Invariant densities for composed piecewise fractional linear maps (Q2220391)

Given two maps \(S\) and \(T\) together with invariant densities, it is of interest to determine properties of an invariant density of the composition \(U = T\circ S\). An example of this problem is the Jacobi algorithm from the theory of multidimensional continued fractions, which can be decomposed as the product of two maps whose invariant densities can be explicitly calculated, although a closed form for the invariant density of the Jacobi map is not known. In the paper under review, an inverse variant of this problem is considered. Suppose that \(S\) and \(T\) are piecewise fractional linear maps on the interval \([0,1]\) with two branches, and that we know an invariant density for the composition \(U = T\circ S\). What can be said about the maps \(S\) and \(T\)? The pair \((S,T)\) will in this case be determined by four parameters. It is first shown that if the invariant measure for \(U\) is the Lebesgue measure, then one parameter must be chosen within some bounds, whereafter the remaining parameters are uniquely determined. Subsequently, the same problem is considered under two different symmetry conditions, where the maps in some cases are uniquely determined or do not exist at all.