Entropy of twist interval maps (Q1376041)

Let \(f:X \to X\) be a continuous interval map, and let \(\phi: X \to R\) be a bounded Borel function. The number \(\rho_\phi(f;x) := 1/n \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \phi(f^kx)\) is called the \(\phi\)-rotation number of the point \(x \in X\). This construction, introduced by \textit{M. Misiurewicz} and \textit{K. Ziemian} [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 40, No. 3, 490-506 (1990; Zbl 0663.58022)], is a generalization of a standard rotation number well known in the theory of maps of a circle of degree one. In the present paper another definition of the rotation number \(\rho(f;x)\) is introduced for the case of a periodic point \(x \in X\) of period \(p(x)\) as a fraction \(l(x)/p(x)\), where \(l(x):=\#\{\text{ orb}(x) \cap \{y: f(y)<y\}\}\). The main result of the paper is the estimation from below of the topological entropy of a map having an orbit with given rotation number. It is shown that the inequality for the topological entropy is sharp in a sense that there is a unimodal map for which the proposed lower bound is reached. The formula for the lower bound estimate of the entropy is a solution of a certain nonlinear equation which is not very suitable for concrete computations. Therefore a more ``computable'' version of this estimate is given in the Appendix, where the behavior of the topological entropy in one-parameter families of unimodal maps is discussed as well.