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This rigorous undergraduate introduction to dynamical systems is an accessible guide for mathematics students advancing from calculus.
List of contents
1. The orbits of one-dimensional maps; 2. Bifurcations and the logistic family; 3. Sharkovsky's theorem; 4. Dynamics on metric spaces; 5. Countability, sets of measure zero, and the Cantor set; 6. Devaney's definition of chaos; 7. Conjugacy of dynamical systems; 8. Singer's theorem; 9. Conjugacy, fundamental domains, and the tent family; 10. Fractals; 11. Newton's method for real quadratics and cubics; 12. Coppel's theorem and a proof of Sharkovsky's theorem; 13. Real linear transformations, the Hénon Map, and hyperbolic toral automorphisms; 14. Elementary complex dynamics; 15. Examples of substitutions; 16. Fractals arising from substitutions; 17. Compactness in metric spaces and an introduction to topological dynamics; 18. Substitution dynamical systems; 19. Sturmian sequences and irrational rotations; 20. The multiple recurrence theorem of Furstenberg and Weiss; Appendix A: theorems from calculus; Appendix B: the Baire category theorem; Appendix C: the complex numbers; Appendix D: Weyl's equidistribution theorem.
About the author
Geoffrey R. Goodson is Professor of Mathematics at Towson University, Maryland. He previously served on the faculty of the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town. His research interests include dynamical systems, ergodic theory, matrix theory, and operator theory. He has published more than thirty papers, and taught numerous classes on dynamical systems.
Summary
This undergraduate text is a rigorous introduction to dynamical systems and an accessible guide for those transitioning from calculus to advanced mathematics. It has many student-friendly features, such as graded exercises ranging from straightforward to more difficult with hints, and includes applications of real analysis and metric space theory.
