Slow chaos in surface flows (Q2024170)

A continuous dynamical system is called chaotic if the global behavior of its orbits is sensitive to the initial conditions. An example is given by locally Hamiltonian flows on 2-dimensional manifolds (surfaces). Chaos is called slow if the divergence of orbits is bounded in time by a polynomial function and fast if such a function has an exponential growth. The paper is an excellent survey on slow chaotic flows on surfaces. The survey consists of two parts: the first on chaotic properties (topological dynamics, ergodic theory, spectral theory, generic properties), the second on smooth surface flows (locally Hamiltonian flows, linear flows, Teichmüller dynamics, genericity, minimal components, ergodicity, mixing properties, shearing, Ratner properties). The paper is well motivated and clearly written, thus serving as a good introduction to the subject.