Properties of the maximal entropy measure and geometry of Hénon attractors (Q2319577)

This is a weighty study of the properties of nonuniformly hyperbolic attractors for surface diffeomorphisms via the Benedicks-Carleson attractor for the class of Hénon-like maps of the form \(f_{a,B}(x,y) =(x^2+a+y,0)+B(x,y,a)\) with the map \(B\) uniformly \(C^2\) close to \(0\). Analogues of the Benedicks-Carleson theorem are found, and further results show for an abundant class of such maps the existence of a Lyapunov exponent bounded from below for any invariant ergodic measure of any strongly regular Hénon-like endomorphism. In the diffeomorphism case a unique maximal measure is found, and shown to be equidistributed on periodic points, finitarily Bernoulli, exponentially mixing. A central limit theorem is shown for it. The approach involves a form of coding using countably many symbols, an adaptation of the `puzzle pieces' of Yoccoz to this setting, and a suitable version of Young towers to understand the structure of orbits. A key technical step relates properties of first return maps to the subset on which the tower is constructed to a combinatorially defined return map.