Dichotomy for the Hausdorff dimension of the set of nonergodic directions (Q633099): Difference between revisions

In this very interesting paper the authors consider billiards in the table \(P_\lambda\) given by a \(1/2 \times 1\) rectangle with horizontal barrier of length \((1-\lambda)/2\) such that one end touches the midpoint of one of the vertical sides for \(0<\lambda <1\). The main result is that the Hausdorff dimension of the set of directions for which the resulting flow on \(P_\lambda\) is not ergodic is always equal to either \(0\) or \(1/2\). Which of these two possibilities occurs depends exclusively on the summability of the series \(\sum_{k=1}^{\infty} q_k^{-1} \log \log q_{k+1}\), where \((q)\) refers to the sequence of denominators of the approximants of \(\lambda\). More precisely, it is shown that the Hausdorff dimension is equal to \(1/2\) if the series converges, and it is equal to \(0\) otherwise. This rather beautiful result is a significant extension of earlier results of \textit{M. Boshernitzan} and \textit{Y. Cheung} [Ann. Math. (2) 158, No. 2, 661--678 (2003; Zbl 1037.37018)].