Topological entropy and blocking cost for geodesics in Riemannian manifolds

DOI10.1007/S10711-008-9296-3MaRDI QIDQ1014909zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Eugene Gutkin

Publication date 29 April 2009

Published in Geometriae Dedicata (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0711.1662

zbMATH Keywords

blocking costconnecting geodesicscounting geodesicsflatnessfundamental groupReimannian manifoldtopological entropy

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Dynamical systems of geometric origin and hyperbolicity (geodesic and horocycle flows, etc.) (37D40) Geodesics in global differential geometry (53C22)

Abstract: For a pair of points $x,y$ in a compact, riemannian manifold $M$ let $n_t(x,y)$ (resp. $s_t(x,y)$) be the number of geodesic segments with length $leqt$ joining these points (resp. the minimal number of point obstacles needed to block them). We study relationships between the growth rates of $n_t(x,y)$ and $s_t(x,y)$ as $toinfty$. We derive lower bounds on $s_t(x,y)$ in terms of the topological entropy $h(M)$ and its fundamental group. This strengthens the results of Burns-Gutkin cite{BG06} and Lafont-Schmidt cite{LS}. For instance, by cite{BG06,LS}, $h(M)>0$ implies that $s$ is unbounded; we show that $s$ grows exponentially, with the rate at least $h(M)/2$.

Review text

Let \(M\) be a complete Riemannian manifold. For \((x,y)\in M\times M\) and \(t>0\) let \(\Gamma_t(x,y)\) denote the set of geodesics from \(x\) to \(y\) with length at most \(t\) that do not extend past either endpoint \(x\) or \(y\). Let \(\Gamma(x,y)= \bigcup_{t>0} \Gamma_t(x,y)\). Let \(n_t(x,y)\) denote the number of geodesics from \(x\) to \(y\) whose length is at most \(t\). It is known that for almost all \((x,y)\) \(\in M\times M\) the function \(n_t(x,y)\) is finite for all \(t>0\). A set \(B\) in \(M\) is a blocking set for \(\Gamma_t(x,y)\) (respectively, \(\Gamma(x,y)\)) if every geodesic \(\gamma\) in \(\Gamma_t(x,y)\) (respectively, \(\Gamma(x,y)\)) passes through a point of \(B\). Define \(s_{t}(x,y)\) to be the minimum cardinality for a blocking set of \(\Gamma_t(x,y)\). Note that \(s_t(x,y)\leq n_t(x,y)\) for all \(x,y,t\). Let \(s(t)\) be the supremum of \(s_t(x,y)\) over all \((x,y)\) in \(M\times M\). The function \(s(t)\) is called the blocking cost function. A pair \((x,y)\in M\times M\) is secure if there is a finite blocking set for \(\Gamma(x,y)\), and the manifold \(M\) is secure if \((x,y)\) is secure for all \((x,y)\in M\times M\). Flat tori are secure. It is conjectured that the converse is true, and the conjecture has been established in some special cases. The manifold \(M\) is uniformly secure if there is a uniform bound for the cardinalities of blocking sets for all \((x,y)\in M\times M\). It is known that if \(M\) is uniformly secure, then the topological entropy is zero and the fundamental group \(\pi_1(M)\) has a nilpotent subgroup of finite index. If in addition \(M\) has no conjugate points, then \(M\) is flat. The main result of this paper is the following: Theorem. Let \(M\) be a compact Riemannian manifold. Then {\parindent=7mm \begin{itemize}\item[(1)] If the fundamental group \(\pi_1(M)\) grows exponentially with respect to the word length metric, then either the blocking cost function \(s(t)\) is infinite or \(s(t)\) grows at least exponentially in~\(t\). \item[(2)] Let \(e\) be either the topological entropy or the volumetric entropy of \(M\). If \(e\) is positive, then either \(s(t)\) is infinite or \(s(t)\) grows exponentially with rate at least \(e/2\). \end{itemize}} The author also gives new proofs of some known results of this type.

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Cites work

• A note on curvature and fundamental group
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• Affine mappings of translation surfaces: Geometry and arithmetic
• Billiard dynamics: a survey with the emphasis on open problems
• Blocking light in compact Riemannian manifolds
• Blocking of billiard orbits and security for polygons and flat surfaces
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• Groups of polynomial growth and expanding maps. Appendix by Jacques Tits
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• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 978562 (Why is no real title available?)
• On spaces of polynomial growth with no conjugate points
• On the topological entropy of geodesic flows
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• Topological entropy for geodesic flows

Cited in

(6)

• A dense \(G\)-delta set of Riemannian metrics without the finite blocking property
• Billiard dynamics: An updated survey with the emphasis on open problems
• Insecurity is generic in a conformal class of Riemannian metrics
• TOPOLOGICAL ENTROPY VERSUS GEODESIC ENTROPY
• Billiard dynamics: a survey with the emphasis on open problems
• Insecurity for compact surfaces of positive genus

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