On the abundance of Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen measures (Q2124219)

Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen (SRB) measures are defined in this paper as follows: An invariant measure \(\mu\) of a diffeomorphism \(f\) on a closed manifold \(M\) of dimension \(d\) is called an SRB measure if it satisfies Pesin's entropy formula and has positive Lyapunov exponents. Pesin's entropy formula is \(h_\mu(f) = \lambda^+(\mu),\) where \(h_\mu(f)\) is the metric entropy of \(\mu\). The value \(\lambda^+(x)\) is defined at \(\mu\)-almost every point \(x \in M\) by \(\lambda^+(x) = \sum_{i=1}^{d}\max[\lambda_i(x), 0],\) where the \(\lambda_i (x)\) are the Lyapunov exponents of \(x\). The authors' main theorem asserts that on a closed Riemannian manifold \(M\) of any dimension there is a dense set in the space of \(C^1\) diffeomeorphisms of \(M\) such that each function \(f\) in this set belongs to at least one of three classes: \(f\) admits at least one SRB measure; \(f\) has a physical measure supported on a sink, or; \(f\) has a homoclinic tangency. A key part of the proof is to establish the existence of an SRB measure for any \(C^2\) partially hyperbolic attractor with one-dimensional dominated center bundles. To obtain an SRB measure like this the authors use well-controlled limits of smooth random perturbations. This leads to Gibbs \(cu\)-states which generalize the \(u\) states described by \textit{Ya. B. Pesin} and \textit{Ya. G. Sinai} [Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 2, 417--438 (1982; Zbl 0519.58035)]. Part of the paper is devoted to carrying out this process.