No label defined (Q4033541)

This paper is a survey on the basic symbolic dynamics approach to geodesic flows on compact manifolds with negative sectional curvature and is mainly based on the following two references: \textit{W. Parry} and the author [Zeta functions and the periodic orbit structure of hyperbolic dynamics (1990; Zbl 0726.58003)] and \textit{T. Bedford, M. Keane}, and \textit{C. Series} [Ergodic theory, symbolic dynamics and hyperbolic spaces (1989; Zbl 0743.00040)]. The basic tool in dynamical systems is the use of a family of Markov sections, which are a particular class of Poincaré sections, and thanks to them, the Poincaré map is reduced into a symbolic model where the symbols are the indices of the Markov sections and second the whole flow is also reduced into a symbolic model. The main proofs are sketched, for example, the existence of a family of Markov sections for a geodesic flow, the Ruelle operator theorem or the theorem on the domain of the zeta function.