The Anosov-Katok method and pseudo-rotations in symplectic dynamics (Q2139550)

The authors show the existence of Hamiltonian pseudo-rotations, with a finite minimal number of ergodic measures, on toric symplectic manifolds, by adapting the Anosov-Katok method. A Hamiltonian pseudo-rotation is a Hamiltonian diffeomorphism with a finite number of periodic points. The only closed surface admitting Hamiltonian pseudo-rotations is the sphere. Note that three is the minimal possible number of ergodic measures for a Hamiltonian diffeomorphism of the sphere. Besides irrational rotations, further examples have been constructed by \textit{B. Fayad} and \textit{A. Katok} [Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 24, No. 5, 1477--1520 (2004; Zbl 1089.37012)]. Other examples of pseudo-rotations can be constructed on closed symplectic manifolds carrying a Hamiltonian circle action such that the fixed point set of the action is finite and the action is locally free outside of it: these examples have simple dynamics, in the sense that these pseudo-rotations have dense orbits. The authors prove the existence of pseudo-rotations with dynamics more complicated than transitivity. They consider closed toric symplectic manifolds, i.e., \(2n\)-dimensional symplectic manifolds admitting an effective Hamiltonian action of the \(n\)-dimensional torus, and denote by \(\ell\) the number of fixed points of the torus action. Then, by the Anosov-Katok method, they show that these manifolds admit Hamiltonian pseudo-rotations with exactly \(\ell+1\) ergodic measures, namely the measure induced by the symplectic volume form and the \(\ell\) Dirac measures supported at the fixed points of the torus action. The number \(\ell+1\) appears to be optimal, thanks to the Arnold conjecture.