Core Concepts
For the family of piecewise linear maps Fa,b(x, y) = (|x| - y + a, x - |y| + b), the dynamics strongly depend on the parameters a and b. When a ≥ 0, all orbits are eventually periodic, while for a < 0, the dynamics is concentrated on one-dimensional invariant graphs that capture the final dynamics of the map.
Abstract
The paper studies the family of piecewise linear maps Fa,b(x, y) = (|x| - y + a, x - |y| + b), where (a, b) ∈ R^2. The dynamics of this family is analyzed in detail, with the results depending on the sign of the parameter a.
For a ≥ 0:
- All orbits are eventually periodic.
- There is at most one fixed point and up to two 3-periodic orbits, depending on the values of a and b.
For a < 0 (without loss of generality, the case a = -1 is considered):
- There exists a compact invariant graph Γ such that all orbits eventually reach Γ.
- The structure of Γ is characterized, with Γ being the union of at most 23 compact segments with one of four possible slopes (0, 1, -1, ∞).
- The dynamics of F restricted to Γ is studied in detail. It is shown that for an open and dense set of initial conditions, there are at most three possible ω-limit sets, which can be periodic orbits, Cantor sets, or other complicated subsets of Γ.
- A full characterization of when the restriction of F to Γ has positive or zero entropy is provided, with the entropy being a discontinuous function of the parameter b/a.
The study of this family of maps is interesting as it provides a natural two-dimensional discrete dynamical system for which the final dynamics is one-dimensional, yet it presents the full richness of one-dimensional dynamics.