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The cat map is the area-preserving toral automorphism induced by the integer matrix $A=\left(\begin{array}{cc}2& 1\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right)$. Its eigenvalues are $(3\pm \sqrt{5})/2$, giving one expanding and one contracting eigendirection. Cutting its image parallelogram by the integer grid and translating the pieces modulo one gives a concrete geometric construction on the unit square.

An integer invertible matrix with no eigenvalue on the unit circle induces a hyperbolic toral automorphism. Its stable and unstable tangent subspaces are the corresponding generalized eigenspaces. The matrix $\left(\begin{array}{cc}2& 1\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right)$ has eigenvalues $(3\pm \sqrt{5})/2$, yielding one contracting and one expanding direction.

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.

An integer matrix with determinant $\pm 1$ induces an invertible transformation of the real torus, preserving normalized Haar measure. It is a mixing measure-preserving transformation exactly when none of its eigenvalues is a root of unity. Indeed Fourier frequencies evolve by $A^T$: a nonzero integer frequency cannot revisit a fixed frequency unless some power has eigenvalue one. Conversely a root of unity gives a nonzero integer vector fixed by a power of $A^T$, and its nonconstant character obstructs mixing.