On minimal homeomorphisms and non-invertible maps preserving foliations (Q1710626)

Given surjective maps between manifolds, $f:M\to M$, $g:N\to N$ and $\pi:M\to N$, if $\pi\circ f=g\circ\pi$, then $g$ is called a factor of $f$. It is said that $g$ is almost one-to-one if there exists a residual subset $Z\subset N$ such that $g$ is one-to-one on $g^{-1}(Z)$. It is said that $f$ is minimal if its orbits are dense. Now, let $(M,\mathcal F)$ be a compact connected foliated manifold with $0 < p=\dim\mathcal F <\dim M$. An $\mathcal F$-disc $D$ is a topological $p$-disc in some leaf. Such a $D$ is called asymptotic if the leafwise diameter of $f^k(D)$ converges to $0$ as $k\to\infty$ (this condition is independent of the Riemannian metric on $M$ used to define the leafwise diameter). A map $f:M\to M$ is said to be $\mathcal F$-preserving if it maps leaves to leaves. The main theorem of the paper states the following. Given $(M,\mathcal F)$ as above, let $f : M \to M$ be a minimal $\mathcal F$-preserving homeomorphism. If there exists an asymptotic $\mathcal F$-disc in a compact leaf, then $f$ has an almost one-to-one factor $F : M \to M$, which is minimal and maps some $\mathcal F$-disc to a point.