Difference Galois theory and dynamics (Q2136548)

This paper looks at parallels between difference rings and dynamical systems. Galois Theory for difference rings classifies the difference ring extensions of a given difference ring; there is similar theory classifying the dynamical system covering spaces of a given dynamical system. Both theories are special cases of Galois Theory in categories so extensions in either case should be classified by a certain fundamental groupoid. Starting with (1) the Galois theory of commutative rings, (2) the theory of covering spaces of a topological space, and (3) the framework of categorical Galois theory, this paper shows that by keeping track of ring endomorphisms for difference rings and the continuous endomorphisms for dynamical systems one can indeed adapt (1) and (2) using (3) to create a Galois theory to classify difference rings and dynamical systems. A feature of this paper that deserves noting is that the authors actually use the Galois theory to prove some new results about difference rings and dynamical systems.