Alessandro Profeti

We consider a class of simple one parameter families of interval maps, and we study how metric (resp. topological) entropy changes as the parameter varies. We show that in many cases the entropy displays a semi-regular behaviour, i.e. it is smooth on an open and dense set. This feature is due to a combinatorial property called matching , which was first observed in the parametric family of α -continued fractions introduced by Nakada and Natsui (2008 Nonlinearity 21 1207–25).

We consider a class of simple one parameter families of interval maps, and we study how metric (resp. topological) entropy changes as the parameter varies. We show that in many cases the entropy displays a semi-regular behaviour, i.e. it is smooth on an open and dense set. This feature is due to a combinatorial property called matching

We consider the one-parameter family of interval maps arising from generalized continued fraction expansions known as alpha-continued fractions. For such maps, we perform a numerical study of the behaviour of metric entropy as a function of the parameter. The behaviour of entropy is known to be quite regular for parameters for which a matching condition on the orbits of the endpoints holds. We give a detailed description of the set M where this condition is met: it consists of a countable union of open intervals, corresponding to different combinatorial data, which appear to be arranged in a hierarchical structure. Our experimental data suggest that the complement of M is a proper subset of the set of bounded-type numbers, hence it has measure zero. Furthermore, we give evidence that the entropy on matching intervals is smooth; on the other hand, we can construct points outside of M on which it is not even locally monotone.