The Pinsker subgroup of an algebraic flow (Q659872): Difference between revisions

Let \(\phi\) be an endomorphism of an abelian group \(G\) (giving rise to an algebraic flow \((G,\phi)\)). If \(F\) is a non-empty subset of \(G\) and \(n\in\mathbb{N}\), then set \(T_n(\phi, F)= F+ \phi(F)+\cdots+ \phi^{n-1}(F)\) and \(H(\phi,F)= \lim_{n\to\infty} {\log|T_n(\phi,F)|\over n}\) is then the algebraic entropy of \(\phi\) with respect to \(F\). This limit is known to exist. The algebraic entropy of \(\phi\) is then defined to be \[ h(\phi)= \sup\{H(\phi, F): F\subseteq G\text{ non-empty and finite}\}. \] This definition extends the one due to Peters for automorphisms and also that originally due to \textit{R. L. Adler}, \textit{A. G. Konheim} and \textit{M. H. McAndrew} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 114, 309--319 (1965; Zbl 0127.13102)]. The algebraic entropy measures the growth of trajectories of non-empty finite subsets \(F\) of \(G\) with respect to \(\phi\), and in this paper it is shown that for every algebraic flow \((G,\phi)\) this growth is either exponential or polynomial with respect to any fixed non-empty finite subset \(F\) of \(G\). The Pinsker subgroup of \(G\) with respect to \(\phi\) is the greatest \(\phi\)-invariant subgroup \({\mathbf P}(G,\phi)\) of \(G\) such that \(h(\phi|_{{\mathbf P}(G,\phi)})= 0\). The main theorem gives an alternative description of the Pinsker subgroup from the point of view of the quasi-periodic points of \(\phi\). In particular, it is shown that \(\text{Pol}(G,\phi)= {\mathbf P}(G,\phi)\) where \(\text{Pol}(G,\phi)\) is the greatest \(\phi\)-invariant subgroup of \(G\) where the restriction of \(\phi\) has polynomial growth.