Is there a Natural Dynamics for Systems with Many Degrees of Freedom?

David Ruelle
Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, France

KAM theory and the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam experiments show that large systems can
have nonhyperbolic behavior. Statistical mechanics seems however to
conform to an interpretation based on uniform hyperbolicity and SRB states
(at equilibrium and also outside of equilibrium). How can one reconcile
this interpretation with the fact that real systems are probably not
uniformly hyperbolic? We shall discuss some facts (about SRB states and
their dependence on parameters) and some possibilities.

Return to Program