Entropy conjecture for continuous maps of nilmanifolds (Q940779)

In 1974 M. Shub asked the following question: When is the topological entropy of a continuous map \(f\) of a compact manifold \(M\) into itself estimated from below by the logarithm of the spectral radius of the linear map induced in the cohomologies with real coeffficients? This estimate is known as the Entropy Conjecture (EC). EC holds for all \(C^\infty\) maps [\textit{Y. Yomdin}, Isr. J. Math. 57, 285--300 (1987; Zbl 0641.54036)]. On the other hand, in the setting of continuous maps it is well known that without any additional assumption on \(M\) the conjecture is false. However, \textit{M. Misiurewicz} and \textit{F. Przytycki} [Bull. Acad. Pol. Sci., Sér. Sci. Math. Astron. Phys. 25, 575--578 (1977; Zbl 0362.54038)] proved that EC holds for all continuous maps on the tori. In the paper under review it is shown that EC holds for all continuous maps on compact nilmanifolds; the main theorem is Theorem 1.3: EC holds for all continuous maps \(f: M\to M\) of a compact manifold \(M\) which is a quotient of a connected, simply-connected nilpotent Lie group by a uniform lattice. It is further shown that Theorem 1.3 can be obtained also via Lefschetz and Nielsen asymptotic numbers, provided that \(f: M\to M\) is not homotopic to a fixed point free map. Finally, the authors study additional assumptions under which EC holds on some solvmanifolds.