\(C^0\)-robustness of topological entropy for geodesic flows (Q2139558)

Let \((M, g)\) be a closed Riemannian manifold and \(\phi_g^t\) be the geodesic flow on the unit tangent bundle of \(M\). The topological entropy \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(\phi_g)\) is bounded from below by the volume entropy \(h_{\mathrm{vol}}(g)\) [\textit{A. Manning}, Ann. Math. (2) 110, 567--573 (1979; Zbl 0426.58016)] and by the exponential growth rate \(\Gamma_{\mathrm{Morse}}(g)\) of the Morse homology of the based loop space [\textit{G. P. Paternain}, Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 12, No. 1, 109--122 (1992; Zbl 0735.58028)] or the free loop space (see [\textit{M. Meiwes}, Rabinowitz Floer homology, leafwise intersections, and topological entropy. PhD thesis, (2018)]). Here the authors study the regularity properties of the topological entropy \(h_{\mathrm{top}}(\phi_g)\) on the space of Riemannian metrics with \(C^0\) topology, and obtain several results on entropy robustness; more specifically, a uniform positive lower bound of the topological entropy on \(C^0\)-close Riemannian metrics. In particular, they show that Riemannian metrics on \(\mathbb{T}^2\) with a contractible closed geodesic have robust entropy with an explicit lower bound. This generalizes one of the main results in [\textit{J. Denvir} and \textit{R. S. MacKay}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 350, No. 11, 4553--4568 (1998; Zbl 0931.37010)]. Moreover, they show that metrics on \(\mathbb{T}^2\) with robust positive entropy are \(C^\infty\) generic via the construction of ribbons. On higher-dimensional manifolds, they introduce retractable necks and entropic bodies. They show that if a closed manifold admits a retractable neck and an entropic body, then the geodesic flow has robust entropy with an explicit lower bound.