Piecewise invertible dynamical systems (Q1066560)

The aim of the paper is the investigation of piecewise monotonic maps T of an interval X. The main tool is an isomorphism of (X,T) with a topological Markov chain with countable state space which is described by a 0-1-transition matrix M. The behavior of the orbits of points in X under T is very similar to the behavior of the paths of the Markov chain. Every irreducible submatrix of M gives rise to a T-invariant subset L of X such that L is the set \(\omega\) (x) of all limit points of the orbit of an \(x\in X\). The topological entropy of L is the logarithm of the spectral radius of the irreducible submatrix, which is an \(l^ 1\)- operator. Besides these sets L there are two T-invariant sets Y and P, such that for all \(x\in X\) the set \(\omega\) (x) is either contained in one of the sets L or in Y or in P. The set P is a union of periodic orbits and Y is contained in a finite union of sets \(\omega\) (y) with \(y\in X\) and has topological entropy zero. This isomorphism of (X,T) with a topological Markov chain is also an important tool for the investigation of T-invariant measures on X. Results in this direction, which are published elsewhere, are described at the end of the paper. Furthermore, a part of the proofs in the paper is purely topological without using the order relation of the interval X, so that some results hold for more general dynamical systems (X,T).