A condition for minimal interval exchange maps to be uniquely ergodic (Q1081713)

A certain property (Property P) is considered which an interval exchange map may satisfy. (The definition of Property P is motivated by the observation that minimal interval exchange maps having Property P must be uniquely ergodic.) It is proved that ``typical'' interval exchange maps of rank 2 must satisfy Property P and hence cannot be minimal but not uniquely ergodic. The above results are applied for ascertaining the unique ergodicity of some finite group extensions of irrational rotations. Then ``billiards'' dynamical systems on the ``rational'' polygons are considered. It is observed that these billiards are closely related to certain finite group extensions of irrational rotations and deduced that the billiards on the ``rational'' polygons are uniquely ergodic in all irrational directions. In the next parts a new proof of the ``Keane conjecture'' is given and the techniques developed in the previous paragraphs are employed to investigations of ``rational billiards'' dynamical systems.