Topological entropy
A concept in topological dynamics and ergodic theory analogous to the metric entropy of dynamical systems (introduced in [1]). For an open covering of a compactum
, let
denote the logarithm (usually to base 2) of the smallest number of elements of the covering that can cover
. If
is a continuous mapping, then the limit
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exists, where is the covering whose elements are all the non-empty intersections of the elements of
and
. The topological entropy
is defined to be the supremum of
over all possible
. There is an equivalent definition in the metric case: For a metric
, let
denote the largest number of points of
with pairwise distance greater than
. Then
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It turns out that
![]() |
and if is a homeomorphism, then
. Hence it is natural to take the topological entropy of a cascade
to be
. For a topological flow (continuous-time dynamical system)
it turns out that
![]() |
so it is natural to take the topological entropy of the flow to be . In a somewhat different way one can define the topological entropy for other transformation groups (it no longer reduces to the topological entropy of one of the elements of the group; cf. ).
The topological entropy coincides with the supremum of the metric entropy
over all possible normalized invariant Borel measures
(cf. [2], [5]–;
for the existence of and the dependence of
on
). This is a special case of the variational principle, which establishes a topological interpretation of the value
![]() |
for a fixed continuous function (cf. [4], [8], [9]). The topological entropy gives a characteristic of the "complexity" or "diversity" of motions in a dynamical system (cf. [10], [3], [4]). It is also connected in certain cases with the asymptotics (as
) of the number of periodic trajectories (of period
; cf. Periodic trajectory and [3], [4], –[13]). The "entropy conjecture54C70entropy conjecture" asserts that the topological entropy of a diffeomorphism
of a closed manifold
is not less than the logarithm of the spectral radius of the linear transformation induced by
on the homology spaces
(cf. , [15]). It has been proved in the
-case, .
References
[1] | R.L. Adler, A.G. Konheim, M.H. McAndrew, "Topological entropy" Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. , 114 (1965) pp. 309–319 |
[2] | E.I. Dinaburg, "On the relation between various entropy characteristics of dynamical systems" Math. USSR Izv. , 5 : 2 (1971) pp. 337–378 Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. , 35 : 2 (1971) pp. 324–366 |
[3] | V.M. Alekseev, "Symbolic dynamics" , Eleventh Mathematical Summer School , Kiev (1976) pp. 5–210 (In Russian) |
[4] | R. Boywen, "Methods of symbolic dynamics" , Moscow (1979) (In Russian; translated from English) (Collection of papers) |
[5] | T.N.T. Goodman, "Relating topological entropy and measure entropy" Bull. London Math. Soc. , 3 (1971) pp. 176–180 |
[6] | L.W. Goodwyn, "Comparing topological entropy with measure-theoretic entropy" Amer. J. Math. , 94 (1972) pp. 366–368 |
[7a] | A.T. Tagi-zade, "The entropy of motions of amenable groups" Dokl. Akad. Nauk AzerbSSR , 34 : 6 (1978) pp. 18–22 (In Russian) |
[7b] | A.T. Tagi-zade, "Entropy characteristics of amenable groups" Dokl. Akad. Nauk AzerbSSR , 34 : 8 (1978) pp. 11–14 (In Russian) |
[8] | A.M. Stepin, A.T. Tagi-zade, "Variational characterization of the topological pressure of amenable transformation groups" Soviet Math. Dokl. , 22 : 2 (1980) pp. 405–409 Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR , 254 : 3 (1980) pp. 545–548 |
[9] | J. Moulin Ollagnier, D. Pinchon, "The variational principle" Studia Math. , 72 (1982) pp. 151–159 |
[10] | A.A. Brudno, "Entropy and the complexity of the trajectories of a dynamical system" Trans. Moscow Math. Soc. , 44 (1982) pp. 127–152 Trudy Moskov. Mat. Obshch. , 44 (1982) pp. 124–149 |
[11a] | A.G. Kushnirenko, "Problems in the general theory of dynamical systems on a manifold" Transl. Amer. Math. Soc. , 116 (1981) pp. 1–42 Ninth Math. Summer School (1976) pp. 52–124 |
[11b] | A.B. Katok, "Dynamical systems with hyperbolic structure" Transl. Amer. Math. Soc. , 116 (1981) pp. 43–96 Ninth Math. Summer School (1976) pp. 125–211 |
[11c] | V.M. Alekseev, "Quasirandom oscillations and qualitative questions in celestial mechanics" Transl. Amer. Math. Soc. , 116 (1981) pp. 97–169 Ninth Math. Summer School (1976) pp. 212–341 |
[12] | A.B. Katok, Ya.G. Sinai, A.M. Stepin, "The theory of dynamical systems and general transformation groups with invariant measure" J. Soviet Math. , 7 : 6 (1977) pp. 974–1065 Itogi Nauk. i Tekhn. Mat. Anal. , 13 (1975) pp. 129–262 |
[13] | A.B. Katok, "Lyapunov exponents, entropy and periodic orbits for diffeomorphisms" Publ. Math. IHES , 51 (1980) pp. 137–173 |
[14a] | A.B. Katok, "The entropy conjecture" D.V. Anosov (ed.) , Smooth dynamical systems , Moscow (1977) pp. 181–203 (In Russian) |
[14b] | M. Shub, "Dynamical systems, filtrations and entropy" Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. , 80 (1974) pp. 27–41 |
[15] | D. Fried, M. Shub, "Entropy, linearity and chain-recurrence" Publ. Math. IHES , 50 (1979) pp. 203–214 |
[16] | C. Grilleneberger, "Ergodic theory on compact spaces" , Springer (1976) |
Comments
Instead of the collection of translations [4] one may consult [a2].
In the above, denotes the entropy of
with respect to the normalized invariant Borel measure
(cf. Entropy theory of a dynamical system). The value
, where
runs over the set of all normalized invariant Borel measures, is called the pressure of
(with respect to
). If
satisfies
(i.e., the sup is a max), then
is called an equilibrium state or Gibbs measure for
(with respect to
). See [a2], also for existence and uniqueness results.
For recent results about the estimation of topological entropy, see [a1] and the references given there.
References
[a1] | S.E. Newhouse, "Entropy and volume" Ergod. Th. & Dynam. Syst. , 8 (1988) pp. 283–299 Zbl 0638.58016 |
[a2] | R. Bowen, "Equilibrium states and the ergodic theory of Anosov diffeomorphisms" , Lect. notes in math. , 470 , Springer (1975) Zbl 0308.28010 |
Topological entropy. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Topological_entropy&oldid=11244