On closed subgroups of the group of homeomorphisms of a manifold

Let $M$ be a triangulable compact manifold. We prove that, among closed subgroups of \homeo_{0}(M) (the identity component of the group of homeomorphisms of $M$), the subgroup consisting of volume preserving elements is maximal

An index for Brouwer homeomorphisms and homotopy Brouwer theory

We use the homotopy Brouwer theory of Handel to define a Poincar{\'e} index between two orbits for an orientation preserving fixed point free homeomorphism of the plane. Furthermore, we prove that this index is almost additive.Comment: To appear in Ergodic Theory and Dynamical System

Construction of curious minimal uniquely ergodic homeomorphisms on manifolds: the Denjoy-Rees technique

Mary Rees has constructed a minimal homeomorphism of the 2-torus with positive topological entropy. This homeomorphism f is obtained by enriching the dynamics of an irrational rotation R. We improve Rees construction, allowing to start with any homeomorphism R instead of an irrational rotation and to control precisely the measurable dynamics of f. This yields in particular the following result: Any compact manifold of dimension d>1 which carries a minimal uniquely ergodic homeomorphism also carries a minimal uniquely ergodic homeomorphism with positive topological entropy. More generally, given some homeomorphism R of a (compact) manifold and some homeomorphism h of a Cantor set, we construct a homeomorphism f which "looks like" R from the topological viewpoint and "looks like" R*h from the measurable viewpoint. This construction can be seen as a partial answer to the following realisability question: which measurable dynamical systems are represented by homeomorphisms on manifolds

An introduction to Handel's homotopy Brouwer theory

Homotopy Brouwer theory is a tool to study the dynamics of surface homeomorphisms. We introduce and illustrate the main objects of homotopy Brouwer theory, and provide a proof of Handel's fixed point theorem. These are the notes of a mini-course held during the workshop "Superficies en Montevideo" in March 2012