Introduction to Dynamical Systems

This book provides a broad introduction to the subject of dynamical systems, suitable for a one- or two-semester graduate course. In the first chapter, the authors introduce over a dozen examples, and then use these examples throughout the book to motivate and clarify the development of the theory. Topics include topological dynamics, symbolic dynamics, ergodic theory, hyperbolic dynamics, one-dimensional dynamics, complex dynamics, and measure-theoretic entropy. The authors top off the presentation with some beautiful and remarkable applications of dynamical systems to such areas as number theory, data storage, and Internet search engines. This book grew out of lecture notes from the graduate dynamical systems course at the University of Maryland, College Park, and reflects not only the tastes of the authors, but also to some extent the collective opinion of the Dynamics Group at the University of Maryland, which includes experts in virtually every major area of dynamical systems.

Author Biography

Michael Brin is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Maryland. He is the author of over thirty papers, three of which appeared in the Annals of Mathematics, and he has lectured at conferences and universities around the world. His main research areas are dynamical systems and Riemannian geometry. In 2008, he established the Michael Brin Prize in Dynamical Systems. Garrett Stuck is a former professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland and has held visiting positions at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in Paris and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley. He has co-authored several textbooks, including The Mathematica Primer. Dr Stuck is also a founder of Chalkfree, Inc. He currently works in the finance industry.