An introduction to topics and examples of ergodic theory, a central area of pure mathematics.

This book concerns areas of ergodic theory that are now being intensively developed. The topics include entropy theory (with emphasis on dynamical systems with multi-dimensional time), elements of the renormalization group method in the theory of dynamical systems, splitting of separatrices, and some problems related to the theory of hyperbolic dynamical systems. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This text is a rigorous introduction to ergodic theory, developing the machinery of conditional measures and expectations, mixing, and recurrence. Beginning by developing the basics of ergodic theory and progressing to describe some recent applications to number theory, this book goes beyond the standard texts in this topic. Applications include Weyl's polynomial equidistribution theorem, the ergodic proof of Szemeredi's theorem, the connection between the continued fraction map and the modular surface, and a proof of the equidistribution of horocycle orbits. Ergodic Theory with a view towards Number Theory will appeal to mathematicians with some standard background in measure theory and functional analysis. No background in ergodic theory or Lie theory is assumed, and a number of exercises and hints to problems are included, making this the perfect companion for graduate students and researchers in ergodic theory, homogenous dynamics or number theory.

This book contains a collection of survey papers by leading researchers in ergodic theory, low-dimensional and topological dynamics and it comprises nine chapters on a range of important topics. These include: the role and usefulness of ultrafilters in ergodic theory, topological dynamics and Ramsey theory; topological aspects of kneading theory together with an analogous 2-dimensional theory called pruning; the dynamics of Markov odometers, Bratteli-Vershik diagrams and orbit equivalence of non-singular automorphisms; geometric proofs of Mather's connecting and accelerating theorems; recent results in one dimensional smooth dynamics; periodic points of nonexpansive maps; arithmetic dynamics; the defect of factor maps; entropy theory for actions of countable amenable groups.

This textbook is a self-contained and easy-to-read introduction to ergodic theory and the theory of dynamical systems, with a particular emphasis on chaotic dynamics. This book contains a broad selection of topics and explores the fundamental ideas of the subject. Starting with basic notions such as ergodicity, mixing, and isomorphisms of dynamical systems, the book then focuses on several chaotic transformations with hyperbolic dynamics, before moving on to topics such as entropy, information theory, ergodic decomposition and measurable partitions. Detailed explanations are accompanied by numerous examples, including interval maps, Bernoulli shifts, toral endomorphisms, geodesic flow on negatively curved manifolds, Morse-Smale systems, rational maps on the Riemann sphere and strange attractors. Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems will appeal to graduate students as well as researchers looking for an introduction to the subject. While gentle on the beginning student, the book also contains a number of comments for the more advanced reader.

This book concerns areas of ergodic theory that are now being intensively developed. The topics include entropy theory (with emphasis on dynamical systems with multi-dimensional time), elements of the renormalization group method in the theory of dynamical systems, splitting of separatrices, and some problems related to the theory of hyperbolic dynamical systems. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Ergodic theory is hard to study because it is based on measure theory, which is a technically difficult subject to master for ordinary students, especially for physics majors. Many of the examples are introduced from a different perspective than in other books and theoretical ideas can be gradually absorbed while doing computer experiments. Theoretically less prepared students can appreciate the deep theorems by doing various simulations. The computer experiments are simple but they have close ties with theoretical implications. Even the researchers in the field can benefit by checking their conjectures, which might have been regarded as unrealistic to be programmed easily, against numerical output using some of the ideas in the book. One last remark: The last chapter explains the relation between entropy and data compression, which belongs to information theory and not to ergodic theory. It will help students to gain an understanding of the digital technology that has shaped the modern information society.