amplitude oscillations (SAOs). MMOs are found in singularly perturbed systems of ordinary differential equations of slow-fast type, and are typically related to the presence of so-called folded singularities and the corresponding canard trajectories in such systems. Here, we introduce a canonical family of three-dimensional slow-fast systems that exhibit MMOs which are induced by relaxation-type dynamics, and which are hence based on a "jump mechanism", r…
One of the most basic, longstanding open problems in the theory of dynamical systems is whether reachability is decidable for one-dimensional piecewise affine maps with two intervals. In this paper we prove that for injective maps, it is decidable. We also study various related problems, in each case either establishing decidability, or showing that they are closely connected to Diophantine properties of certain transcendental numbers, analogous to the positivity problem for linear recurrence sequences. Lastly, we consider topological properties of orbits of one-dimensional piecewise affine ma…
We propose a systematic approach to the construction of invariant union of polytopes (IUP) in expanding piecewise affine mappings whose linear components are isotropic scalings. The approach relies on using empirical information embedded in trajectories in order to infer, and then to solve, a so-called conditioning problem for some generating collection of polytopes. A conditioning problem consists of a series of requirements on the polytopes' localisation and on the dynamical transitions between these elements. The core element of the approach is a reformulation of the problem as a set of pie…
