English

On non-tameness of the Ellis semigroup

Dynamical Systems 2025-10-08 v1

Abstract

The Ellis semigroup of a dynamical system (X,T)(X,T) is tame if every element is the limit of a sequence (as opposed to a net) of homeomorphisms coming from the TT action. This topological property is related to the cardinality of the semigroup. Non-tame Ellis semigroups have a cardinality which is that of the power set of the continuum 2c2^{\mathfrak c}.The semigroup admits a minimal bilateral ideal and this ideal is a union of isomorphic copies of a group H\mathcal H, the so-called structure group of (X,T)(X,T). For almost automorphic systems the cardinality of H\mathcal H is at most c\mathfrak c, that of the continuum. We show a partial converse for minimal (X,T)(X,T) with abelian TT, namely that the cardinality of the structure group is 2c2^{\mathfrak c} if the proximal relation is not transitive and the subgroup generated by differences of singular points in the maximal equicontinuous factor is not open.This refines the above statement about non-tame Ellis semigroups, as it locates a particular algebraic component of the latter which has such a large cardinality.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2403.07480,
  title  = {On non-tameness of the Ellis semigroup},
  author = {Johannes Kellendonk},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.07480},
  year   = {2025}
}