Thermodynamics of smooth models of pseudo–Anosov homeomorphisms

We develop a thermodynamic formalism for a smooth realization of pseudo-Anosov surface homeomorphisms. In this realization, the singularities of the pseudo-Anosov map are assumed to be fixed, and the trajectories are slowed down so the differential is the identity at these points. Using Young towers, we prove existence and uniqueness of equilibrium states for geometric t-potentials. This family of equilibrium states includes a unique SRB measure and a measure of maximal entropy, the latter of which has exponential decay of correlations and the central limit theorem.

On Sinaĭ Billiards on Flat Surfaces with Horns

We show that certain billiard flows on planar billiard tables with horns can be modeled as suspension flows over Young towers (Ann. Math. 147:585–650, 1998) with exponential tails. This implies exponential decay of correlations for the billiard map. Because the height function of the suspension flow itself is polynomial when the horns are Torricelli-like trumpets, one can derive Limit Laws for the billiard flow, including Stable Limits if the parameter of the Torricelli trumpet is chosen in (1, 2).

Local escape rates for -mixing dynamical systems

We show that dynamical systems with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$-mixing measures have local escape rates which are exponential with rate 1 at non-periodic points and equal to the extremal index at periodic points. We apply this result to equilibrium states on subshifts of finite type, Gibbs–Markov systems, expanding interval maps, Gibbs states on conformal repellers, and more generally to Young towers, and by extension to all systems that can be modeled by a Young tower.

Convergence of moments for Axiom A and non-uniformly hyperbolic flows

In the paper, we prove convergence of moments of all orders for Axiom A diffeomorphisms and flows. The same results hold for non-uniformly hyperbolic diffeomorphisms and flows modelled by Young towers with superpolynomial tails. For polynomial tails, we prove convergence of moments up to a certain order, and give examples where moments diverge when this order is exceeded. Non-uniformly hyperbolic systems covered by our result include Hénon-like attractors, Lorenz attractors, semidispersing billiards, finite horizon planar periodic Lorentz gases, and Pomeau–Manneville intermittency maps.

ON YOUNG TOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH INFINITE MEASURE PRESERVING TRANSFORMATIONS

For a σ-finite measure preserving dynamical system (X, μ, T), we formulate necessary and sufficient conditions for a Young tower (Δ, ν, F) to be a (measure theoretic) extension of the original system. Because F is pointwise dual ergodic by construction, one immediate consequence of these conditions is that the Darling–Kac theorem carries over from F to T. One advantage of the Darling–Kac theorem in terms of Young towers is that sufficient conditions can be read off from the tail behavior and we illustrate this with relevant examples. Furthermore, any two Young towers with a common factor T, have return time distributions with tails of the same order.

Existence and convergence properties of physical measures for certain dynamical systems with holes

We study two classes of dynamical systems with holes: expanding maps of the interval and Collet–Eckmann maps with singularities. In both cases, we prove that there is a natural absolutely continuous conditionally invariant measure μ (a.c.c.i.m.) with the physical property that strictly positive Hölder continuous functions converge to the density of μ under the renormalized dynamics of the system. In addition, we construct an invariant measure ν, supported on the Cantor set of points that never escape from the system, that is ergodic and enjoys exponential decay of correlations for Hölder observables. We show that ν satisfies an equilibrium principle which implies that the escape rate formula, familiar to the thermodynamic formalism, holds outside the usual setting. In particular, it holds for Collet–Eckmann maps with holes, which are not uniformly hyperbolic and do not admit a finite Markov partition. We use a general framework of Young towers with holes and first prove results about the a.c.c.i.m. and the invariant measure on the tower. Then we show how to transfer results to the original dynamical system. This approach can be expected to generalize to other dynamical systems than the two above classes.

Functional norms for Young towers

We introduce functional norms for hyperbolic Young towers which allow us to directly study the transfer operator on the full tower. By eliminating the need for secondary expanding towers commonly employed in this context, this approach simplifies and expands the analysis of this class of Markov extensions and the underlying systems for which they are constructed. As an example, we prove large-deviation estimates with a uniform rate function for a large class of non-invariant measures and show how to translate these to the underlying system.