Noninvertible minimal maps

Abstract

For a discrete dynamical system given by a compact Hausdorff space X and a continuous selfmap f of X the connection between minimality, invertibility and openness of f is investigated. It is shown that any minimal map is feebly open, i.e., sends open sets to sets with nonempty interiors (and if it is open then it is a homeomorphism). Further, it is shown that if f is minimal and A ⊆ X then both f(A) and f-1(A) share with A those topological properties which describe how large a set is. Using these results it is proved that any minimal map in a compact metric space is almost one-to-one and, moreover, when restricted to a suitable invariant residual set it becomes a minimal homeomorphism. Finally, two kinds of examples of noninvertible minimal maps on the torus are given - these are obtained either as a factor or as an extension of an appropriate minimal homeomorphism of the torus.