Sub-actions and maximizing measures for one-dimensional transformations with a critical point (Q2372726)

The set \(\mathcal F\) of \(C^1\) maps \(f:S^1 \to S^1\) of the circle \(S^1\) of degree two with \(f(0)=f'(0)=0\) and uniformly expanding except for a small interval is considered. For a fixed \(f\in \mathcal F\) and an \(\alpha\)-Hölder potential \(A:S^1 \to \mathbb R\) an action is given by \(S(\mu)=\int A \,d\mu\) where \(\mu \in \mathcal M(f)\) and \(\mathcal M(f)\) is the set of all \(f\) invariant probability measures. It is shown that for a generic \(\alpha\)-Hölder potential the measure that maximizes the action is unique and uniquely ergodic on its support. The results are applied to the special potential \(A=\log | f' |\).