On the Approximation of Complicated Dynamical Behavior

Abstract

We present efficient techniques for the numerical approximation of complicated dynamical behavior. In particular, we develop numerical methods which allow us to approximate Sinai--Ruelle--Bowen (SRB)-measures as well as (almost) cyclic behavior of a dynamical system. The methods are based on an appropriate discretization of the Frobenius--Perron operator, and two essentially different mathematical concepts are used: our idea is to combine classical convergence results for finite dimensional approximations of compact operators with results from ergodic theory concerning the approximation of SRB-measures by invariant measures of stochastically perturbed systems. The efficiency of the methods is illustrated by several numerical examples.