Convex billiards on convex spheres (Q2358446)

The author considers convex billiards on two-dimensional spheres with a Riemmanian metric and positive Gaussian curvature. A Kupka-Smale-type theorem is proved for billiard maps, even without local perturbations (since any perturbation on the boundary induces a global perturbation on the sphere). Moreover the author proves the residuality of transverse homoclinic intersections for each hyperbolic periodic point of the billiard maps induced by the boundary. This interesting result requires the study of elliptic periodic points and the study nonlinear stability (proved using results on Diophantine invariant curves) to ensure that there are no interactions between the hyperbolic and elliptic periodic points. Using these results, the author proves the genericity of positive topological entropy of billiard maps induced by the boundary.