Kneading with weights (Q887571)

Summary: We generalize Milnor-Thurston's kneading theory to the setting of piecewise continuous and monotone interval maps with a weight associated to each branch. We define a weighted kneading determinant \(\mathcal{D}(t)\) and establish combinatorially two kneading identities, one with the cutting invariant and one with the dynamical zeta function. For the pressure \(\log \rho_1\) of the weighted system, playing the role of entropy, we prove that \(\mathcal{D}(t)\) is non-zero when \(|t|<1/\rho_1\) and has a zero at \(1/\rho_1\). Furthermore, our map is semi-conjugate to every map in an analytic family \(\mathcal{S}_t, 0<t<1/\rho_1\) of piecewise linear maps with slopes proportional to the prescribed weights and defined on a Cantor set. When the original map extends to a continuous map \(f\), the family \(\mathcal{S}_t\) converges as \(t\to 1/\rho_1\) to a continuous piecewise linear interval map \(\tilde{f}\). Furthermore, \(f\) is semi-conjugate to \(\tilde{f}\) and the two maps have the same pressure.