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An Anosov diffeomorphism is a continuously differentiable diffeomorphism of a compact smooth manifold with an invariant splitting of its tangent bundle into stable and unstable vector subbundles satisfying the displayed uniform exponential estimates for $n\ge 0$, with $C,\lambda >0$. Hyperbolic toral automorphisms give examples. An Anosov flow has a further one-dimensional invariant bundle along the flow direction; its definition is a distinct continuous-time version of uniform hyperbolicity.

For a two-dimensional hyperbolic toral automorphism, the stable and unstable eigenvalues obey $|{\lambda }_s|<1<|{\lambda }_u|$. In a sufficiently small Bowen ball, lifting to the stable and unstable coordinates gives widths proportional to $ϵ$ and $ϵ|{\lambda }_u{|}^{-(n-1)}$. Its normalized Haar measure is therefore proportional to ${ϵ}^2|{\lambda }_u{|}^{-(n-1)}$, uniformly in the centre. Maximal separated sets cover by radius-$ϵ$ Bowen balls and pack disjoint radius-$ϵ/2$ Bowen balls, so their exponential growth rate is $\log |{\lambda }_u|$. Smallness of $ϵ$ must exclude nonzero lattice jumps between successive lifted iterates; this is essential to the ball-volume argument.

Use normalized Haar measure $m$ on the real torus. The integer matrix $A$ and its integer inverse induce a toral automorphism; its determinant one preserves $m$. For $k\in {\mathbb{Z}}^n$, let $e_k(x)=e^{2\pi ik\cdot x}$. These characters of a real torus are an orthonormal basis, andSuppose no eigenvalue of $A$ is a root of unity. For $k\ne 0$, the frequency $(A^T{)}^{j}k$ can equal a fixed $\ell$ at most once. Otherwise two such times would give $(A^T{)}^{q}k=k$ for some $q>0$, forcing $A^q-I$ to be singular and an eigenvalue of $A$ to have $q$th power one. Hence the displayed correlation eventually vanishes whenever a nonconstant character is involved. Constant characters give the product of their means.

Linearity gives mixing for finite Fourier series. To pass to arbitrary $f,g\in L^2(m)$, approximate them by trigonometric polynomials. Composition with $T_A^j$ is an isometry of $L^2(m)$, so the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality bounds the approximation errors uniformly in $j$. Let those errors tend to zero after taking the large-$j$ limit. Thus $\int (f\circ T_A^j)\overline{g}dm\to \int fdm\int \overline{g}dm$, which is the required mixing measure-preserving transformation property.

Conversely, if an eigenvalue is a root of unity, choose $q>0$ with $\det [(A^T{)}^q-I]=0$. This is an integer matrix, so its nullspace has a nonzero rational vector; clearing denominators gives $k\in {\mathbb{Z}}^n\setminus \{0\}$ with $(A^T{)}^{q}k=k$. The nonconstant character $e_k$ has mean zero, butfor every $j$. It cannot satisfy mixing. ThereforeHyperbolic toral automorphisms are mixing, but hyperbolicity is not necessary: this proof excludes periodic integer frequencies, not every eigenvalue of modulus one.

Write the hyperbolic toral automorphism as $T_A([v])=[Av]$ on ${\mathbb{T}}^2={\mathbb{R}}^2/{\mathbb{Z}}^2$, where $A\in \mathrm{GL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$. Its determinant is $\pm 1$. The eigenvalues cannot be a nonreal conjugate pair: their product would have absolute value one, forcing each to have absolute value one, contrary to hyperbolicity. The same product condition and hyperbolicity imply two distinct real eigenvalues, labelled so thatWe will proveThis is the entropy of a hyperbolic toral automorphism; the absolute value is important when the expanding eigenvalue is negative.

Choose real eigenvectors $v_s,v_u$ and the adapted norm $\Vert a{v}_s+b{v}_u{\Vert }_{\ast }=\max (|a|,|b|)$. Its quotient metric on the torus isIt is a compatible metric, so part (a) allows its use. Let $\rho ={\min }_{0\ne \ell \in {\mathbb{Z}}^2}\Vert \ell {\Vert }_{\ast }>0$ and $D=\Vert A{\Vert }_{\ast }=|{\lambda }_u|$. Fix $ϵ>0$ small enough that $2ϵ<\rho$ and $(D+1)ϵ<\rho$.

If $[v]$ lies in the Bowen ball $B_n(0,ϵ)$, each $T_A^k[v]$ has a unique lift $z_k$ with $\Vert z_k{\Vert }_{\ast }<ϵ$. Uniqueness follows because two such lifts differ by a lattice vector of norm less than $2ϵ<\rho$. Moreover, $z_{k+1}-A{z}_k$ is a lattice vector, andIt must be zero. Thus $z_k=A^k{z}_0$: there is no hidden lattice jump between successive lifted iterates.

Write $z_0=a{v}_s+b{v}_u$. The simultaneous bounds $\Vert A^k{z}_0{\Vert }_{\ast }<ϵ$ for $0\le k<n$ are exactlyThe stable coordinate is largest at time zero and the unstable coordinate at time $n-1$. Conversely, every vector in this rectangle satisfies all the Bowen ball bounds. The quotient is injective on this rectangle by $2ϵ<\rho$. If $J=|\det (v_s,v_u)|$, its normalized Haar measure is thereforeThe quotient metric is translation invariant and $T_A$ is linear, so $d_n(x,y)=d_n(0,y-x)$; every Bowen ball has this same measure, independently of its centre.

Take an $ϵ$-separated set of largest cardinality $s_n(d,ϵ)$. It is maximal under inclusion, so its radius-$ϵ$ Bowen balls cover the torus: a point outside all these balls could be added. The covering bound givesIts radius-$ϵ/2$ Bowen balls are disjoint, by the triangle inequality for $d_n$. Their measures sum to at most one, givingTaking logarithms, dividing by $n$, and letting $n\to \infty$ yields $h_d(T_A,ϵ)=\log |{\lambda }_u|$ for every sufficiently small $ϵ$. The limit as $ϵ\downarrow 0$ proves the answer. Contraction in the stable direction contributes no exponential growth; only expansion in the unstable direction does.

For a nonsingular smooth flow generated by $F$ on a closed manifold, the Anosov flow condition is a continuous $D{\varphi }_t$-invariant splittingand constants $C,\lambda >0$ such that, for all $t\ge 0$,The norm can come from any auxiliary Riemannian metric; compactness makes the resulting definitions equivalent. The centre direction is the flow direction, with $F$ nowhere zero.

One construction is a suspension flow. The hyperbolic toral automorphism of ${\mathbb{T}}^2$ defined byhas eigenvalues ${\lambda }_{\pm }=(3\pm \sqrt{5})/2$, with $0<{\lambda }_{-}<1<{\lambda }_{+}$. Form the closed three-dimensional mapping torus $({\mathbb{T}}^2\times [0,1])/((x,1)\sim (Ax,0))$ and move in the second coordinate at unit speed. Each crossing of the section applies $A$. The two one-dimensional eigenspaces give invariant transverse bundles, and after $k$ crossings their derivatives multiply by ${\lambda }_{-}^k$ and ${\lambda }_{+}^k$. The difference between $k$ and elapsed time is bounded, so any smooth Riemannian metric gives the required uniform exponential estimates. The vertical direction supplies the centre line.

A different construction is the geodesic flow on the unit tangent bundle of a closed oriented hyperbolic surface. This bundle is a closed three-manifold. In curvature $-1$, a normal Jacobi field along a unit-speed geodesic satisfies $j^{\prime \prime }-j=0$. The initial data $(j,j^{\prime })=(a,-a)$ give $j(t)=a{e}^{-t}$, while $(a,a)$ give $j(t)=a{e}^t$. The linearized geodesic flow transports these initial data as $(j(t),j^{\prime }(t))$, so they give one stable and one unstable direction with precisely those exponential rates. The remaining tangent direction is the geodesic vector field. Thus this also constructs an Anosov flow, using geometric rather than return-map hyperbolicity.

A suspension flow moves vertically in the mapping torus of a diffeomorphism, applying that diffeomorphism whenever an orbit crosses the identifying section. A hyperbolic toral automorphism with constant roof gives a three-dimensional Anosov flow: after $k$ crossings its transverse derivative is $A^k$, while the remaining fractional time contributes a uniformly bounded factor.