Centralizers of \(C^1\)-contractions of the half line (Q748383)

A subgroup \(G\) of the group \(D\) of \(C^1\) orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of \([0,1]\) is said to be \(C^1\)-close to the identity \(e\in D\) if there is a single sequence \((h_n)\) of elements of \(D\) with the property that \(h_ngh_n^{-1}\rightarrow e\) as \(n\to\infty\) for every \(g\in G\). An earlier work of the second author [``Conjugacy classes of diffeomorphisms of the interval in \(C^1\)-regularity'', Fund. Math. (to appear), \url{arXiv:1208.4771}] shows that this property is equivalent to the existence of an embedding of \(G\) into the \(C^1\)-centralizer of a \(C^1\)-contraction on \([0,\infty)\). Here, the topological dynamics of such subgroups is described and it is shown that the class of groups \(C^1\)-close to the identity is invariant under various dynamically natural extensions. This permits a description of a large class of subgroups of \(D\) which can be shown to be \(C^1\)-close to the identity for dynamical reasons. Among several interesting consequences of these developments, it is shown that the \(C^1\)-centralizer of a \(C^1\) contraction may contain a free group.