Lectures on dynamical systems. Hamiltonian vector fields and symplectic capacities (Q974090)

This book has grown from lecture courses to advanced students at the ETH, and provides a wide perspective on dynamical systems and Hamiltonian dynamics. The first chapter comprises a rapid canter through the basic language of dynamical systems, motivated by some physical systems. The basic results like Weyl equidistribution, Poincaré recurrence, pointwise ergodic theorem, Birkhoff's transitivity theorem, and an instance of structural stability for expanding maps (a phenomena illustrated by proving a structural stability result for the circle doubling map) are covered in detail. Subsequent chapters in the first part of the book focus on the dynamical influence of homoclinic points on orbit structure. The machinery of hyperbolic sets, shadowing lemmas, and Smale's theorem on the presence of full shifts near homoclinic orbits is developed. Examples including a periodically perturbed pendulum are used to illustrate the general theory. The second part of the book concerns the dynamics of Hamiltonian systems, using the language of exterior calculus. Necessary background is developed along the way, including variational methods. Major results include the Arnold--Jost theorem on solutions for all times in systems with enough integrals, existence of global periodic orbits on symplectic manifolds, and an account of the connection between periodic orbits of Hamiltonian systems and the so-called symplectic capacities. These are related to novel symplectic rigidity phenomena, with links to the active current field of symplectic topology. The origins of this book in advanced courses are reflected in the clarity of the exposition and the care with which illustrative examples are developed. In addition, each chapter begins with a useful overview and many end with a quick overview of the literature. This is an attractive and well thought out development of dynamical systems, suitable for taking a reader with a good general mathematical background to research areas in Hamiltonian dynamics.