Symbolic dynamics for the Lozi map (Q1185422)

One of the most powerful methods of topological dynamics and ergodic theory is the construction of the symbolic dynamics for a system. This worked for hyperbolic systems, and many one-dimensional non-hyperbolic systems, where a notable example is the kneading theory for unimodal maps. The Hénon system \[ \begin{cases} x_{n+1} = 1-ax^ 2_ n + by_ n \\ y_{n+1}=x_ n \end{cases} \tag{1} \] may be thought of as a generalization of unimodal dynamics and has been quickly gaining importance. However, a rigorous symbolic description of Hénon's map is yet to be completed. The paper studies a linearized version of Hénon's map with the square replaced by the absolute value, which is called Lozi's system. Symbolic dynamics is constructed by looking at \(x\)- coordinates of the forward orbit and assigning symbols \(R\), \(L\) or \(C\) depending on the sign, and doing the same for \(y\)-coordinates of the backward orbit. The author proceeds to study sets of a fixed forward or backward sequence. Neatly, they are lines. Rules of symbolic dynamics are then deduced from the slopes and intersections of these lines. Specific intersections may also be used to specify parameters \(a\) and \(b\). Whether this nice scheme will work for the Hénon map remains to be seen. The author points to the foliation of Hénon's phase space by ``most stable manifolds'' as the basis for an analogous construction. While reviewing the paper I had a strong impression that the author was confusingly using the word ``tangency'' to mean ``intersection'', but otherwise the work is clearly written.