Brin and Squier described how to classify the elements of the group of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the real line according to conjugacy. We supply a short account of the key step in their classification. The results in this document are unoriginal. The proofs are a little sketchy in places.
We show that the stationary measure for some random systems of two piecewise affine homeomorphisms of the interval is singular, verifying partially a conjecture by Alsedà and Misiurewicz and contributing to a question of Navas on the absolute continuity of stationary measures, considered in the setup of semigroups of piecewise affine circle homeomorphisms. We focus on the case of resonant boundary derivatives.
In this work we study the renormalization operator acting on piecewise smooth homeomorphisms on the circle, that turns out to be essentially the study of Rauzy-Veech renormalizations of generalized interval exchanges maps with genus one. In particular we show that renormalizations of such maps with zero mean nonlinearity and satisfying certain smoothness and combinatorial assumptions converges to the set of piecewise affine interval exchange maps.
We find conditions for two piecewise C^{2+ν} homeomorphisms f and g of the circle to be C^1 conjugate. Besides the restrictions on the combinatorics of the maps (we assume that the maps have bounded combinatorics), and necessary conditions on the one-side derivatives of points where f and g are not differentiable, we also assume zero mean nonlinearity for f and g.
We study renormalizations of piecewise smooth homeomorphisms on the circle, by considering such maps as generalized interval exchange maps of genus one. Suppose that $Df$ is absolutely continuous on each interval of continuity and $D\ln{Df}\in \mathbb{L}_{p}$ for some $p>1$. We prove, that under certain combinatorial assumptions on $f_{1}$ and $f_{2}$, corresponding renormalizations approach to each other in $C^{1+L_{1}}$-norm.
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 throu…
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 ${\rm Homeo}^+ (S^1)$?
We describe the relation between two characterizations of conjugacy in groups of piecewise-linear homeomorphisms, discovered by Brin and Squier in [2] and Kassabov and Matucci in [5]. Thanks to the interplay between the techniques, we produce a simplified point of view of conjugacy that allows us to easily recover centralizers and lends itself to generalization.
We study the coarse geometry of the moduli space of dilation tori with two singularities and the dynamical properties of the action of the Teichmuller flow on this moduli space. This leads to a proof that the vertical foliation of a dilation torus is almost always Morse-Smale. As a corollary, we get that the generic piecewise affine circle homeomorphism with two break points -with respect to the Lebesgue measure- is Morse-Smale.
The group of piecewise projective homeomorphisms of the line provides straightforward counter-examples to the so-called von Neumann conjecture. The examples are so simple that many additional properties can be established.
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 $f$ be an orientation preserving homeomorphisms on the circle with several break points, that is, its derivative $Df$ has jump discontinuities at these points. We study Rauzy-Veech renormalizations of piecewise smooth circle homeomorphisms, by considering such maps as generalized interval exchange maps with genus one. Suppose that $Df$ is absolutely continuous on the each interval of continuity and $D\ln{Df}\in \mathbb{L}_{p}$ for some $p>1$. We prove that, under certain combinatorial assumptions on $f$, renormalizations $R^{n}(f)$ are approximated by piecewise Möbus functions in $C^{1+L_{…
Let f be a class P -homeomorphism of the circle. We prove that there exists a piecewise analytic homeomorphism that conjugate f to a one-class P with prescribed break points lying on pairwise distinct orbits. As a consequence, we give a sharp estimate for the smoothness of a conjugation of class P -homeomorphism f of the circle satisfying the (D)-property (i.e. the product of f-jumps in the break points contained in a same orbit is trivial), to diffeomorphism. When f does not satisfy the (D)-property the conjugating homeomorphism is never piecewise C^1 and even more it is not absolutely contin…
An element of a group is \emph{reversible} if it is conjugate to its own inverse, and it is \emph{strongly reversible} if it is conjugate to its inverse by an involution. A group element is strongly reversible if and only if it can be expressed as a composite of two involutions. In this paper the reversible maps, the strongly reversible maps, and those maps that can be expressed as a composite of involutions are determined in certain groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the real line.
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 $h$ …
It is known that piecewise affine surface homeomorphisms always have measures of maximal entropy. This is easily seen to fail in the discontinuous case. Here we describe a piecewise affine, globally continuous surface map with no measure of maximal entropy.
To every dynamical system $(X,φ)$ over a totally disconnected compact space, we associate a left-orderable group $T(φ)$. It is defined as a group of homeomorphisms of the suspension of $(X,φ)$ which preserve every orbit of the suspension flow and act by dyadic piecewise linear homeomorphisms in the flow direction. We show that if the system is minimal, the group is simple, and if it is a subshift then the group is finitely generated. The proofs of these two statements are short and elementary, providing straightforward examples of finitely generated simple left-orderable groups. We show that i…
Event--selected $C^r$ vector fields yield piecewise-differentiable flows, which possess a continuous and piecewise-linear Bouligand (or B-)derivative; here we provide an algorithm for computing this B-derivative. The number of "pieces" of the piecewise-linear B-derivative is factorial ($d!$) in the dimension ($d$) of the space, precluding a polynomial-time algorithm. We show how an exponential number ($2^d$) of points can be used to represent the B-derivative as a piecewise-linear homeomorphism in such a way that evaluating the derivative reduces to linear algebra computations involving a matr…
On subsets E of the Mandelbrot set M, homeomorphisms are constructed by quasi-conformal surgery. When the dynamics of quadratic polynomials is changed piecewise by a combinatorial construction, a general theorem yields the corresponding homeomorphism h: E to E in the parameter plane. Each h has two fixed points in E, and a countable family of mutually homeomorphic fundamental domains. Possible generalizations to other families of polynomials or rational mappings are discussed. The homeomorphisms on subsets E of M constructed by surgery are extended to homeomorphisms of M, and employed to study…
Ghys and Sergiescu proved in the $80$s that Thompson's group $T$, and hence $F$, admits actions by $C^{\infty}$ diffeomorphisms of the circle . They proved that the standard actions of these groups are topologically conjugate to a group of $C^\infty$ diffeomorphisms. Monod defined a family of groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms, and Lodha-Moore defined finitely presentable groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms. These groups are of particular interest because they are nonamenable and contain no free subgroup. In contrast to the result of Ghys-Sergiescu, we prove that the group…
This note illustrates the strategy of our paper on piecewise affine surface homeomorphisms by giving a new proof of the finite multiplicity of the maximum entropy measure of Anosov diffeomorphisms (here on surfaces). This approach avoids the explicit construction of Markov partitions and will be applied elsewhere to some non-uniformly hyperbolic diffeomorphisms.
Let H be a homeomorphism of the open annulus isotopic to the identity which admits a lift h to the plane without fixed point. We show that h admits a Brouwer line which is a lift of a properly imbedded line joining one end to the other in the annulus or H admits a free essential simple closed curve.
This paper studies the behavior under iteration of the maps T_{ab}(x,y)=(F_{ab}(x)-y,x) of the plane R^2, in which F_{ab}(x)=ax if x>=0 and bx if x<0. The orbits under iteration correspond to solutions of the nonlinear difference equation x_{n+2}= 1/2(a-b)|x_{n+1}| + 1/2(a+b)x_{n+1} - x_n. This family of maps has the parameter space (a,b)\in R^2. These maps are area-preserving homeomorphisms of R^s that map rays from the origin into rays from the origin. This paper shows the existence of special parameter values where T_{ab} has every nonzero orbit an invariant circle with irrational rotation …
In this article, we describe all the group morphisms from the group of compactly-supported homeomorphisms isotopic to the identity of a manifold to the group of homeomorphisms of the real line or of the circle.
We show how the existence of three objects, $Ω_{\rm trap}$, ${\bf W}$, and $C$, for a continuous piecewise-linear map $f$ on $\mathbb{R}^N$, implies that $f$ has a topological attractor with a positive Lyapunov exponent. First, $Ω_{\rm trap} \subset \mathbb{R}^N$ is trapping region for $f$. Second, ${\bf W}$ is a finite set of words that encodes the forward orbits of all points in $Ω_{\rm trap}$. Finally, $C \subset T \mathbb{R}^N$ is an invariant expanding cone for derivatives of compositions of $f$ formed by the words in ${\bf W}$. We develop an algorithm that identifies these objects for tw…
We consider systems of two specific piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the unit interval, so called the Alsedà-Misiurewicz systems, and investigate the basic properties of Markov chains which arise when these two transformations are applied randomly with probabilities depending on the point of the interval. Though this iterated function system is not contracting in average and known methods do not apply, stability and the strong law of large numbers are proven.
This paper studies the behavior under iteration of the maps T_{ab}(x,y) = (F_{ab}(x)-y,x) of the plane R^2, in which F_{ab}(x)=ax if x>=0 and bx if x<0. The orbits under iteration correspond to solutions of the nonlinear difference equation x_{n+2}= 1/2(a-b)|x_{n+1}| + 1/2(a+b)x_{n+1} - x_n. This family of piecewise-linear maps has the parameter space (a,b)\in R^2. These maps are area-preserving homeomorphisms of R^2 that map rays from the origin into rays from the origin. The action on rays defines a map S_{ab} of the circle, which has a well-defined rotation number. This paper characterizes …
We study the uniformly recurrent subgroups of groups acting by homeomorphisms on a topological space. We prove a general result relating uniformly recurrent subgroups to rigid stabilizers of the action, and deduce a $C^*$-simplicity criterion based on the non-amenability of rigid stabilizers. As an application, we show that Thompson's group $V$ is $C^\ast$-simple, as well as groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms of the real line. This provides examples of finitely presented $C^\ast$-simple groups without free subgroups. We prove that a branch group is either amenable or $C^\ast$-simple…
Let T denote Thompson's group of piecewise 2-adic linear homeomorphisms of the circle. Ghys and Sergiescu showed that the rotation number of every element of T is rational, but their proof is very indirect. We give here a short, direct proof using train tracks, which generalizes to PL homeomorphism of the circle with rational break points and derivatives which are powers of some fixed integer, and also to certain flows on surfaces which we call "Thompson-like". We also obtain an explicit upper bound on the smallest period of a fixed point in terms of data which can be read off from the combina…
Despite a general lack of a useful 3 dimensional prime end theory, if h is a homeomorphism of the product of the real line R and the closure of a bounded open contractible planar set U, then h typically admits a notion of rotation number analogous to the usual one.
We consider a construction of C*-algebras from continuous piecewise monotone maps on the circle which generalizes the crossed product construction for homeomorphisms and more generally the construction of Renault, Deaconu and Anantharaman-Delaroche for local homeomorphisms. Assuming that the map is surjective and not locally injective we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the simplicity of the C*-algebra and show that it is then a Kirchberg algebra. We provide tools for the calculation of the K-theory groups and turn them into an algorithmic method for Markov maps.
Let $g:\, [0, 1]\rightarrow [0, 1]$ be piecewise linear unimodal map. We say that $g$ has non-trivial piecewise linear commutator, if there is a continuous piecewise linear $ψ:\, [0, 1]\rightarrow [0, 1]$ such that $g\circ ψ= ψ\circ g$, and, moreover, $ψ$ is neither an iteration of $g$, not a constant map. We prove that if $g$ has a non-trivial piecewise linear commutator, then $g$ is topologically conjugated with the tent map by a piecewise linear conjugacy.
In this article we study minimal homeomorphisms(all orbits are dense) of the tori $T^{n},$ $n<5.$ The linear part of a homeomorphism $ϕ$ of $T^{n}$ is the linear mapping $L$ induced by $ϕ$ on the first homology group of $T^{n}$. It follows from the Lefschetz fixed point theorem that 1 is an eigenvalue of $L$ if $ϕ$ minimal. We show that if $ϕ$ is minimal and $n<5$ then $L$ is quasi-unipontent, i.e., all the eigenvalues of $L$ are roots of unity and conversely if $L\in GL(n,\Z)$ is quasi-unipotent and 1 is an eigenvalue of $L$ then there exists a $ C^{\infty}$ minimal skew-product diffeomorphis…
We study the properties of rotation numbers for some groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the circle. We use these properties to obtain results on PL rigidity, non isomorphicity, non exoticity of automorphisms, non smoothability for Thompson-Stein groups.
We show an example of a symmetric homeomorphism $h$ of the real line $\mathbb{R}$ onto itself such that $h^{-1}$ is not symmetric. This implies that the set of all symmetric self-homeomorphisms of $\mathbb{R}$ does not constitute a group under the composition. We also deal with strongly symmetric self-homeomorphisms of $\mathbb{R}$ along the same line. These results reveal the difference of the sets of such self-homeomorphisms of the real line from those of the unit circle.
The goal of this article is to exhibit two new families of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of $\mathbf{R}$. These families are strikingly different from existing families owing to the nature of their actions on $\mathbf{R}$, and exhibit surprising algebraic and dynamical features. In particular, one construction provides the first examples of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of the real line which also admit a minimal action by homeomorphisms on the circle. This provides new examples of finitely generated simple groups with infinite commutator width, and th…
The existence and bifurcation of homoclinic orbits in planar piecewise linear homogeneous systems with two regions separated by a discontinuity boundary are investigated in this paper. In addition, existence of periodic orbits and stability of the origin are also discussed without the assumption of continuity for the planar piecewise linear homogeneous systems.
This paper studies the behavior under iteration of the maps T_{ab}(x,y) = (F_{ab}(x)- y, x) of the plane R^2, in which F_{ab}(x)= ax if x>0 and bx if x<0. These maps are area-preserving homeomorphisms of the plane that map rays from the origin into rays from the origin. Orbits of the map correspond to solutions of the nonlinear difference equation x_{n+2}= 1/2(a-b)|x_{n+1}| + 1/2(a+b)x_{n+1} - x_n. This difference equation can be written in an eigenvalue form for a nonlinear difference operator of Schrodinger type, in which μ= 1/2(a-b) is viewed as fixed and the energy E=2- 1/2(a+b). The paper…
In this paper we consider a class of piecewise affine Hamiltonian vector fields whose orbits are piecewise straight lines. We give a first classification result of such systems and show that the orbit-structure of the flow of such a differential equation is surprisingly rich.
Following the pioneering work of Iommi-Kiwi and Jenkinson-Pollicott-Vytnova, we continue to study the inflection points of the Lyapunov spectrum in this work. We prove that for any 3-branch piecewise linear expanding map on an interval, the number of its Lyapunov inflections is bounded above by 2. Then we continue to show that, there is a 4-branch piecewise linear expanding map, such that its Lyapunov spectrum has exactly 4 inflection points. These results give an answer to a question by Jenkinson-Pollicott-Vytnova on the least number of branches needed to observe 4 inflections in the Lyapunov…
For each piecewise linear Lorenz map that expand on average, we show that it admits a dichotomy: it is either periodic renormalizable or prime. As a result, such a map is conjugate to a $β$-transformation.
We devote this work to the functional equation $ψ\circ g = g\circ ψ$, where $ψ$ is an unknown function and $g$ is piecewise linear unimodal map, which is topologically conjugated to the tent map. We will call such $ψ$ self-semiconjugations of $g$. Our the main results are the following: 1. Suppose that there is a self-semiconjugation of $g$, whose tangent at $0$ is not a power of $2$, and suppose that all the kinks of $g$ are in the complete pre-image of $0$. Then all the self-semiconjugations of $g$ are piecewise linear. 2. Suppose that all self-semiconjugations of $g$ are piecewise linear. T…
We study the group of almost-periodic homeomorphisms of the real line. Our main result states that an action of a finitely generated group on the real line without global fixed point is conjugated to an almost-periodic action without almost fixed point. This is equivalent to saying that the action on the real line can be compactified to an action on a 1-dimensional lamination of a compact space, without global fixed point. As an application we give an alternative proof of Witte's theorem: an amenable left orderable group is locally indicable.
In this paper we study the maximum number $N$ of limit cycles that can exhibit a planar piecewise linear differential system formed by two pieces separated by a straight line. More precisely, we prove that this maximum number satisfies $2\leq N \leq 3$ if one of the two linear differential systems has its equilibrium point on the straight line of discontinuity.
We consider iterated function systems on the real line that consist of continuous, piecewise linear functions. Under a mild separation condition, we show that the Hausdorff and box dimensions of the attractor are equal to the minimum of 1 and the exponent which comes from the most natural system of covers of the attractor.
This paper allows one to obtain a criterion for the existence of a projectively invariant measure formulated in terms of combinatorial properties of a group (amenability of some canonical quotient group). Such necessary and sufficient condition is a basis of the classification scheme for groups of homeomorphisms of the line. In particular, a nonamenability of Thompson's group $F$ follows from the obtained criterion.