Ergodic theory, hyperbolic dynamics and dimension theory (Q658964)

This textbook is a careful and well thought out introduction to the dimension theory of dynamical systems, including a full development of the needed tools and examples from ergodic theory and hyperbolic dynamics. The emphasis is on rigorous proofs of the results rather than maximum generality or strength: for example, it is shown that the fractional parts of \(\alpha t^2+\beta t+\gamma\) are uniformly distributed modulo one for the Lebesgue measure for almost every \((\beta,\gamma)\) but the sharp result is not pursued. This approach brings great rewards in terms of clarity and a relatively brisk journey to dimension theory. It also allows some substantial topics (that are often treated inadequately) to be covered in some detail, including the construction of Markov partitions for repellers and some thermodynamic formalism. In level and prerequisites the book is aimed at graduate students and researchers interested in learning about ergodic theory, dimension theory, or hyperbolic dynamics. A substantial number of exercises of varying levels is included, and the care with which the material is presented as a self-contained coherent account makes it viable for independent study. The four parts of the book comprise ergodic theory, symbolic dynamics, topological dynamics; entropy theory up to the Shannon-McMillan-Breiman theorem and the variational principle, and an introduction to thermodynamic formalism; hyperbolic dynamics including Smale horseshoes and the construction of Markov partitions for a repeller and for any locally maximal hyperbolic set; dimension theory of hyperbolic dynamics.