Ergodic systems of \(n\) balls in a billiard table (Q1193033)

The paper deals with the problem of ergodicity for a system of \(n\) billiard balls, when the balls move in boxes of special type. The authors use the technique of finding a cone field in the tangent bundle, which is invariant for dynamics, in order to show that none of the Lyapunov exponents is zero. So, explicit conditions are given for systems of \(m<n\) balls, under which the Lyapunov exponents of the \(n\)- balls system are non-zero almost everywhere. It is proved that the considered system decomposes in at most countably many \(\mod\;0\) open ergodic components and that the system has in fact only one ergodic component. Finally, it is shown that the presented strategy can be applied to a periodic Lorentz gas.