Aperiodic homeomorphisms approximate chain mixing endomorphisms on the Cantor set (Q1936045)

Let \((X,f)\) be a topological dynamical system. This means that \(X\) is a compact metric space and \(f\) is a continuous onto map from \(X\) onto itself. We define Per\((X,f):= \{n \in \mathbb{Z}_+ : f^n(x) = x\) for some \(x \in X\}\), where \(\mathbb{Z}_+\) denotes the set of all positive integers. We say that \(f\) is periodic of period \(n\) if \(f^n = \mathrm{id}_X\), where \(\mathrm{id}_X\) denotes the identity map on \(X\). We say that \(f\) is aperiodic if it is not periodic. Given \(\delta > 0\), a sequence \(\{x_i\}_{i = 0,1,\dots,\ell}\) of elements of \(X\) is a \(\delta\) chain from \(x_0\) to \(x_\ell\) if \(d(f(x_i),x_{i+1}) < \delta\) for all \(i = 0,1,\dots,\ell-1\). The number \(\ell\) is called the length of the chain. We say that \(f\) is chain mixing if for every \(\delta > 0\) and for every pair \(x,y \in X\), there exists a positive integer \(N\) such that for all \(n \geq N\), there exists a \(\delta\) chain from \(x\) to \(y\) of length \(n\). The following result is established: Theorem. Let \((X,f)\) and \((Y,g)\) be topological dynamical systems. Assume that \(X\) and \(Y\) are homeomorphic to the Cantor set, \(f\) is chain mixing and \(g\) is an aperiodic homeomorphism. Then, the following conditions are equivalent: (1) Per\((Y,g) \subseteq\) Per\((X,f)\); (2) There is a sequence \(\{\psi_k\}_{k \in \mathbb{Z}_+}\) of homeomorphisms from \(Y\) onto \(X\) such that \(\psi_k \circ g \circ \psi_k^{-1} \to f\) uniformly on \(X\). In other words, (2) means that \(f\) can be approximated in the uniform topology by homeomorphisms that are topologically conjugate to \(g\). In the case \((Y,g)\) is a two-sided subshift, the above theorem was obtained earlier by \textit{T. Shimomura} [Tsukuba J. Math. 35, No. 1, 67--77 (2011; Zbl 1237.37015)].