Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-nonlinear-systems-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/3/a/i/solution
Past exam of the nonlinear systems course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 a i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For the left shift, precisely when the binary sequence is obtained by repeating its first symbols. There are exactly such sequences, although some have smaller least period. Hence the set of all periodic sequences is a countable union of finite sets and is at most countable. Passing from periodic points to periodic orbits cannot increase this cardinality.
To prove infinitude, for every integer take the repeated word . Its least period is , because its ones are separated by exactly positions; a smaller positive period would carry a one to a zero. Distinct least periods give distinct periodic orbits. Thus there are countably infinitely many periodic orbits.
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