Flows on graphs and dynamical systems (Q609437)

Let \(M\) be a compact manifold in \(\mathbb{R}^d\) and \(f : M \to M\) a homeomorphism. This paper describes a method for the construction of the (non-empty) set of \(f\)-invariant measures. The method uses the concept of the symbolic image, a directed graph \(G\) in which a vertex \(k\) corresponds to a cell \(M_k\) in a finite covering \(\{ M_1, \dots, M_n \}\) of \(M\) and there is an edge from \(j\) to \(k\) if \(f(M_j) \cap M_k \neq \varnothing\). Any invariant measure \(\mu\) induces a distribution \(\{ m_{jk} \}\) on the edges of \(G\) given by \(m_{jk} = \mu(f(M_j) \cap M_k)\). The distribution must have special properties, and any distribution with these properties is an approximation of some invariant measure. This gives a means of approximating the set of invariant measures. The author states that full versions of the proofs, which are only sketched in this paper, appear elsewhere in electronic journals (in Russian).