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736

Dynamical Systems and


Random Processes
16th Carolina Dynamics Symposium
April 13–15, 2018
Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia

Jane Hawkins
Rachel L. Rossetti
Jim Wiseman
Editors
Dynamical Systems and
Random Processes
16th Carolina Dynamics Symposium
April 13–15, 2018
Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia

Jane Hawkins
Rachel L. Rossetti
Jim Wiseman
Editors
736

Dynamical Systems and


Random Processes
16th Carolina Dynamics Symposium
April 13–15, 2018
Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia

Jane Hawkins
Rachel L. Rossetti
Jim Wiseman
Editors
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Dennis DeTurck, Managing Editor
Michael Loss Kailash Misra Catherine Yan

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 37D40, 37F10, 37B10, 34A99, 35J47,
37B20, 37B25, 55-04, 37A50.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data


Names: Carolina Dynamics Symposium (16th : 2018 : Decatur, Ga.) | Hawkins, Jane, 1954–
editor. | Rossetti, Rachel L., 1986– editor. | Wiseman, Jim, 1974– editor.
Title: Dynamical systems and random processes : Carolina Dynamics Symposium, April 13–
15, 2018, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia / Jane Hawkins, Rachel L. Rossetti, Jim
Wiseman, editors.
Description: Providence, Rhode Island : American Mathematical Society, [2019] | Series: Con-
temporary mathematics ; volume 736 | ”The 16th Carolina Dynamics Symposium”–Preface. |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019011700 | ISBN 9781470448318 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Geometry, Differential–Congresses. | Differentiable dynamical systems–Congresses.
| Random dynamical systems–Congresses. | Stochastic processes–Congresses. | AMS: Dynam-
ical systems and ergodic theory – Dynamical systems with hyperbolic behavior – Dynamical
systems of geometric origin and hyperbolicity (geodesic and horocycle flows, etc.). msc | Dy-
namical systems and ergodic theory – Complex dynamical systems – Polynomials; rational
maps; entire and meromorphic functions. msc | Dynamical systems and ergodic theory –
Topological dynamics – Symbolic dynamics. msc | Ordinary differential equations – General
theory – None of the above, but in this section. msc | Partial differential equations – Elliptic
equations and systems – Second-order elliptic systems. msc | Dynamical systems and ergodic
theory – Topological dynamics – Notions of recurrence. msc | Dynamical systems and er-
godic theory – Topological dynamics – Lyapunov functions and stability; attractors, repellers.
msc | Algebraic topology – Explicit machine computation and programs (not the theory of
computation or programming). msc | Dynamical systems and ergodic theory – Ergodic theory
– Relations with probability theory and stochastic processes. msc
Classification: LCC QA641 .C348 2018 | DDC 515/.39–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019011700
Contemporary Mathematics ISSN: 0271-4132 (print); ISSN: 1098-3627 (online)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1090/conm/736

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 24 23 22 21 20 19
Contents

Preface vii
List of Participants ix
Chain recurrence and strong chain recurrence on uniform spaces
Ethan Akin and Jim Wiseman 1
Towards the prediction of critical transitions in spatially extended populations
with cubical homology
Sarah L. Day and Laura S. Storch 31
Relating singularly perturbed rational maps to families of entire maps
Joanna Furno and Lorelei Koss 49
Stability of Cantor Julia sets in the space of iterated elliptic functions
Jane Hawkins 69
Pressure and escape rates for random subshifts of finite type
Kevin McGoff 97
On the complexity function for sequences which are not uniformly recurrent
Nic Ormes and Ronnie Pavlov 125
Definitions and properties of entropy and distance for regular languages
Austin J. Parker, Kelly B. Yancey, and Matthew P. Yancey 139
Good and bad functions for bad processes
Andrew Parrish and Joseph Rosenblatt 171
Isomorphisms of cubic rational maps that preserve an infinite measure
Rachel L. Rossetti 187
Orbit classification and asymptotic constants for d-symmetric covers
Martin Schmoll 201
On the collision manifold of coorbital moons
Kimberly Stubbs and Samuel R. Kaplan 239
Multivariate random fields and their zero sets
Michael Taylor 251

v
Preface

The first Carolina Dynamics Symposium, originally called the Carolina Dynam-
ics Seminar, was held at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on April
12, 2003 and organized by Douglas Shafer of UNC Charlotte. What started as an
informal gathering of mathematicians interested in dynamical systems continued at
the College of Charleston in 2004, then moved to Chapel Hill in 2005. The meet-
ings were so beneficial to the participants’ research that the group has met every
year since, each time including new Ph.D.’s and a broader range of fields relating
to dynamics as well. We have added at least one talk aimed at undergraduates
at each meeting as well and, with the addition of NSF support, have been able to
bring in speakers from farther away.
In the intervening years the symposium has also been hosted by Clemson,
Meredith, Davidson, UNC Asheville, Furman, and Agnes Scott, with many of the
venues hosting repeat conferences. Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee
send participants too, so despite its name, the participants reflect the richness of
the field of dynamics throughout the southeastern U.S.
The articles contained in this volume are by the participants of the most recent
meeting at Agnes Scott College, the 16th Carolina Dynamics Symposium and the
second one held at Agnes Scott. Also included are a few papers from some col-
laborators who have been involved with Carolina Dynamics in some capacity for
many years. The papers cover a wide swath of topics in dynamics and randomness
and reflect a sampling of the breadth of the field. The editors are grateful for NSF
Grant DMS-1600746, which supported many of the authors who participated in the
event at Agnes Scott.

Jane Hawkins
Rachel L. Rossetti
Jim Wiseman

vii
List of Participants

Julia Barnes Max Lenk


Western Carolina University Georgia Tech
Barrett Brister Kevin McGoff
Georgia State University University of North Carolina Charlotte
Emily Burkhead Claire Merriman
University of North Carolina University of Illinois
at Chapel Hill at Urbana-Champaign
Jim Campbell Donna Molinek
University of Memphis Davidson College
Kevin Daley Nicholas Ormes
Georgia State University University of Denver
Sarah Day Andy Parrish
College of William and Mary Eastern Illinois University
Albert Fathi Karl Petersen
Georgia Tech University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
Sarah Frick
Furman University Predrag Punosevac
Carnegie Mellon University
Joanna Furno
University of Houston Eric Roberts
University of California, Merced
Jane Hawkins
University of North Carolina Joseph Rosenblatt
at Chapel Hill IUPUI
Jonathan Hulgan Rachel Rossetti
Oxford College, Emory Agnes Scott
Sam Kaplan Shrey Sanadhya
University of North Carolina Asheville University of Iowa
Lorelei Koss Martin Schmoll
Dickinson College Clemson University
Jeffrey Lawson Douglas Shafer
Western Carolina University University of North Carolina Charlotte
ix
x PARTICIPANTS

Howie Weiss
Georgia Tech
Jim Wiseman
Agnes Scott
Undergraduate participants from Oxford
College, Emory Univ: Emily Rexer,
Justin Burton
Undergraduate participants from Agnes
Scott: Emily Smith, Yihan Jiang,
Yutong Wang, Laura Stordy, Jessa
Rhea, Angela Hong, Yuemin Zuo,
Huiming Zang
Group photo: 16th Carolina Dynamics Symposium, Agnes Scott College, April 2018
Contemporary Mathematics
Volume 736, 2019
https://doi.org/10.1090/conm/736/14831

Chain recurrence and strong chain recurrence


on uniform spaces

Ethan Akin and Jim Wiseman


In Memory of John Mather

Abstract. We extend the theory of the chain relation (based on Conley’s no-
tion of chain recurrence) and the strong chain relation (based on Easton’s
strong chain recurrence) from the setting of continuous maps on compact
spaces to general relations on uniform spaces, following the barrier function
approach introduced by Fathi and Pageault. We consider equivalent charac-
terizations of these relations, Lyapunov functions, and attractors.

1. Introduction
Let f be a continuous map on a compact metric space (X, d). If  ≥ 0 then a
sequence {x0 , . . . , xn } with n ≥ 1 is an  chain for f if maxni=1 d(f (xi−1 ), xi ) ≤ 
and a strong  chain for f if Σni=1 d(f (xi−1 ), xi ) ≤ . Thus, a 0 chain is just an
initial piece of an orbit sequence.
The Conley chain relation Cf consists of those pairs (x, y) ∈ X × X such that
there is an  chain with x0 = x and xn = y for every  > 0. The Easton, or
Aubry-Mather, strong chain relation Ad f consists of those pairs (x, y) ∈ X × X
such that there is a strong  chain with x0 = x and xn = y for every  > 0. As the
notation indicates, Cf is independent of the choice of metric, while Ad f depends
on the metric. See [5] and [6].
Fathi and Pageault have studied these matters using what they call barrier
functions, [11], [7] and their work has been sharpened in [12], [13]. Mdf (x, y) is
the infimum of the ’s such that there is an  chain from x to y and Lfd (x, y) is the
infimum of the ’s such that there is a strong  chain from x to y. Thus, (x, y) ∈ Cf
iff Mdf (x, y) = 0 and (x, y) ∈ Ad f iff Lfd (x, y) = 0.
Our purpose here is to extend these results in two ways.
First, while our interest focuses upon homeomorphisms or continuous maps, it
is convenient, and easy, to extend the results to relations, following [1].
A relation f : X → Y is just a subset of X ×Y with f (x) = {y ∈ Y : (x, y) ∈ f }
for x ∈ X. Let f (A) = x∈A f (x) for A ⊂ X. So f is a mapping when f (x) is a
singleton set for every x ∈ X, in which case we will use the notation f (x) for both
the singleton set and the point contained therein. For example, the identity map

The second author was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation (282398, JW).

2019
c American Mathematical Society

1
2 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

on a set X is 1X = {(x, x) : x ∈ X}. If X and Y are topological spaces then f is a


closed relation when it is a closed subset of X × Y with the product topology.
The examples Cf and Ad f illustrate how relations arise naturally in dynamics.
The other extension is to non-compact spaces. This has been looked at in the
past; see [9] and [11]. However, the natural setting for the theory is that of uniform
spaces as described in [10] and [4], and reviewed in Section 2.3 below and in more
detail in [2, Appendix B].
A uniform structure U on a set X is a collection of relations on X which satisfy
various axioms so as to generalize the notion of metric space. A uniformity U is
equivalently given by its gage Γ(U), the set of pseudo-metrics d on X with the
metric uniformity U(d), generated by -neighborhoods of the diagonal, contained in
U. The use of covers in [11] and continuous real-valued functions in [9] is equivalent
to certain choices of uniformity.
Once we leave the compact category, the chain relation Cd f , as well as the
Aubry-Mather relation Ad f , depends on the metric.
Example 1.1. Consider the translation map f : R → R given by f (x) = x + 1.
If we give R the usual metric, then there is no recurrent behavior. But if we think
of R as the unit circle in R2 minus the point (0, 1) and give it the usual metric
inherited from R2 , then both Cf and Ad f are equal to R × R.
Example 1.2. Let g : R2 → R2 be the translation map g(x, y) = (x + 1, y).
Again, with the usual metric, there is no recurrent behavior. Construct a metric
d1 as follows: Take the unit square [0, 1] × [0, 1] and identify the points (0, 1/2) and
(1, 1/2); consider R2 as the subset (0, 1) × (0, 1) and let d1 be the inherited metric.
Then Cg is the entire space (0, 1) × (0, 1), while a point ((x, y), (x, y)) is in Ad1 g iff
y = 1/2. (In fact, ((x1 , 1/2), (x2 , 1/2)) is in Ad1 g for any x1 and x2 .)
We can construct another metric d2 in a similar way. Take the unit square
[0, 1]×[0, 1] and now identify the points (0, y) and (1, y) for all y (giving a cylinder).
Again consider R2 as the subset (0, 1) × (0, 1) and let d2 be the inherited metric.
We still have Cg = (0, 1) × (0, 1), but now the point ((x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 )) is in Ad2 g iff
y1 = y2 .
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 contains definitions and back-
ground information on relations, pseudo-metrics, and uniform spaces.
In Section 3, we define the barrier functions mfd and fd of a relation f on a set
X with respect to a pseudo-metric d and we describe their elementary properties.
We use a symmetric definition which allows a jump at the beginning as well as the
end of a sequence. (In [2], we show that the alternative definitions yield equivalent
results in cases which include when f is a continuous map.)
In Section 4, we describe the properties of the Conley relation Cd f = {(x, y) :
mfd (x, y) = 0} and the Aubrey-Mather relation Ad f = {(x, y) : fd (x, y) = 0}.
Following [1] we regard Cd and Ad as operators on the set of relations on X. We
observe that each of these operators is idempotent.
In Section 5, we consider Lyapunov functions. With the pseudo-metric d fixed,
a Lyapunov function L for a relation f on X is a continuous map L : X → R
such that (x, y) ∈ f implies L(x) ≤ L(y), or, equivalently, f ⊂ ≤L where ≤L =
{(x, y) : L(x) ≤ L(y)}. Notice that we follow [1] in using Lyapunov functions which
increase, rather than decrease, on orbits. Following [11] and [7] we show that the
barrier functions can be used to define Lyapunov functions. If g is a relation on
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 3

X with f ⊂ g and z ∈ X then x → mgd (x, z) is a Lyapunov function for Cd f and


x → gd (x, z) is a Lyapunov function for Ad f . Even when f is a map, it is convenient
to use associated relations like g = f ∪ 1X or g = f ∪ {(y, y)} for y a point of X.
In Section 6, we turn to uniform spaces. The Conley relation CU f is the
intersection of {Cd f : d ∈ Γ(U)} and AU f is the intersection of {Ad f : d ∈ Γ(U)}.
Thus, (x, y) ∈ CU f iff mfd (x, y) = 0 for all d ∈ Γ(U) and similarly (x, y) ∈ AU f
iff fd (x, y) = 0 for all d ∈ Γ(U). While the gage definition is convenient to use,
we show that each of these relations has an equivalent description which uses the
uniformity directly. Each of these is a closed, transitive relation which contains f .
We let Gf denote the smallest closed, transitive relation which contains f , so that
f ⊂ Gf ⊂ AU f ⊂ CU f .
If L is a uniformly continuous Lyapunov function for f then it is automatically
a Lyapunov function for AU f . If X is Hausdorff and we let L vary over all uniformly
continuous Lyapunov functions for f then 1X ∪ AU f = L ≤L . That is, if (x, y) ∈
1X ∪ AU f , then there exists a uniformly continuous Lyapunov function L such that
L(x) > L(y). If, in addition, X is second countable, then there exists a uniformly
continuous Lyapunov function L such that 1X ∪ AU f = ≤L . If X is Hausdorff  and
we let L vary over all Lyapunov functions for CU f then 1X ∪ CU f = L ≤L . If,
in addition, X is second countable, then there exists a Lyapunov function L such
that 1X ∪ CU f = ≤L . These results use the barrier function Lyapunov functions
developed in the preceding section.
For the Conley relation there are special results. A set A is called U inward for
a relation f on (X, U) if for some U ∈ U (U ◦ f )(A) ⊂ A. A continuous function
L : X → [0, 1] is called an elementary Lyapunov function if (x, y) ∈ f and L(x) > 0
imply L(y) = 1. For a U uniformly continuous elementary Lyapunov function L
the sets {x : L(x) > } for  ≥ 0 are open U inward sets. On the other hand, if A
is a U inward set, then there exists a U uniformly continuous elementary Lyapunov
function L such that L = 0 on X \ A and L = 1 on f (A). Each set CU f (x) is an
intersection of inward sets. If A is an open U inward set then it is CU f + invariant
and the maximum CU f invariant subset A∞ is called the associated attractor .
In [2] we obtain additional results on the effect of various continuity assump-
tions, compactness and compactifications, and recurrence and transitivity.

2. Definitions and background


2.1. Relations. For a relation f : X → Y the inverse relation f −1 : Y → X
is {(y, x) : (x, y) ∈ f }. Thus, for B ⊂ Y , f −1 (B) = {x : f (x) ∩ B = ∅}. We define
f ∗ (B) = {x : f (x) ⊂ B}. These are equal when f is a map.
If f : X → Y and g : Y → Z are relations then the composition g ◦ f : X → Z
is {(x, z) : there exists y ∈ Y such that (x, y) ∈ f and (y, z) ∈ g}. That is, g ◦ f is
the image of (f × Z) ∩ (X × g) under the projection π13 : X × Y × Z → X × Z. As
with maps, composition of relations is clearly associative.
The domain of a relation f : X → Y is
(2.1) Dom(f ) = {x : f (x) = ∅} = f −1 (Y ).
We call a relation surjective if Dom(f ) = X and Dom(f −1 ) = Y , i.e. f (X) = Y
and f −1 (Y ) = X.
If f1 : X1 → Y1 and f2 : X2 → Y2 are relations, then the product relation
f1 × f2 : X1 × X2 → Y1 × Y2 is {((x1 , x2 ), (y1 , y2 )) : (x1 , y1 ) ∈ f1 , (x2 , y2 ) ∈ f2 }.
4 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

We call f a relation on X when X = Y . In that case, we define, for n ≥ 1


f n+1 = f ◦ f n = f n ◦ f with f 1 = f . By definition, f 0 = 1X and f −n = (f −1 )n . If
A ⊂ X, then A is called f + invariant if f (A) ⊂ A and f invariant if f (A) = A. In
general, for A ⊂ X, the restriction to A is f |A = f ∩ (A × A). If u is a real-valued
function on X we will also write u|A for the restriction of u to A, allowing context
to determine which meaning is used.
The cyclic set |f | of a relation f on X is {x ∈ X : (x, x) ∈ f }.
A relation f on X is reflexive if 1X ⊂ f , symmetric if f −1 = f and transitive
if f ◦ f ⊂ f .

2.2. Pseudo-metrics. If d is a pseudo-metric on a set X and  > 0, then we


define the relations Vd = {(x, y) : d(x, y) < } and V̄d = {(x, y) : d(x, y) ≤ } on
X. Thus, for x ∈ X, Vd (x) (or V̄d (x)) is the open (resp. closed) ball centered at x
with radius .
A pseudo-ultrametric d on X is a pseudo-metric with the triangle inequality
strengthened to d(x, y) ≤ max(d(x, z), d(z, y)) for all z ∈ X. A pseudo-metric d is
a pseudo-ultrametric iff the relations Vd and V̄d are equivalence relations for all
 > 0.
If (X1 , d1 ) and (X2 , d2 ) are pseudo-metric spaces then the product (X1 ×
X2 , d1 × d2 ) is defined by
d1 × d2 ((x1 , x2 ), (y1 , y2 )) = max(d1 (x1 , y1 ), d2 (x2 , y2 )).
Thus, Vd1 ×d2
= Vd1 × Vd2 and V̄d1 ×d2 = V̄d1 × V̄d2 .
Throughout this work, all pseudo-metrics are assumed bounded. For example,
on R we use d(a, b) = min(|a − b|, 1). Thus, if A is a non-empty subset of X the
diameter, diam(A) = sup{d(x, y) : x, y ∈ A}, is finite.
For metric computations, the following will be useful.
Lemma 2.1. Let a1 , a2 , b1 , b2 ∈ R. With a∨b = max(a, b) and a∧b = min(a, b):
|a1 ∨ b1 − a2 ∨ b2 |, |a1 ∧ b1 − a2 ∧ b2 | ≤ |a1 − a2 | ∨ |b1 − b2 |.
(2.2)
(a1 ∨ b1 ) ∧ (a2 ∨ b1 ) ∧ (a1 ∨ b2 ) ∧ (a2 ∨ b2 ) = (a1 ∧ a2 ) ∨ (b1 ∧ b2 ).
Proof: First, we may assume without loss of generality that a1 ∨ b1 ≥ a2 ∨ b2 =
a2 and so that a2 ≥ b2 . If a1 ∨ b1 = a1 then |a1 ∨ b1 − a2 ∨ b2 | = a1 − a2 . If
a1 ∨ b1 = b1 then |a1 ∨ b1 − a2 ∨ b2 | = b1 − a2 ≤ b1 − b2 . For the ∧ estimate, observe
that a ∧ b = −(−a) ∨ (−b).
For the second, factor out b1 and b2 to get (a1 ∨ b1 ) ∧ (a2 ∨ b1 ) = (a1 ∧ a2 ) ∨ b1 ,
and (a1 ∨ b2 ) ∧ (a2 ∨ b2 ) = (a1 ∧ a2 ) ∨ b2 . Then factor out a1 ∧ a2 . 2

2.3. Uniformities. A uniform structure, or uniformity, U on X is a collection


of relations satisfying the following conditions:
• 1X ⊂ U for all U ∈ U.
• U1 , U2 ∈ U implies U1 ∩ U2 ∈ U.
• If U ∈ U and W ⊃ U , then W ∈ U.
• U ∈ U implies U −1 ∈ U.
• If U ∈ U, then there exists W ∈ U such that W ◦ W ⊂ U .
The first condition says that the relations are reflexive and the next two imply
that they form a filter. The last two conditions are the uniform space analogues of
symmetry and the triangle inequality for pseudo-metrics.
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 5

As mentioned earlier, a uniformity U is equivalently given by its gage Γ(U), the


set of pseudo-metrics d on X (bounded by stipulation) with the metric uniformity
U(d), generated by {Vd :  > 0}, contained in U. To a uniformity there is an
associated topology and we say that U is compatible with a topology on X if the
uniform topology agrees with the given topology on X. A topological space admits a
compatible uniformity iff it is completely regular. A completely regular space X has
a maximum uniformity UM compatible with the topology. Any continuous function
from a completely regular space X to a uniform space is uniformly continuous from
(X, UM ).
A completely regular, Hausdorff space is called a Tychonoff space. A compact
Hausdorff space X has a unique uniformity consisting of all neighborhoods of the
diagonal 1X .
We will need the following lemma.
Lemma 2.2. Let {d1 , d2 , . . . } be a sequence in Γ(U) with di bounded by Ki ≥ 1.
If {a1 , a2 , . . . } is a summable sequence of positive reals then d = Σ∞
i=1 (ai /Ki )di is
a pseudo-metric in Γ(U).
Proof: Dividing by Σ∞i=1 (ai /Ki ) we 
can assume the sum is 1. Given  > 0
choose N so that Σ∞
N
k=1 V/2 ⊂ V . 2
dk d
i=N +1 a i < /2. Then

3. Barrier functions
Let f be a relation on a pseudo-metric space (X, d). That is, f is a subset of
X × X and d is a pseudo-metric on the non-empty set X.
Let f ×n be the n−fold product of copies of f , i.e. the space of sequences in f
of length n ≥ 1, so that an element of f ×n is a sequence [a, b] = (a1 , b1 ), (a2 , b2 ), ..,
(an , bn ) of pairs in f . If [a, b] ∈ f ×n , [c, d] ∈ f ×m , then the concatenation [a, b] ·
[c, d] ∈ f ×(n+m) is the sequence of pairs (xi , yi ) = (ai , bi ) for i = 1, . . . , n and
(xi , yi ) = (ci−n , di−n ) for i = n + 1, . . . , n + m.
Define for (x, y) ∈ X × X and [a, b] ∈ f ×n the xy chain-length of [a, b] (with
respect to d) to be the sum
(3.1) d(x, a1 ) + Σn−1
i=1 d(bi , ai+1 ) + d(bn , y)

and the xy chain-bound of [a, b] (with respect to d) to be


(3.2) max(d(x, a1 ), d(b1 , a2 ), . . . , d(bn−1 , an ), d(bn , y)).
For (x, y) ∈ X × X, define
fd (x, y) = inf {d(x, a1 ) + Σn−1
i=1 d(bi , ai+1 ) + d(bn , y) :
[a, b] ∈ f ×n , n = 1, 2, ...}.
(3.3)
mfd (x, y) = inf {max(d(x, a1 ), d(b1 , a2 ), . . . , d(bn−1 , an ), d(bn , y)) :
[a, b] ∈ f ×n , n = 1, 2, ...}.

The functions fd and mfd are the barrier functions for f . Clearly, mfd ≤ fd .
Using n = 1, we see that for all (a, b) ∈ f
fd (x, y) ≤ d(x, a) + d(b, y),
(3.4)
mfd (x, y) ≤ max(d(x, a), d(b, y)).
6 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

and so
(3.5) (x, y) ∈ f =⇒ mfd (x, y) = fd (x, y) = 0.
by using (a, b) = (x, y).
For the special case of f = ∅ we define
(3.6) m∅d = diam(X), and ∅d = 2diam(X),
the constant functions.
By using equation (3.4) with (a, b) = (y, y) and the triangle inequality in (3.3)
we see that
(3.7) 1dX (x, y) = d(x, y).
Define for the pseudo-metric d
(3.8) Zd = {(x, y) : d(x, y) = 0}.
Thus, Zd is a closed equivalence relation which equals 1X exactly when d is a metric.
Zd is the d-closure in X × X of the diagonal 1X .
Lemma 3.1. Let f be a relation on (X, d) with A = Dom(f ) = f −1 (X). If
f ⊂ Zd , then
(3.9) fd (x, y) = inf{d(x, a) + d(a, y) : a ∈ A} ≥ d(x, y)
with equality if either x or y is an element of A.
If d is a pseudo-ultrametric then
(3.10) mfd (x, y) = inf{max(d(x, a), d(a, y)) : a ∈ A} ≥ d(x, y)
with equality if either x or y is an element of A.
Proof: If (a, b) ∈ f then d(a, b) = 0 and so the xy chain-length of [(a, b)] is
d(x, a) + d(a, y). If [a, b] ∈ f ×n then d(ai , bi ) = 0 for all i implies that with a = a1
the xy chain-length of [a, b] is at least d(x, a) + d(a, y) by the triangle inequality.
If d is a pseudo-ultrametric then the xy chain-bound of [(a, b)] is max(d(x, a),
d(a, y))) and if [a, b] ∈ f ×n , then with with a = a1 the xy chain-bound of [a, b] is at
least max(d(x, a), d(a, y))) by the ultrametric version of the triangle inequality. 2
In particular, if A is a nonempty subset of X, then
(3.11) 1dA (x, y) = inf{d(x, a) + d(a, y) : a ∈ A} ≥ d(x, y)
with equality if either x or y is an element of A.
It is clear that f ⊂ g implies f ×n ⊂ g ×n and so
(3.12) f ⊂g =⇒ gd ≤ fd and mgd ≤ mfd on X × X.
In particular, if A is a subset of X, then
f |A f |A
(3.13) fd ≤ d and mfd ≤ md .
The relation f is reflexive when 1X ⊂ f . We see from (3.7)
(3.14) 1X ⊂ f =⇒ fd ≤ d on X × X.
If [a, b] ∈ f ×n , then we let [a, b]−1 ∈ (f −1 )×n be (bn , an ), (bn−1 , an−1 ), ..., (b1 , a1 ).
Using these reverse sequences we see immediately that
−1 −1
(3.15) fd (x, y) = fd (y, x) and mfd (x, y) = mfd (y, x)
for all x, y ∈ X.
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 7

A map h from (X1 , d1 ) to (X2 , d2 ) is Lipschitz with constant K if d2 (h(x), h(y)) ≤


Kd1 (x, y) for all x, y ∈ X1 .
Proposition 3.2. Let f be a relation on (X, d). Let x, y, z, w ∈ X.
(a) The directed triangle inequalities hold:
fd (x, y) ≤ fd (x, z) + fd (z, y),
(3.16)
mfd (x, y) ≤ mfd (x, z) + mfd (z, y).
(b) Related to the ultrametric inequalities, taking into account the fact that
mfd (z, z) can be strictly greater than zero, we have:
(3.17) mfd (x, y) ≤ max(mfd (x, z) + mfd (z, z), mfd (z, z) + mfd (z, y)).
(c) From
fd (x, y) ≤ d(x, w) + fd (w, z) + d(z, y) for all w, x, y, z ∈ X,
(3.18)
mfd (x, y) ≤ d(x, w) + mfd (w, z) + d(z, y) for all w, x, y, z ∈ X
we obtain that the functions fd and mfd from X × X to R are Lipschitz
with Lipschitz constant ≤ 2.
Proof: (a) For x, y, z ∈ X and [a, b] ∈ f ×n , [c, d] ∈ f ×m , we note that
d(bn , c1 ) ≤ d(bn , z)+d(z, c1 ). So the xz chain-length of [a, b] plus the zy chain-length
of [c, d] is greater than or equal to the xy chain-length of [a, b] · [c, d]. Furthermore,
the xz chain-bound of [a, b] plus the zy chain-bound of [c, d] is greater than or equal
to the xy chain-bound of [a, b]·[c, d]. The directed triangle inequalities (3.16) follow.
(b) Let [u, v] ∈ f ×p . We see that d(bn , u1 ) ≤ d(bn , z) + d(z, u1 ) and d(vp , c1 ) ≤
d(vp , z) + d(z, c1 ). Hence, the larger of the xz chain-bound of [a, b] plus the zz
chain-bound of [u, v] and the zz chain-bound of [u, v] plus the zy chain-bound of
[c, d] bounds the xy chain-bound of [a, b] · [u, v] · [c, d]. This implies (3.17).
(c) Similarly, d(x, a1 ) ≤ d(x, w) + d(w, a1 ) and d(bn , y) ≤ d(bn , z) + d(z, y) im-
plies (3.18). Then fd (x, y) − fd (w, z) ≤ d(x, w) + d(y, z) ≤ 2 max(d(x, w), d(y, z)) =
2(d × d)((x, y), (w, z)), and similarly for mfd . 2
If h is a map from (X1 , d1 ) to (X2 , d2 ) then h is uniformly continuous if for
every  > 0 there exists δ > 0 such that d1 (x, y) < δ implies d2 (h(x), h(y)) <  for
all x, y ∈ X1 . We call δ an  modulus of uniform continuity.
If f1 is a relation on X1 and f2 is a relation on X2 then we say that a function
h : X1 → X2 maps f1 to f2 if (h × h)(f1 ) ⊂ f2 , i.e. (x, y) ∈ f1 implies (h(x), h(y)) ∈
f2 . Since h is a map, 1X1 ⊂ h−1 ◦ h and h ◦ h−1 ⊂ 1X2 . From these it easily follows
that
(3.19) (h × h)(f1 ) = h ◦ f1 ◦ h−1 ,
(3.20) (h × h)(f1 ) ⊂ f2 ⇐⇒ h ◦ f1 ⊂ f2 ◦ h.
If h maps f1 to f2 then clearly h maps f1−1 and f2−1 and
(3.21) h(|f1 |) ⊂ |f2 |.
Proposition 3.3. Let f1 and f2 be relations on (X1 , d1 ) and (X2 , d2 ), respec-
tively. Assume h : X1 → X2 maps f1 to f2 .
(a) If h is uniformly continuous then for  > 0 with δ > 0 an  modulus of
uniform continuity, mfd11 (x, y) < δ implies mfd22 (h(x), h(y)) <  for all x, y ∈ X1 .
8 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

(b) If h is Lipschitz with constant K then fd11 (x, y) ≤ Kfd22 (h(x), h(y)) for all
x, y ∈ X1 .
Proof: If [a, b] ∈ f1×n then (h × h)×n ([a, b]) ∈ f2×n . If δ is an  modulus
of uniform continuity then if the xy chain-bound of [a, b] is less than δ then the
h(x)h(y) chain-bound of (h × h)×n ([a, b]) is less than . If h is Lipschitz with
constant K then the h(x)h(y) chain-length is at most K times the xy chain-
length. 2

4. The Conley and Aubry-Mather chain-relations


For a relation f on (X, d), the Conley chain relation Cd f is defined by
(4.1) Cd f = {(x, y) : mdf (x, y) = 0},
and the Aubry-Mather chain relation is defined by
(4.2) Ad f = {(x, y) : df (x, y) = 0}.

Because mfd and fd are continuous, it follows that Cd f and Ad f are closed in
(X × X, d × d). From the directed triangle inequalities (3.16), it follows that Cd f
and Ad f are transitive, i.e.
Cd f ◦ Cd f ⊂ Cd f,
(4.3)
Ad f ◦ Ad f ⊂ Ad f.
From (3.5) we see that,
(4.4) f ⊂ Ad f ⊂ Cd f.
If A ⊂ X with f ⊂ A × A we can regard f as a relation on (X, d) or as a
relation on (A, d|A × A) where d|(A × A) is the restriction of the pseudo-metric d
to A × A. It is clear that if f ⊂ A × A, then
(4.5) mfd |(A × A) = mfd|(A×A) and fd |(A × A) = fd|(A×A) .
and so
(4.6) (Cd f ) ∩ (A × A) = Cd|(A×A) f and (Ad f ) ∩ (A × A) = Ad|(A×A) f.
If A is closed and x, y ∈ X with either x ∈ A or y ∈ A, then fd (x, y) ≥ mfd (x, y) > 0
and so
(4.7) Cd f = Cd|(A×A) f and Ad f = Ad|(A×A) f.
From (3.12) we get monotonicity
(4.8) f ⊂ g =⇒ Cd f ⊂ Cd g and Ad f ⊂ Ad g.
and from (3.15)
(4.9) Cd (f −1 ) = (Cd f )−1 and Ad (f −1 ) = (Ad f )−1 ,
and so we can omit the parentheses.
Proposition 4.1. Let f, g be relations on X.
(4.10) mdCd f = mfd and A
d
df
= fd
The operators Cd and Ad on relations are idempotent. That is,
(4.11) Cd (Cd f ) = Cd f and Ad (Ad f ) = Ad f
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 9

In addition,
(4.12) Cd (Cd f ∩ Cd g) = Cd f ∩ Cd g and Ad (Ad f ∩ Ad g) = Ad f ∩ Ad g,
Proof: Since f ⊂ Ad f ⊂ Cd f it follows from (3.12) that mdCd f ≤ mfd and
A
d
df
≤ fd .
For the reverse inequality fix x, y ∈ X and let t > A d
df
(x, y) be arbitrary.
Ad f
Choose t1 with t > t1 > d (x, y). Suppose that [a, b] ∈ (Ad f )×n with xy chain-
length less than t1 . Let  = (t − t1 )/2n. For i = 1, ..., n we can choose an element
of some f ×ni whose ai bi chain-length is less than . Concatenating these in order
we obtain a sequence in f ×m with m = Σni=1 ni whose xy chain-length is at most
t1 + 2n ≤ t. Hence, fd (x, y) ≤ t. Letting t approach A d
df
(x, y) we obtain in the
f Ad f
limit that d (x, y) ≤ d (x, y).
The argument to show mfd (x, y) ≤ mC df
d (x, y) is completely similar.
It is clear that (4.10) implies (4.11).
Finally, Cd f ∩Cd g ⊂ Cd (Cd f ∩Cd g) ⊂ Cd (Cd f ) = Cd f and similarly, Cd f ∩Cd g ⊂
Cd (Cd f ∩ Cd g) ⊂ Cd g. Intersect to get (4.12) for Cd and the same argument yields
the Ad result. 2
Corollary 4.2. For a relation f on (X, d) let f¯d be the closure of f in (X ×
X, d × d).
¯d ¯d
mfd = mfd and fd = fd ,
(4.13)
Cd (f¯d ) = Cd f and Ad (f¯d ) = Ad f
Proof: This is clear from (3.12) and (4.10) because f ⊂ f¯d ⊂ Ad f ⊂ Cd f . 2
The Conley set (or d-chain recurrent set) is the cyclic set |Cd f | = {x : (x, x) ∈
Cd f }. Since |Cd f | is the pre-image of the closed set Cd f ⊂ X ×X via the continuous
map x → (x, x) it follows that |Cd f | ⊂ X is closed. The Aubry Set (or d-strong
chain recurrent set) is the cyclic set |Ad f | ⊂ X which is similarly closed.
From (4.4) we clearly have |Ad f | ⊂ |Cd f |.
On |Cd f | the relation Cd f ∩ Cd f −1 is a closed equivalence relation and on |Ad f |
Ad f ∩ Ad f −1 is a closed equivalence relation.
Example 4.3. Consider the map g in Example 1.2. With the usual metric d,
we have |Cd g| = |Ad g| = ∅. With the metric d1 , we have |Cd1 g| = (0, 1)×(0, 1), with
all points equivalent, while |Ad1 g| = (0, 1) × {1/2}, also with all points equivalent.
Finally, with the metric d2 , we again have |Cd2 g| = (0, 1) × (0, 1), with all points
equivalent, while |Ad2 g| = (0, 1) × (0, 1) with (x1 , y1 ) equivalent to (x2 , y2 ) iff y1 =
y2 .
Define the symmetrized functions
smfd (x, y) = max{mfd (x, y), mfd (y, x)},
(4.14)
sfd (x, y) = max{fd (x, y), fd (y, x)}.

Proposition 4.4. Let f be a relation on X. Let x, y, z ∈ X.


(a) smfd (x, y) ≤ sfd (x, y)
(b) The functions smfd and sfd are symmetric and satisfy the triangle inequal-
ity.
10 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

(c) The functions smfd , sfd : X ×X → R are Lipschitz with Lipschitz constant
less than or equal to 2.
(d)
smfd (x, y) = 0 ⇐⇒ (x, y), (y, x) ∈ Cd f and so x, y ∈ |Cd f |,
(4.15)
sfd (x, y) =0 ⇐⇒ (x, y), (y, x) ∈ Ad f and so x, y ∈ |Ad f |.
(e)
y ∈ |Cd f | =⇒ smfd (x, y) ≤ d(x, y),
(4.16)
y ∈ |Ad f | =⇒ sfd (x, y) ≤ d(x, y).

(f) If z ∈ |Cd f | then mfd (x, y) ≤ max(mfd (x, z), mfd (z, y)).

Proof: (a) is obvious as is symmetry in (b), i.e. smfd (x, y) = smfd (y, x) and
sfd (x, y)
= sfd (y, x). The triangle inequality for sfd follows from
sfd (x, z) + sfd (z, y) ≥ fd (x, z) + fd (z, y) ≥ fd (x, y),
(4.17)
sfd (x, z) + sfd (z, y) ≥ fd (z, x) + fd (y, z) ≥ fd (y, x),

with a similar argument for smfd .


By Proposition 3.2(c) mfd and fd are Lipschitz. Then (c) follows from Lemma
2.1.
The equivalences in (d) are obvious. By transitivity, (x, y), (y, x) ∈ Cd f implies
(x, x), (y, y) ∈ Cd f . Similarly, for Ad f .
(e) If mfd (y, y) = 0, then by (3.18) (with w = z = y), mfd (x, y) ≤ d(x, y), and,
switching the roles of x and y, mfd (y, x) ≤ d(y, x). Similarly, for sfd .
(f) follows from Proposition 3.2(b). 2
We immediately obtain the following.
Corollary 4.5. The map sfd restricts to define a pseudo-metric on |Ad f | and
induces a metric on the quotient space of Ad f ∩ Ad f −1 equivalence classes. Fur-
thermore, the projection map from |Ad f | to the space of equivalence classes has
Lipschitz constant at most 2 with respect to this metric.
The map smfd restricts to define a pseudo-ultrametric on |Cd f | and induces an
ultrametric on the quotient space of Cd f ∩ Cd f −1 equivalence classes. Furthermore,
the projection map from |Cd f | to the space of equivalence classes has Lipschitz
constant at most 2 with respect to this metric.
2
Example 4.6. Consider again the map g on (0, 1) × (0, 1) with metric d2 from
Examples 1.2 and 4.3. The projection map from |Ad2 g| to the space of Ad2 g∩Ad2 g −1
equivalence classes is just projection onto the second coordinate.
Let f1 and f2 be relations on X1 and X2 , respectively. Recall that h : X1 → X2
maps f1 to f2 when h ◦ f1 ◦ h−1 = (h × h)(f1 ) ⊂ f2 , i.e. if (x, y) ∈ f1 implies
(h(x), h(y)) ∈ f2 . It then follows that h maps f1−1 to f2−1 .
Proposition 4.7. Let f1 and f2 be relations on (X1 , d1 ) and (X2 , d2 ), respec-
tively. Assume h : X1 → X2 maps f1 to f2 .
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 11

(a) If h is uniformly continuous, then h maps Cd1 f1 to Cd2 f2 and Cd1 f1 ∩Cd1 f1−1
to Cd2 f2 ∩ Cd2 f2−1 . So h maps each Cd1 f1 ∩ Cd1 f1−1 equivalence class in |Cd1 f1 | into
a Cd2 f2 ∩ Cd2 f2−1 equivalence class in |Cd2 f2 |.
(b) If h is Lipschitz, then h maps Ad1 f1 to Ad2 f2 and Ad1 f1 ∩ Ad1 f1−1 to
Ad2 f2 ∩ Ad2 f2−1 . So h maps each Ad1 f1 ∩ Ad1 f1−1 equivalence class in |Ad1 f1 | into
a Ad2 f2 ∩ Ad2 f2−1 equivalence class in |Ad2 f2 |.
Proof: This obviously follows from Proposition 3.3. 2
We conclude this section with some useful computations.
Recall that
(4.18) Zd = {(x, y) : d(x, y) = 0}.
Proposition 4.8. Let f be a relation on X and A be a nonempty, closed subset
of X
(a) For x, y ∈ X

d1A ∪f (x, y) = min(fd (x, y), 1dA (x, y)),


1dX ∪f (x, y) = min(fd (x, y), d(x, y)),
(4.19)
s1dX ∪f (x, y) = min(sfd (x, y), d(x, y)),
s1dX ∪f (x, y) = sfd (x, y) if x ∈ |Ad f |.

(b)
Ad (1A ∪ f ) = (Zd ∩ (A × A)) ∪ Ad f,
(4.20)
Ad (1X ∪ f ) = Zd ∪ Ad f.

s1dX ∪f is a pseudo-metric on X whose associated metric space is the quotient space


of X by the equivalence relation Zd ∪(Ad f ∩Ad f −1 ). The quotient map has Lipschitz
constant at most 2.
Proof: (a) By (3.12) d1A ∪f ≤ min(fd , 1dA ). By (3.7) 1dX = d.
Let [a, b] ∈ (1A ∪ f )×n . If (ai , bi ) ∈ 1A for all i then omit all but one of
the pairs to obtain an element of 1×1 A . Otherwise, omit the pairs (ai , bi ) ∈ 1A
and renumber. We then obtain a sequence in f ×m for some m with 1 ≤ m ≤ n.
Furthermore, in either case the xy chain-length has not increased. For example, if
(ai , bi ) ∈ 1A for some 1 < i < n then since ai = bi the triangle inequality implies
d(bi−1 , ai+1 ) ≤ d(bi−1 , ai ) + d(bi , ai+1 ). It follows that 1dX ∪f ≥ min(fd , 1dA ).
s1dX ∪f (x, y) = max[min(fd (x, y), d(x, y)), min(fd (y, x), d(x, y))]. This is d(x, y)
except when d(x, y) > fd (x, y) and d(x, y) > fd (y, x), i.e. d(x, y) > sfd (x, y) in
which case it is sfd (x, y). If x ∈ |Ad f | then by (4.16) min(sfd (x, y), d(x, y)) =
sfd (x, y).
(b) It follows that (x, y) ∈ |Ad (1A ∪ f )| iff fd (x, y) = 0 or 1dA (x, y) = 0. By
(3.11) the latter is true iff x, y ∈ A with d(x, y) = 0 since A is closed. Thus, (4.20)
holds and the rest is obvious. 2
If A, B are subsets of X then we can regard A × B as a relation on X. For any
relation g on X we clearly have:
(4.21) (A × B) ◦ g ◦ (A × B) ⊂ A × B.
12 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

Lemma 4.9. If A and B are nonempty subsets of (X, d) and x, y ∈ X,then

mdA×B (x, y) = max(d(x, A), d(y, B)) and


(4.22)
dA×B (x, y) = d(x, A) + d(y, B)

where d(x, A) = inf{d(x, z) : z ∈ A}.

Proof: If [a, b] ∈ (A × B)×n then (a1 , bn ) ∈ A × B with xy chain-length


d(x, a1 ) + d(y, bn ) no larger than the xy chain-length for [a, b] and with xy chain-
bound max(d(x, a1 ), d(y, bn )) no larger than the xy chain-bound for [a, b]. This
proves (4.22). 2
From Proposition 4.8 we immediately get

Corollary 4.10. If A and B are nonempty subsets of X and x, y ∈ X then


1 ∪(A×B)
(4.23) dX (x, y) = min[d(x, y), d(x, A) + d(y, B)].

2
1 ∪(A×A) 1 ∪(A×A)
Remark: If A = B then sdX = dX is the pseudo-metric on X
induced by the equivalence relation 1X ∪ (A × A) corresponding to smashing A to
a point.

Lemma 4.11. For x, y, z ∈ X


f ∪{(z,z)}
md (x, y) =
(4.24)
min[ mfd (x, y), max[min(mfd (x, z), d(x, z)), min(mfd (z, y), d(z, y)) ].
In particular, with z = y or z = x
f ∪{(y,y)} f ∪{(x,x)}
(4.25) md (x, y) = md (x, y) = min[mfd (x, y), d(x, y)].
f ∪{(z,z)}
If (z, z) ∈ Cd f , i.e. z ∈ |Cd f |, then md = mfd .
f ∪{(z,z)} {(z,z)}
Proof: Since f ⊂ f ∪ {(z, z)} we have md ≤ min(mfd , md ).
×n
Let [a, b] ∈ (f ∪ {(z, z)}) . If (z, z) occurs more than once in [a, b] we can
eliminate the repeat and all of the terms between them without increasing the xy
chain-bound. Thus, we may take the infimum over those [a, b] in which (z, z) occurs
at most once.
The infimum of the xy chain-bounds in f ×n is mfd (x, y).
• The xy chain-bound of (z, z) ∈ (f ∪ {(z, z)})×1 is max(d(x, z), d(z, y)).
• If [a, b] varies in (f ∪ {(z, z)})×n with n > 1 and (ai , bi ) = (z, z) only for
i = 1, then the infimum of the xy chain-bounds is max(d(x, z), mfd (z, y)).
• If [a, b] varies in (f ∪ {(z, z)})×n with n > 1 and (ai , bi ) = (z, z) only for
i = n, then the infimum of the xy chain-bounds is max(mfd (x, z), d(z, y)).
• If [a, b] varies in (f ∪ {(z, z)})×n with n > 2 and (ai , bi ) = (z, z) only
for some i with 1 < i < n, then the infimum of the xy chain-bounds is
max(mfd (x, z), mfd (z, y)).
Equation (4.24) then follows from Lemma 2.1.
f ∪{(z,z)}
If (z, z) ∈ Cd f then f ⊂ f ∪ {(z, z)} ⊂ Cd f . So mdCd f ≤ md ≤ mfd by
(3.12) and so they are equal by (4.10). 2
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 13

5. Lyapunov functions
A Lyapunov function for a relation f on a pseudo-metric space (X, d) is a
continuous map L : X → R such that
(5.1) (x, y) ∈ f =⇒ L(x) ≤ L(y).
We follow [1] in using functions increasing on orbits rather than decreasing. For
the compact case, Conley constructed Lyapunov functions for the chain recurrent
set for flows [5], and Franks extended those results for maps [8]. Yokoi constructed
them for the strong chain recurrent set for maps on compact spaces [14].
The set of Lyapunov functions contains the constants and is closed under ad-
dition, multiplication by positive scalars, max, min and post composition with any
continuous non-decreasing function on R. A continuous function which is a point-
wise limit of Lyapunov functions is itself a Lyapunov function.
We define for a real-valued function L the relation
(5.2) ≤L = {(x, y) : L(x) ≤ L(y)}.
This is clearly reflexive and transitive. If L is continuous, the relation ≤L is closed
and so contains Zd .
The Lyapunov function condition (5.1) can be restated as:
(5.3) f ⊂ ≤L .
For a Lyapunov function L and x ∈ X we have
(5.4) L(z) ≤ L(x) ≤ L(w) for z ∈ f −1 (x), w ∈ f (x)
The point x is called an f -regular point for L when the inequalities are strict for
all z ∈ f −1 (x), w ∈ f (x). Otherwise x is called an f -critical point for L. Notice,
for example, that if f −1 (x) = f (x) = ∅ then these conditions hold vacuously and
so x is an f -regular point.
We denote by |L|f the set of f -critical points for L. Clearly,
(5.5) |L|f = π1 (A) ∪ π2 (A) where A = f ∩ (L × L)−1 (1R ),
and π1 , π2 : X × X → X are the two coordinate projections.
Definition 5.1. Let F be a transitive relation on (X, d) and let L be a collection
of Lyapunov functions for F . We define three conditions on L.
ALG If L1 , L2 ∈ L and c ≥ 0 then
L1 + L2 , max(L1 , L2 ), min(L1 , L2 ), cL1 , c, −c ∈ L.
CON For every sequence {Lk } of elements of L there exists a summable sequence
of positive real numbers {ak } such that Σk ak Lk converges uniformly to
an element of L.
POIN If (x, y) ∈ Zd ∪ F then there exists L ∈ L such that L(y) < L(x), i.e.
Zd ∪ F = L∈L ≤L .
Theorem 5.2. Assume (X, d) is separable. Let F be a closed, transitive relation
and L be a collection of Lyapunov functions for F which satisfies ALG, CON and
POIN. There exists a sequence {Lk } in L such that

(5.6) ≤Lk = Zd ∪ F.
k
14 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

If {ak } is a positive, summable sequence such that L = Σk ak Lk ∈ L then L is a


Lyapunov function for F such that Zd ∪ F = ≤L and
(5.7) x ∈ F (y) =⇒ L(y) < L(x) unless y ∈ F (x).
In particular,
(5.8) |L|F = |F |
Proof: For each (x, y) ∈ (X × X) \ (Zd ∪ F ) use POIN to choose Lxy ∈ L
such that Lxy (y) < Lxy (x) and then neighborhoods Vxy of y and Uxy of x such that
sup Lxy |Vxy < inf Lxy |Uxy and so ≤Lxy is disjoint from Uxy × Vxy . Because (X, d)
is separable, it is second countable and so (X × X) \ (Zd ∪ F ) is Lindelöf. Choose
a sequence of pairs (xk , yk ) so that {Uxk yk × Vxk yk } covers (X × X) \ (Zd ∪ F ) and
let Lk = Lxk yk . Since Zd ∪ F ⊂≤L for any Lyapunov function L, (5.6) holds.
Now with L = Σk ak Lk , (5.6) implies Zd ∪ F = ≤L . If x ∈ F (y) and
d(y, x) = d(x, y) = 0 then (y, x) ∈ F implies (x, x), (y, y), (x, y) ∈ F , because F is
closed. Hence, y ∈ F (x). Assume (x, y) ∈ Zd .Since x ∈ F (y), Lk (y) ≤ Lk (x) for
all k. If equality holds for all k then (x, y) ∈ k ≤Lk = Zd ∪ F . Since (x, y) ∈ Zd
we have y ∈ F (x). If, instead, the inequality is strict for some k then since ak >
0, L(y) < L(x), proving (5.7).
If x ∈ |F | then for z ∈ F −1 (x) and w ∈ F (x) we have x ∈ F (z) but not
z ∈ F (x) else by transitivity x ∈ |F |. Hence, L(z) < L(x). Similarly, L(x) < L(w).
Thus, x ∈ |L|F . 2
Definition 5.3. For a relation f on (X, d) and K > 0, a function L : X → R
is called Kfd dominated if for all x, y ∈ X
(5.9) L(x) − L(y) ≤ Kfd (x, y),
Kmfd dominated if for all x, y ∈ X
(5.10) L(x) − L(y) ≤ Kmfd (x, y).
Theorem 5.4. Let f be a relation on (X, d).
(a) If L is a Kfd dominated function then it is a Lyapunov function for Ad f
and so is a Lyapunov function for f . If L is a Kmfd dominated function then it is
a Kfd dominated function and is a Lyapunov function for Cd f .
(b) If L is a Lyapunov function for f which is Lipschitz with respect to d with
Lipschitz constant at most K then it is a Kfd dominated function and so is a Ad f
Lyapunov function.
Proof: (a) If (x, y) ∈ Ad f then fd (x, y) = 0 and so for a Kfd dominated
function L(x)−L(y) ≤ 0, that is, L is a Lyapunov function for Ad f . Since f ⊂ Ad f ,
L is a Lyapunov function for f as well. Similarly, if (x, y) ∈ Cd f and L is Kmfd
dominated, then L(x) − L(y) ≤ 0. Since mfd ≤ fd a Kmfd dominated function is a
Kfd dominated function.
(b) Assume L is an f Lyapunov function with Lipschitz constant K and x, y ∈
X. For any [a, b] ∈ f ×n we note that each L(ai ) − L(bi ) ≤ 0 since (ai , bi ) ∈ f and
L is a Lyapunov function for f . Hence,
L(x) − L(y) = L(x) − L(a1 ) + L(a1 ) − L(b1 ) + L(b1 ) − L(a2 )+
(5.11) ... + L(an ) − L(bn ) + L(bn ) − L(y) ≤
L(x) − L(a1 ) + Σn−1
i=1 L(bi ) − L(ai+1 ) + L(bn ) − L(y) ≤ K,
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 15

where  is the xy chain-length of [a, b]. Taking the infimum over the sequences [a, b]
we obtain (5.9). Hence, L is a Ad f Lyapunov function by part (a). 2
Proposition 5.5. Let f ⊂ g be relations on (X, d). For any z ∈ X, the
function defined by x → gd (x, z) is a bounded, 1fd dominated function, and the
function defined by x → mgd (x, z) is a bounded, 1mfd dominated function.
Proof: By the directed triangle inequalities for gd and mgd we have
(5.12) gd (x, z) − gd (y, z) ≤ gd (x, y) and mgd (x, z) − mgd (y, z) ≤ mgd (x, y)
Since f ⊂ g, gd (x, y) ≤ fd (x, y) and mgd (x, y) ≤ mfd (x, y) by (3.12). 2
Theorem 5.6. For f a relation on (X, d) let L be the set of bounded, contin-
uous functions which are Kfd dominated for some positive K. Each L ∈ L is a
Ad f Lyapunov function and so satisfies
(5.13) Ad f ⊂ ≤L and |Ad f | ⊂ |L|Ad f .
The collection L satisfies the conditions ALG, CON, and POIN with respect to
F = Ad f .
Proof: Each L in L is a Ad f Lyapunov function by Theorem 5.4 and so the
first inclusion of (5.13) follows by definition. Clearly, if (x, x) ∈ Ad f then x is a
Ad f critical point.
For L ALG is easy to check, see, e.g. Lemma 2.1. For CON let {Lk } be a
sequence in L and choose for each k, Mk ≥ 1 which bounds |Lk (x)| for all x ∈ X
and so that Lk is Mk df dominated. If {bk } is any positive, summable sequence with

bk = 1, then ak = bk /Mk > 0 is summable and Σk ak Lk converges uniformly to
a function which is 1df dominated. Thus, CON holds as well.
Now assume (x, y) ∈ Zd ∪ Ad f . Let g = 1X ∪ f . By Proposition 5.5 L(w) =
gd (w, y) defines a 1fd dominated function which is a Ad f Lyapunov function by
Theorem 5.4(a).
By Proposition 4.8 L(w) = min(fd (w, y), d(w, y)). Hence, L(y) = 0. Since
(x, y) ∈ Zd ∪ Ad f , L(x) > 0. This proves POIN. 2
Theorem 5.7. For f a relation on (X, d) let Lm be the set of bounded, con-
tinuous functions which are Kmfd dominated for some positive K. Each L ∈ Lm is
a Cd f Lyapunov function and so satisfies
(5.14) Cd f ⊂ ≤L and |Cd f | ⊂ |L|Cd f .
The collection Lm satisfies the conditions ALG, CON, POIN with respect to F =
Cd f .
Proof: Each L in Lm is a Cd f Lyapunov function by Theorem 5.4 and so the
first inclusion of (5.14) follows by definition. Clearly, if (x, x) ∈ Cd f then x is a Cd f
critical point.
For Lm ALG again follows from Lemma 2.1. For CON let {Lk } be a sequence
in Lm and choose for each k, Mk ≥ 1 which bounds |Lk (x)| for all x ∈ X and
such that Lk is Mk mfd dominated. If {bk } is any positive, summable sequence with

bk = 1, then ak = bk /Mk > 0 is summable and Σk ak Lk converges uniformly to
a function which is 1mfd . Thus, CON holds as well.
Now assume (x, y) ∈ Zd ∪ Cd f . Let g = f ∪ {(y, y)}. By Proposition 5.5
L(w) = mgd (w, y) defines a 1mfd dominated function. By Equation (4.25) L(w) =
16 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

min(fd (w, y), d(w, y)). Hence, L(y) = 0. Since (x, y) ∈ Zd ∪ Cd f , L(x) > 0. This
proves POIN. 2

6. Conley and Aubry-Mather relations for uniform spaces


Let U be a uniformity on X with gage Γ, the set of all bounded pseudo-metrics
d on X such that the uniformity U(d) is contained in U.
For a relation f on X we define the Conley relation and Aubry-Mather relation
associated with the uniformity.
 
(6.1) CU f = Cd f, and AU f = Ad f
d∈Γ d∈Γ

with |CU f | the Conley set and |AU f | the Aubry set.
Thus, CU f and AU f are closed, transitive relations on X which contain f . We
define Gf to be the intersection of all the closed, transitive relations which contain
f . Thus, Gf is the smallest closed, transitive relation which contains f . Clearly,
(6.2) f ⊂ Gf ⊂ AU f ⊂ CU f.
Thus, (x, y) ∈ CU f if for every d ∈ Γ and every  > 0 there exists [a, b] ∈ f ×n
with n ≥ 1 such that the xy chain-bound of [a, b] with respect to d is less than .
If [a, b] ∈ f ×n with n ≥ 1 and U ∈ U we say that [a, b] is an xy, U chain for f
if (x, a1 ), (b1 , a2 ), . . . (bn−1 , an ), (bn , y) ∈ U . Clearly, then [a, b]−1 is a yx, U −1 chain
for f −1 .
Since the Vd ’s for d ∈ Γ(U) and  > 0 generate the uniformity, it is clear that
the pair (x, y) ∈ CU f iff for every U ∈ U there exists an xy, U chain for f . This
provides a uniformity description of CU f .
Similarly, (x, y) ∈ AU f if for every d ∈ Γ and every  > 0 there exists [a, b] ∈
f ×n with n ≥ 1 such that the xy chain-length of [a, b] with respect to d is less than
.
Following [12] we obtain a uniformity description of AU f . We will need the
following lemma.
Lemma 6.1. Let φ : R → [0, ∞) be given by φ(0) = 0 and φ(t) = e−1/t for
2

t = 0. Then φ is a C ∞ function such that



(i) For all t > 0, φ (t) > 0 and for all 2/3 > t > 0, φ (t) > 0.
(ii) For  = e−3/2 /2, d(x,
¯ y) = φ−1 (min(d(x, y), )) defines a pseudo-metric
on X with U(d) ¯ = U(d) ⊂ U and so d¯ ∈ Γ.
(iii) If {αk } is a finite
 or infinite, non-increasing sequence of non-negative
numbers with k αk < φ−1 () < 1 then d(x, ¯ y) ≤ αk implies d(x, y) <
2−k , for all k ∈ N.
Proof: (i) is an easy direct computation.
(ii) Observe that if ψ : [0, a] → R is C 2 with ψ(0) = 0, ψ  (t) > 0 and ψ  (t) < 0
for 0 < t < a then for all t, s ≤ a/2, ψ(t) + ψ(s) − ψ(t + s) ≥ 0, because with t fixed
it is true for s = 0 and the derivative with respect to s is positive for a − t > s > 0.
It follows that if d is a pseudo-metric with d ≤ a/2 then ψ(d) is a pseudo-metric.
Clearly, U(ψ(d)) = U(d). For (ii) we apply this with ψ = φ−1 .
(iii) Observe that for all k ∈ N, φ(1/k) = e−k < 2−k . Each αk < φ−1 ()
2

and so d(x,¯ y) ≤ αk iff d(x, y) ≤ φ(αk ). If φ(αk ) ≥ 2−k then for 1 ≤ j ≤ k


CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 17


φ(αj ) ≥ φ(αk ) ≥ 2−k ≥ φ(1/k) and so αj ≥ 1/k for j = 1, . . . , k. Hence, j αj ≥
k(1/k) = 1 > φ−1 (), contradicting the assumption on the sum. 2
If ξ = {Uk : k ∈ N} is a sequence of elements of U and (x, y) ∈ X × X, we
call [a, b] ∈ f ×n an ξ sequence chain from x to y if there is an injective map σ :
{0, . . . , n} → N such that (bi , ai+1 ) ∈ Uσ(i) for i = 0, . . . , n with b0 = x, an+1 = y.
Theorem 6.2. For a relation f on a uniform space (X, U), (x, y) ∈ AU f iff
for every sequence ξ in U there is a ξ sequence chain from x to y.
Proof: Assume (x, y) satisfies the sequence chain condition. If d ∈ Γ(U) and
 > 0 the chain-length with respect to d of any sequence chain with ξ = {V/2 d
n}

from x to y is less than . Hence, (x, y) ∈ Ad f . As d was arbitrary, (x, y) ∈



d∈Γ Ad f = AU f .
Now let (x, y) ∈ AU f and ξ = {Uk : k ∈ N} be a sequence in U. We must show
that there is a ξ sequence chain from x to y.
Let V0 = X × X. For k ∈ N, inductively choose Vk = Vk−1 ∈ U such that
Vk ◦ Vk ◦ Vk ⊂ Vk−1 ∩ Uk . By the Metrization Lemma [10, Lemma 6.12], there exists
a pseudo-metric d ≤ 1 such that Vk ⊂ V1/2 d
k−1 ⊂ Vk−1 for k ∈ N. It follows that

d ∈ Γ and since V1/2k ⊂ Uk it follows that if ξ  = {V1/2


d d 
k } then a ξ sequence chain

is a ξ sequence chain. It suffices to show that there is a ξ  sequence chain from x


to y.
Since (x, y) ∈ AU f , there exists [a, b] ∈ f ×n for some n ≥ 1 such that with
respect to the metric d, ¯ the xy chain-length of [a, b] is less than φ−1 (), where φ is
the function from Lemma 6.1. Let b0 = x and an+1 = y. Let k → i(k) be a bijection
on {1, . . . , n + 1} so that the sequence αk = d(bi(k)−1 , ai(k) ) is non-increasing. From
(iii) it follows that (bi(k)−1 , ai(k) ) ∈ V2d−k for k = 1, . . . , n + 1 and so [a, b] is a ξ 
sequence chain from x to y as required. 2
It is clear that (Gf )−1 is the smallest closed, transitive relation which contains
f −1 . So from (4.9) we obtain:
(6.3) G(f −1 ) = (Gf )−1 , AU (f −1 ) = (AU f )−1 , CU (f −1 ) = (CU f )−1 ,
and so again we may omit the parentheses.
Proposition 6.3. For a relation f on a uniform space (X, U), the image f (X)
is dense in CU f (X) and the domain f −1 (X) is dense in CU f −1 (X).

Proof: Let A = f (X) and let y ∈ CU f (x). If U ∈ U and [a, b] ∈ f ×n is an


xy, U chain, thenbi ∈ A for all i and so y ∈ U (A). Because A is closed, it equals
the intersection U∈U U (A). Thus, CU f (X) ⊂ A. Replacing f by f −1 we obtain
the domain result. 2
From (4.8) we obtain monotonicity: If f ⊂ g are relations on (X, U) then
(6.4) Gf ⊂ Gg, AU f ⊂ AU g, CU f ⊂ CU g,
Again the operators are idempotent.
Proposition 6.4.
f ⊂ g ⊂ CU f =⇒ CU f = CU g,
(6.5) f ⊂ g ⊂ AU f =⇒ AU f = AU g,
f ⊂ g ⊂ Gf =⇒ Gf = Gg.
18 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

Proof: For any d ∈ Γ, f ⊂ g ⊂ CU f ⊂ Cd f and so by (4.11) and montonicity,


Cd f = Cd g. Intersect over d ∈ Γ. The proof for AU is similar.
Finally, if F is a closed, transitive relation then F = GF . 2
Proceeding just as with (4.12) we see that for relations f and g on (X, U)
CU f ∩ CU g = CU (CU f ∩ CU g),
(6.6) AU f ∩ AU g = AU (AU f ∩ AU g),
Gf ∩ Gg = G(Gf ∩ Gg).
If U1 and U2 are uniformities on X then
(6.7) U1 ⊂ U2 =⇒ CU2 f ⊂ CU1 f and AU2 f ⊂ AU1 f.
More generally, we have
Proposition 6.5. If h : (X1 , U1 ) → (X2 , U2 ) is a continuous map which maps
the relation f1 on X1 to f2 on X2 , then h maps Gf1 to Gf2 . If, in addition, h is
uniformly continuous, then h maps CU1 f1 to CU2 f2 , and maps AU1 f1 to AU2 f2 .
Proof: If h is continuous then, (h × h)−1 (Gf2 ) is a closed, transitive relation
which contains f1 and so contains Gf1 .
Now assume that h is uniformly continuous. Let d2 ∈ Γ(U2 ). By uniform
continuity, d1 = h∗ d2 ∈ Γ(U1 ), where
(6.8) h∗ d2 (x, y) = d2 (h(x), h(y)).
Thus, h : (X1 , d1 ) → (X2 , d2 ) is Lipschitz. In fact, it is an isometry. By Proposition
4.7, h maps AU1 f1 ⊂ Ad1 f into Ad2 f and similarly for C. Intersect over all d2 ∈
Γ(U2 ). 2
[1,k]
k j
For a relation f on X let f = j=1 f for any positive integer k. Let
f [0,k] = 1X ∪ f [1,k] . If d is a pseudo-metric on X and f is a map on X we let
dk = maxkj=0 (f j )∗ d. Let d0 = d.
Corollary 6.6. Let k ≥ 2 be an integer and f be a continuous map on a
uniform space (X, U).
(6.9) Gf = f [1,k−1] ∪ G(f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] ,
and |G(f k )| = |Gf |.
If f is a uniformly continuous map, then
(6.10) AU f = f [1,k−1] ∪ AU (f k )◦f [0,k−1] , CU f = f [1,k−1] ∪ CU (f k )◦f [0,k−1] ,
and |AU (f k )| = |AU f |, |CU (f k )| = |CU f |.
Proof: If F is a closed relation on X and f is a continuous map on X then
F ◦ f is a closed relation. For suppose {(xi , yi )} is a net in F ◦ f converging to
(x, y). Then {f (xi )} converges to f (x) by continuity and {(f (xi ), yi )} is a net in
F converging to (f (x), y). Since F is closed, (f (x), y) ∈ F and (x, y) ∈ F ◦ f .
Hence, f [1,k−1] ∪ G(f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] is a closed relation which contains f . Since
f ⊂ Gf , transitivity of Gf implies that f k ⊂ Gf . Hence, G(f k ) ⊂ Gf . Transitivity
again implies f [1,k−1] ∪ G(f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] ⊂ Gf .
Because f maps f k to f k it follows from Proposition 6.5 that it maps G(f k ) to
itself. Hence, f [0,k−1] ◦ G(f k ) ⊂ G(f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] . Furthermore, f [0,k−1] ◦ f [1,k−1] ⊂
f [1,k−1] ∪ f k ◦ f [0,k−1] . It follows that f [1,k−1] ∪ G(f k ) ◦ f [1,k−1] is transitive and
so contains Gf since it is closed and contains f .
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 19

It clearly follows that |G(f k )| ⊂ |Gf |. Assume that x ∈ |Gf |. From (6.9) it
follows that either x ∈ f j (x) for some j ∈ [1, k − 1] or x ∈ G(f k ) ◦ f j (x) for some
j ∈ [0, k − 1]. If x = f j (x) then x = (f j )k (x) = (f k )j (x) and so x ∈ G(f k )(x).
Similarly, since f j maps G(f k ) to itself,
(G(f k ) ◦ f j )k ⊂ (G(f k ))k ◦ (f j )k ⊂ G(f k )
and so x ∈ |G(f k )| if x ∈ G(f k ) ◦ f j (x).
Transitivity again implies f k ⊂ AU f ⊂ CU f , and so monotonicity and transi-
tivity imply
AU f ⊃ f [1,k−1] ∪ AU (f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] ,
(6.11)
CU f ⊃ f [1,k−1] ∪ CU (f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] .
Now assume that f is a uniformly continuous map. Notice that if [a, b] ∈ f ×n
then bi = f (ai ) for i = 1, . . . , n. Observe that if x ∈ X and j ≤ k
d(f j (a1 ), aj+1 ) ≤ Σji=1 d(f j−i+1 (ai ), f j−i (ai+1 ))
(6.12) ≤ Σj−1 k
i=1 d (f (ai ), ai+1 ),

and d(f j (x), f j (a1 )) ≤ dk (x, a1 ).


Let (x, y) ∈ AU . For α = (d, ) ∈ Γ × (0, ∞) there exists [a, b]α ∈ f nα with xy
chain-length with respect to d less than .
If nα < k frequently then for some j ∈ [1, k −1] frequently nα = j and it follows
from continuity of f that y = f j (x).
Instead assume that eventually nα ≥ k. If  > 0 and d1 ∈ Γ(U), there exists
d ≥ d1 and [a, b] ∈ f ×n with n ≥ k so that the xy chain-length of [a, b] with respect
to dk is less than . Let n = j + qk with j ∈ [0, k − 1] and q ≥ 1. The sequence

[a, b]k = (aj+1 , f k (aj+1 )), (aj+k+1 , f k (aj+k+1 )) . . .


(6.13)
(aj+(q−1)k+1 , f k (aj+(q−1)k+1 )) ∈ (f k )×q ,
and with y = anα +1 , (6.12) implies that the f j (x)y chain-length with respect to
d and so with respect to d1 is less than . Since d1 was arbitrary it follows that
y ∈ G(f k ) ◦ f [0,k−1] (x).
For CU f we proceed as before, but use chain-bound less than /k.
For |AU (f k )| and |CU (f k )| we use the same argument as for |G(f k )| above. 2
If a real-valued function on X is uniformly continuous with respect to some
d ∈ Γ(U) then it is uniformly continuous from (X, U). In particular, for every
d ∈ Γ(U) and f ⊂ X × X, the functions fd and mfd are uniformly continuous from
(X × X, U × U). It follows that the sets CU f, AU f ⊂ X × X and |CU f |, |AU f | ⊂ X
are closed.
As before, a Lyapunov function for a relation f on a uniform space (X, U) is a
continuous map L : X → R such that (x, y) ∈ f implies L(x) ≤ L(y). Hence, the
relation ≤L ⊂ X × X is closed.
As in Definition 5.1:
Definition 6.7. Let F be a closed, transitive relation on a Hausdorff uniform
space (X, U) and let L be a collection of Lyapunov functions for F . We define three
conditions on L.
20 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

ALG If L1 , L2 ∈ L and c ≥ 0 then


L1 + L2 , max(L1 , L2 ), min(L1 , L2 ), cL1 , c, −c ∈ L.
CON For every sequence {Lk } of elements of L there exists a summable sequence
of positive real numbers {ak } such that Σk ak Lk converges uniformly to
an element of L.
POIN If (x, y) ∈ 1X ∪ F then there exists L ∈ L such that L(y) < L(x), i.e.
1X ∪ F = L∈L ≤L .
Theorem 6.8. Let f be a relation on a Hausdorff uniform space (X, U) with
gage Γ.
(a) Let L be the set of bounded, uniformly continuous functions which are Kfd
dominated for some d ∈ Γ and some positive K. Each L ∈ L is a AU f Lyapunov
function and so satisfies
(6.14) AU f ⊂ ≤L and |AU f | ⊂ |L|AU f .
The collection L satisfies the conditions ALG, CON, and POIN with respect to
F = AU f .
(b) Let Lm be the set of bounded, uniformly continuous functions which are
Kmfd dominated for some d ∈ Γ and some positive K. Each L ∈ Lm is a CU f
Lyapunov function and so satisfies
(6.15) CU f ⊂ ≤L and |CU f | ⊂ |L|CU f .
The collection Lm satisfies the conditions ALG, CON, and POIN with respect to
F = CU f .
Proof: If {dk } is a sequence in Γ and Kk ≥ 1 so that dk ≤ Kk and {Kk ak }
is a summable sequence of positive reals, then by Lemma 2.2 d = Σk (ak )dk ∈ Γ.
Furthermore,
(6.16) ak dfk = af k dk ≤ df and ak mdfk = maf k dk ≤ mdf .
So if L is Kdfk dominated then it is (K/ak )df dominated. Thus, if {Lk } is a
sequence in L we can choose d ∈ Γ such that each Lk is Kk df dominated for some
Kk . Then ALG and CON follow for L from Theorem 5.6 for (X, d).
Now assume that (x, y) ∈ 1X ∪ AU f . Because X is Hausdorff there exists
d1 ∈ Γ such that d1 (x, y) > 0. There exists d2 ∈ Γ such that (x, y) ∈ Ad2 f . Let
d = d1 + d2 . Since df2 ≤ df it follows that (x, y) ∈ Zd ∪ Ad f . From Theorem 5.6
again there exists a function L which is d uniformly continuous, Kdf dominated
for some K and satisfied L(x) > L(y). Hence, L ∈ L with L(x) > L(y), proving
POIN.
The results in (b) for Lm are proved exactly the same way with Theorem 5.6
replaced by Theorem 5.7. 2
Theorem 6.9. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U).
If L is a Lyapunov function for f , then L is a Lyapunov function for Gf .
If L is a uniformly continuous Lyapunov function for f , then L is a Lyapunov
function for AU f .
Proof: If L is a Lyapunov function for f then, by continuity of L, ≤L is a
closed, transitive relation which contains f and so contains Gf .
If L is bounded and uniformly continuous, then dL (x, y) = |L(x) − L(y)| is a
pseudo-metric in Γ(U). Let (x, y) ∈ AU f and  ∈ (0, 1). There exists [a, b] ∈ f ×n
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 21

such that the xy chain-length of [a, b] with respect to dL is less than . Since L is
a Lyapunov function for f , we have that L(ai ) ≤ L(bi ) for i = 1, . . . , n.
L(y) − L(x) = L(y) − L(bn ) + Σni=1 L(bi ) − L(ai )+
(6.17)
i=1 L(ai ) − L(bi+1 ) + L(a1 ) − L(x).
Σn−1
The first sum is non-negative and the rest has absolute value at most the chain-
length. Hence, L(y) − L(x) ≥ −. Since  was arbitrary, L(y) − L(x) ≥ 0.
If L is unbounded then for each positive K, LK = max(min(L, K), −K) is
a bounded, uniformly continuous Lyapunov function and so is an AU f Lyapunov
function. If (x, y) ∈ AU f then by choosing K large enough we have LK (x) = L(x)
and LK (y) = L(y). So L(y) − L(x) = LK (y) − LK (x) ≥ 0. 2
Corollary 6.10. Let f be a relation on a Tychonoff space X and let UM be the
maximum uniformity compatible with the topology. Let L be the set of all bounded
Lyapunov functions for f . Each L ∈ L is a Lyapunov function for AUM f and

(6.18) 1X ∪ AUM f = ≤L
L∈L

Proof: With respect to the maximum uniformity every continuous real-valued


function is uniformly continuous. So everyL ∈ L is a Lyapunov function for AUM f
by Theorem 6.9. Hence 1X ∪ AUM f ⊂ L∈L ≤L . The reverse inclusion follows
from POIN in Theorem 6.8 (a). 2
Theorem 6.11. Let F be a closed, transitive relation on a Hausdorff uniform
space (X, U) whose topology is second countable. Let L be a collection of Lyapunov
functions for F which satisfies ALG, CON and POIN. There exists a sequence {Lk }
in L such that

(6.19) ≤Lk = 1X ∪ F.
k

If {ak } is a positive, summable sequence such that L = Σk ak Lk ∈ L then L is a


Lyapunov function for F such that 1X ∪ F = ≤L and
(6.20) x ∈ F (y) =⇒ L(y) < L(x) unless y ∈ F (x).
In particular,
(6.21) |L|F = |F |
Proof: Proceed just as in the proof of Theorem 5.2 using the fact that (X ×
X) \ (1X ∪ F ) is Lindelöf. 2
For a metrizable space X we let Γm (X) be the set of metrics compatible with
the topology on X.
Theorem 6.12. Let f be a relation on a Hausdorff uniform space (X, U) whose
topology is second countable. There exist bounded, uniformly continuous Lyapunov
functions L , Lm for f such that

1X ∪ AU f = ≤L , 1X ∪ CU f = ≤Lm and,


(6.22) x ∈ AU f (y) =⇒ L (y) < L (x) unless y ∈ AU f (x),
x ∈ CU f (y) =⇒ Lm (y) < Lm (x) unless y ∈ CU f (x)
22 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

In particular,

(6.23) |L |AU f = |AU f |, and |Lm |CU f = |CU f |

Furthermore, there exists a metric d ∈ Γm (X) ∩ Γ(U) such that L and Lm are
Lipschitz functions on (X, d) and

(6.24) AU f = Ad f and CU f = Cd f.

Proof: The pseudo-metrics chosen below are all assumed bounded by 1. We


can always replace d by min(d, 1).
We apply Theorem 6.11 to L and AU f and to Lm and CU f and obtain L ∈ L
and Lm ∈ Lm which satisfy (6.22) and (6.23). We may assume that each maps
to [0, 1]. In particular, there exist d1 , d2 ∈ Γ(U) and positive K1 , K2 so that L is
K1 df1 dominated and Lm is K2 mdf2 dominated.
Let B be a countable base and D be a countable dense subset of X. For each
pair (x, U ) with U ∈ B and x ∈ U ∩ D there exists d = d(x,U) ∈ Γ(U) and a rational
 > 0 such that the ball Vd (x) ⊂ U
d
For each x ∈ |AU f | there exists dx,1 ∈ Γ(U) such that fx,1 (x, x) > 0 and
d
for each x ∈ |CU f | there exists dx,2 ∈ Γ(U) such that mfx,2 (x, x) > 0. These are
open conditions and so we can choose a sequence {d3 , d4 , . . . } in G and a positive
sequence {a1 , a2 , . . . } with sum = 1 so that d defined by d(x, y) = 13 [|L (x) −
L (y)| + |Lm (x) − Lm (y)| + Σ∞ i=1 ai di ] satisfies
(i) d ∈ Γ(U).
(ii) The U(d) topology is that of X, i.e. d ∈ Γm (X).
(iii) x ∈ |AU f | implies df (x, x) > 0, and x ∈ |CU f | implies mdf (x, x) > 0.
(iv) There exist positive K and Km so that L is K df dominated and Lm is
Km mdf dominated.
Condition (i) follows from Lemma 2.2. Condition (ii) implies that d is a metric
since X is Hausdorff. From condition (iv) and (6.22) we obtain
1X ∪ Ad f ⊂ ≤L = 1X ∪ AU f,
(6.25)
1X ∪ Cd f ⊂ ≤Lm = 1X ∪ CU f.

On the other hand, d ∈ Γ(U) implies AU f ⊂ Ad f and CU f ⊂ Cd f . Hence, if


(x, y) ∈ Ad f \ AU f then (x, y) ∈ 1X and so df (x, x) = 0. By condition (iii) this
implies x ∈ |AU f | and so (x, y) = (x, x) ∈ AU f . This contradiction proves the first
equation in (6.24). The second follows similarly.
Clearly, L and Lm are Lipschitz with Lipschitz constant at most 3. 2
If UM is the maximum uniformity compatible with the topology for a metrizable
space X, then since such a space is paracompact, UM consists of all neighborhoods
of the diagonal. The gage Γ(UM ) consists of all pseudo-metrics which are continuous
on X. In particular, Γm (X) ⊂ Γ(UM ).

Corollary 6.13. Let f be a relation on a second countable Tychonoff space X


and let UM be the maximum uniformity compatible with the topology. There exists
a metric d0 ∈ Γm (X) such that

(6.26) AUM f = Ad0 f and CUM f = Cd0 f.


CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 23

Furthermore,
 
(6.27) AUM f = Ad f and CUM f = Cd f.
d∈Γm (X) d∈Γm (X)

Proof: A second countable Hausdorff space is metrizable, i.e. there exists a


metric d¯ with the U(d)
¯ topology that of X. Thus, d¯ ∈ Γm (X) ⊂ Γ(UM ). If
d0 ∈ Γ(UM ), then d = d¯ + d0 is a metric in Γ(UM ) and so is continuous. Since
d ≥ d¯ it follows that the U(d) topology is that of X as well, i.e. d ∈ Γm (X).
Furthermore,
AUM f ⊂ Ad f ⊂ Ad0 f
(6.28)
CUM f ⊂ Cd f ⊂ Cd0 f.

Hence, the intersection over Γm (X) yields the same result as intersecting over the
entire gage, Γ(UM ). Furthermore, if d0 is a metric in Γ(U) satisfying (6.24) then
(6.24) together with (6.28) implies (6.26). 2
For d a metric on X, U(d) is the uniformity generated by Vd for all  > 0.
We say that d generates the uniformity U(d) and that U is metrizable if U = U(d)
for some metric d. The Metrization Theorem, Lemma 6.12 of [10], implies that
a Hausdorff uniformity is metrizable iff it is countably generated. Two metrics d1
and d2 generate the same uniformity exactly when they are uniformly equivalent.
That is, the identity maps between (X, d1 ) and (X, d2 ) are uniformly continuous.
For a metrizable uniformity U we let Γm (U) = {d : d is a metric with U(d) = U}.
If (X, d) is a metric space and the set of non-isolated points is not compact, then
the maximum uniformity UM is not metrizable even if X is second countable. Since
a metric space is paracompact, UM consists of all neighborhoods of the diagonal.
By hypothesis there is a sequence {x1 , x2 , . . . } of distinct non-isolated points with
no convergent subsequence and so we can choose open sets Gi pairwise disjoint
and with xi ∈ Gi . We can choose yi ∈ Gi \ {xi } such that i = d(xi , yi ) → 0
as i → ∞ and ∞ let 0 = 1. Let G0 be the complement of a closed neighborhood
of {xi } in i=1 Gi . Thus, {Gi } is a locally finite open cover. Choose {φi } a
partition of unity, i.e. each φi is a continuous real-valued function with support in
Gi and with Σi φi = 1. Define ψ(x) = Σi i φi (x)/2. In particular, ψ(xi ) = i /2
for i = 1, 2, . . . . Thus, ψ is a continuous, positive function with infimum 0. So
U = {(x, y) : d(x, y) < ψ(x)} is a neighborhood of the diagonal disjoint from
{(xi , yi ) : i = 1, 2, . . . }. But if i <  then (xi , yi ) ∈ Vd . It follows that for any
metric d compatible with the topology of X there exists a neighborhood of the
diagonal, and so an element of UM , which is not in U(d).

Theorem 6.14. Let (X, U) be a uniform space with U metrizable and let f be
a relation on X.
 d ∈ Γm (U), CU f = Cd f .
(a) For every
(b) AU f = d∈Γm (U) Ad f .

Proof: If d¯ ∈ Γ(U) and d1 ∈ Γm (U) then d = d¯ + d1 ∈ Γm (U) and Cd f ⊂ Cd¯f .


Thus, we need only intersect over Γm (U) to get CU f . Similarly, for AU f .
On the other hand, if d1 , d2 ∈ Γm (U) then d1 and d2 are uniformly equivalent
metrics and so Proposition 4.7 implies that Cd1 f = Cd2 f . Hence, the intersection
CU f is this common set. 2
24 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

There are special constructions for the Conley relations. For the compact case,
Conley [5] gives a construction of the chain recurrent set involving attractors, and
Bernardi and Florio [3] do so for the strong chain recurrent set.
Definition 6.15. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U).
(a) A set A ⊂ X is called U inward if there exists U ∈ U such that U (f (A)) ⊂
A, or, equivalently, if there exist d ∈ Γ(U) and  > 0 such that A is (Vd ◦f )
+
invariant.
(b) A U uniformly continuous function L : X → [0, 1] is called a U elementary
Lyapunov function for f if (x, y) ∈ f and L(x) > 0 imply L(y) = 1.
If U = UM for the space X, then a U inward set A for f is just called an inward
set for f . For a paracompact Hausdorff space any neighborhood of a closed set is a
UM uniform neighborhood and so a set A is inward for a relation f on such a space
iff f (A) ⊂ A◦ . A continuous function L : X → [0, 1] is UM uniformly continuous
and we will call a UM elementary Lyapunov function just an elementary Lyapunov
function.
Observe for L : X → [0, 1] that if L(x) = 0 or L(y) = 1 then L(y) ≥ L(x). So
an elementary Lyapunov function is a Lyapunov function. In addition, the points
of GL = {x : 1 > L(x) > 0} are regular points for L and so |L|f ⊂ L−1 (0) ∪ L−1 (1)
with equality if f is a surjective relation.
If u : X → R is a bounded real-valued function we define the pseudometric
du on X by du (x, y) = |u(x) − u(y)|. If u is uniformly continuous on (X, U) then
du ∈ Γ(U).
Theorem 6.16. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U).
(a) If A is a U inward subset for f then there exist d ∈ Γ(U) and  > 0 such
that Vd (f (A)) ⊂ A◦ . In particular, A1 = A◦ and A2 = Vd (f (A)) are U
inward with A1 open, A2 closed and f (A) ⊂ A2 ⊂ A1 ⊂ A.
(b) Let A be an open U inward subset for f . If for some d ∈ Γ(U) and  > 0
Vd (f (A)) ⊂ A, then Vd (CU f (A)) ⊂ A. In particular, A is a U inward
subset of X for CU f and is (Vd ◦ CU f ) + invariant.
(c) If A is a U inward subset for f , then there exists B a closed U inward
subset for f −1 such that A◦ ∪ B ◦ = X and B ∩ f (A) = ∅ = A ∩ f −1 (B).
(d) If A is a U inward subset of X, then there exists a U uniformly continuous
elementary Lyapunov function L for f such that L−1 (0) ∪ A = X and
f (A) ⊂ L−1 (1).
(e) If L is a U elementary Lyapunov function for f and 1 ≥  > 0, then
A = {x : L(x) > 1 − } is an open set such that
f (A) ⊂ CU f (A) ⊂ CdL f (A) ⊂ L−1 (1),
(6.29)
VdL (f (A)) ⊂ VdL (CU f (A)) ⊂ VdL (CdL f (A)) ⊂ A.
In particular, L is a U(dL ) elementary Lyapunov function for CdL f and
hence is a U elementary Lyapunov function for CU f and for f .
(f) If L is a U elementary Lyapunov function for f , then 1 − L is a U ele-
mentary Lyapunov function for f −1 .
Proof: (a) There exist d ∈ Γ and  > 0 such that V2
d
(f (A)) is contained in A

and so is contained in A . For a subset B of X, x ∈ B implies d(x, B) = 0 and so
Vd (f (A)) ⊂ V2
d
(f (A)) and f (A) ⊂ Vd (f (A)).
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 25

(b) Assume that x ∈ A and z ∈ Vd (CU f (x)). So there exist z1 ∈ CU f (x)
and 1 > 0 such that d(z1 , z) < . There exist d1 ∈ Γ and 1 > 0 such that
V d1 1 (x) ⊂ A and d(z1 , z) + 1 < . Let d¯ = d + d1 . There exists [a, b] ∈ f ×n
such that the xz1 chain-bound of [a, b] with respect to d¯ is less than 1 . Because
¯ z1 ) < 1 , a1 ∈ A. Since b1 ∈ f (A) and d(b1 , a2 ) < d(b
d1 (x, a1 ) < d(x, ¯ 1 , a2 ) < ,
a2 ∈ A. Inductively, we obtain ai ∈ A and bi ∈ f (A) for i = 1, . . . , n. Finally,
¯ n , z1 ) + d(z1 , z) < . So z ∈ A.
d(bn , z) ≤ d(b
(c) Let d ∈ Γ and  > 0 be such that V2 d
(f (A)) is contained in A and so is
contained in A . Let B = X \ V (f (A)) so that B ◦ = X \ Vd (f (A)). Thus, B is
◦ d

closed, A◦ ∪ B ◦ = X and B ∩ f (A) = ∅. Assume that (x, y) ∈ f and z ∈ V (x).


If y ∈ B then x ∈ A and so x ∈ V2 d
(f (A)) and z ∈ Vd (f (A)). That is, z ∈ B.
Thus, Vd (f −1 (B)) ⊂ B. Finally, if y ∈ B then y ∈ f (A) and so x ∈ A. That is,
f −1 (B) ∩ A = ∅.
(d) Assume that Vd (f (A)) ⊂ A. Let L(x) = max( − d(x, f (A)), 0)/. If
(x, y) ∈ f and L(x) > 0 then d(x, f (A)) <  and so x ∈ A. Then y ∈ f (A) implies
L(y) = 1.
(e) Clearly, f (A) ⊂ L−1 (1). Let  > 1 > 0. We show that Vd1L (CdL f (A)) ⊂
{y : L(y) > 1 − 1 }. Assume x ∈ A, y ∈ Vd1L (CdL f (x). So there exists z ∈ CdL f (x)
with dL (z, y) < 1 . Choose 2 > 0 so that dL (z, y) + 2 < 1 and L(x) > 1 −  +
2 . Since L is uniformly continuous, dL ∈ Γ(U) and so there exists [a, b] ∈ f ×n
such that the xz chain-bound of [a, b] with respect to dL is less than 2 . Since
dL (x, a1 ) < 2 , a1 ∈ A. Hence, b1 ∈ L−1 (1). Inductively, ai ∈ A and bi ∈ L−1 for
all i = 1, . . . , n. Finally, dL (bn , y) ≤ dL (bn , z) + dL (z, y) < 1 . Since L(bn ) = 1,
L(y) > 1 − 1 . Letting 1 → 0 we obtain CdL f (A) ⊂ L−1 (1). Letting 1 →  we
obtain VdL (CdL f (A)) ⊂ {y : L(y) > 1 − } = A.
(f) The contrapositive of the definition of an elementary Lyapunov function
says that if (x, y) ∈ f with L(y) < 1 then L(x) = 0. It follows that 1 − L is an
elementary Lyapunov function for f −1 . 2
Proposition 6.17. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U),  > 0 and
d ∈ Γ(U). Let K ⊂ X be closed and compact.
(a) For x ∈ X, the set {y : fd (x, y) < } is an open subset of X containing
Ad f (x) ⊃ AU f (x). It is Ad f + invariant and so is AU f + invariant.
 
AU f (K) = {y : fd (x, y) < },
d∈Γ,>0 x∈K
(6.30)  
K ∪ AU f (K) = {y : min(fd (x, y), d(x, y)) < }
d∈Γ,>0 x∈K

(b) For x ∈ X, the set {y : mfd (x, y) < } is an open subset of X containing
Vd◦ Cd f ◦ Vd (x) ⊃ Vd ◦ CU f ◦ Vd (x). It is Vd ◦ Cd f + invariant and so is Vd ◦ CU f
and Vd ◦ f + invariant. In particular, {(x, y) : mfd (x, y) < } is a U inward set for
f.
 
CU f (K) = {y : mfd (x, y) < },
d∈Γ,>0 x∈K
(6.31)  
K ∪ CU f (K) = {y : min(mfd (x, y), d(x, y)) < }
d∈Γ,>0 x∈K
26 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

Proof: The sets are open because df and mdf are continuous. The set in (a)
clearly contains Ad f (x) = {y : fd (x, y) = 0}. If (y, z) ∈ Ad f then by Proposition
3.2 fd (x, z) ≤ fd (x, y) + fd (y, z) = fd (x, y) < .
If y ∈ Vd ◦ Cd f (z) with mfd (x, z) <  then there exists z1 ∈ Cd f (z) with
d(z1 , y) < . Let 1 > 0 and such that d(z1 , y) + 1 , mfd (x, z) + 21 < . There
exist [a, b] ∈ f ×n and [c, d] ∈ f ×m such that with respect to d the xz chain-bound
of [a, b] is less than mfd (x, z) + 1 and the zz1 chain-bound of [c, d] is less than 1 .
Notice that d(bn , c1 ) ≤ d(bn , z)+d(z, c1 ) <  and d(cm , y) ≤ d(cm , z1 )+d(z1 , y) < .
Hence, the xy chain-bound of the concatenation [a, b] · [c, d] is less than . Thus,
{y : mfd (x, y) < } is (Vd ◦ Cd f ) + invariant.
Similarly, if y ∈ V ◦ Cd f (z) with d(x, z) <  then there exists z1 ∈ Cd f (z) with
d(z1 , y) < . Let 1 > 0 and such that d(z1 , y) + 21 , d(x, z) + 21 < . There exists
[c, d] ∈ f ×m such that with respect to d the zz1 chain-bound of [c, d] is less than 1 .
Notice that d(x, c1 ) ≤ d(x, z) + d(z, c1 ) <  and d(cm , y) ≤ d(cm , z1 ) + d(z1 , y) < .
Hence, the xy chain-bound of the concatenation [c, d] is less than . Thus, {y :
mfd (x, y) < } contains Vd ◦ Cd f ◦ Vd (x).
If Q : X × X → R is a continuous function with Q ≥ 0, then we let Q(K, y) =
inf{Q(x, y) : x ∈ K}. Clearly, Q(K, y) ≤  iff there exists x ∈ K such that
Q(x, y) < . Also,

(6.32) {x : Q(K, y) = 0} = {x : Q(K, y) < }.
>0

Furthermore, if K is compact then Q(K, y) = 0 iff there exists x ∈ K such that


Q(x, y) = 0.
Recall from (4.19) that fd ∪1X (x, y) = min(fd (x, y), d(x, y)) and from (4.25)
f ∪{(x,x)}
that md (x, y) = min(mfd (x, y), d(x, y)).
f ∪{(x,x)}
Let Qd (x, y) = md (x, y) so that Qd (K, y) = min(mfd (K, y), d(K, y)).
Observe that if d1 , d2 ∈ Γ(U) and 1 , 2 ≥ 0 then with d = d1 + d2 and  =
min(1 , 2 ),
(6.33) {(x, y) : Qd (x, y) ≤ } ⊂ {(x, y) : Qd1 (x, y) ≤ 1 }∩{(x, y) : Qd2 (x, y) ≤ 2 }.
 
So if K is compact, and y ∈ d∈Γ,>0 x∈K {y : min(mfd (x, y), d(x, y)) < } the
collection of closed subsets {{x ∈ K : Qd (x, y) = 0} : d ∈ Γ(U)} satisfies the finite
intersection property and so has a nonempty intersection. If x ∈ K is a point of
the intersection, then y ∈ K ∪ CU f (x). This proves the second equation in (6.31).
The three remaining equations in (6.30) and (6.31) follow from a similar argument
with Qd equal to fd , fd ∪1X and mfd .
Notice that by (3.18) (using w = x), fd (x, y) − fd (x, z) ≤ d(y, z), and similarly
for mfd . Thus, as functions of y, fd (x, y) and mfd (x, y) are d Lipschitz with Lipschitz
constant at most 1. Hence, for any K ⊂ X, as functions of y, fd (K, y) and mfd (K, y)
are d Lipschitz with Lipschitz constant at most 1 as are min(fd (K, y), d(K, y)) and
min(mfd (K, y), d(K, y)). 2
Theorem 6.18. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U).
(a) If (x, y) ∈ 1X ∪ CU f , then there exists a U elementary Lyapunov function
L such that L(y) = 0 and L(x) = 1.
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 27

(b) If x ∈ |CU f |, then there exists a U elementary Lyapunov function L such


that 1 > L(x) > 0.
Proof: (a) With g = f ∪ {(x, x)}, mgd (y) = min(mfd (x, y), d(x, y)) by Lemma
4.11. By hypothesis, there exist d ∈ Γ and  > 0 so that mgd (x, y) > . By
Proposition 6.17 (b), the set A = {y : mgd (x, y) < } is a U inward set for g.
By Proposition 6.16 (d) there is a U uniformly continuous elementary Lyapunov
function L for g (and hence for f ) so that L−1 (0) ∪ A = X and g(A) ⊂ L−1 (1).
Since x ∈ A and (x, x) ∈ g, x ∈ g(A) and so L(x) = 1. Since y ∈ A, L(y) = 0.
(b) By hypothesis, there exist d ∈ Γ and 1 >  > 0 so that mfd (x, x) > 2. Let
A0 = Vd (x) and A1 = {y : mfd (x, y) < }. Since mf (x, x) ≤ mfd (x, y) + d(y, x), it
follows that A0 and A1 are disjoint.
By Proposition 6.17 (b) Vd (f (A0 ∪ A1 )) ⊂ A1 . Let B = f (A0 ∪ A1 ). Define
L(y) = max([ − d(y, B)]/,  − d(y, x), 0). If (y1 , y2 ) ∈ f and L(y1 ) > 0 then
y1 ∈ A0 ∪ A1 and so y2 ∈ B. Thus, L(y2 ) = 1. Thus, L is a U elementary Lyapunov
function. Since x ∈ A0 , d(x, B) > . Hence, L(x) = . 2
Definition 6.19. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U). We denote by
Le the set of U elementary Lyapunov functions for f . We say that a set L ⊂ Le
satisfies the condition POIN-E for CU f if it satisfies POIN for CU f and, in addition,
• If x ∈ |CU f |, then there exists L ∈ Le such that 1 > L(x) > 0.
By Proposition 6.18, the set Le satisfies POIN-E for CU f .
Theorem 6.20. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U). If L ⊂ Le
satisfies POIN-E for CU f then

CU f = ≤L ,
L∈L
(6.34)  
|CU f | = [L−1 (0) ∪ L−1 (1)] = |L|f .
L∈L L∈L

Proof: The first equation follows from POIN for CU f .


If L ∈ Le then it is an elementary Lyapunov function for CU f by Proposition
6.16 (e) and 1 − L is an elementary Lyapunov function for CU f −1 by Proposition
6.16 (f). So with GL = {x : 1 > L(x) > 0},
(6.35) CU f (GL ) ⊂ L−1 (1) and CU f −1 (GL ) ⊂ L−1 (0).
Hence, GL ∩ |CU f | = ∅, i.e. |CU f | ⊂ |L|f .
On the other hand, if x ∈ |CU f | then by POIN-E there exists L ∈ Le such that
x ∈ GL . 2
If A is a + invariant subset for a relation f we denote by f ∞ (A) the (possibly
empty) maximum invariant subset of A, i.e. the union of all f invariant subsets of
A. We can obtain it by a transfinite construction

(6.36) A0 = A, Aα+1 = f (Aα ), Aα = Aβ for α a limit ordinal.
β<α

The process stabilizes at α when Aα+1 = Aα which then equals f ∞ (A).


Definition 6.21. If A is a U inward set for a relation f then (CU f )∞ (A) is
called the U attractor associated with A. A U attractor for f −1 is called a U
repellor for f . If A is a U inward set for f and B is a U inward set for f −1
28 ETHAN AKIN AND JIM WISEMAN

such that A ∪ B = X, f (A) ∩ B = ∅ = f −1 (B) ∩ A then the pair (A∞ , B∞ ) =


((CU f )∞ (A), (CU f −1 )∞ (B)) is called a U attractor-repellor pair with

B∞ = (CU f −1 )∞ (B)

the repellor dual to A∞ = (CU f )∞ (A) and vice-versa.

Again, if U = UM we will drop the label U.

Proposition 6.22. Let f be a relation on a uniform space (X, U) and let x, y ∈


X with y ∈ {x}. The following are equivalent.
(i) y ∈ CU f (x).
(ii) For every U elementary Lyapunov function L for f , L(x) > 0 implies
L(y) = 1.
(iii) For every open U inward set A for f , x ∈ A implies y ∈ A.
If x ∈ |CU f |, then these conditions are further equivalent to
(iv) For every U attractor A∞ for f , x ∈ A∞ implies y ∈ A∞ .

Proof: (i) ⇒ (ii): A U elementary Lyapunov function for f is a U elementary


Lyapunov function for CU f by Theorem 6.16(e).
(i) ⇒ (iii): A U inward set for f is CU f + invariant by Theorem 6.16(b).
(ii) ⇒ (i): Apply Theorem 6.18 (a).
(iii) ⇒ (i): By Proposition 6.17 (b), with g = f ∪ {(x, x)}, {y : mgd (x, y) < } =
{y : min(mfd (x, y), d(x, y)) < } is a U inward set for g and hence for f . So (6.31)
implies that {x} ∪ CU f (x) is the intersection of U inward sets.
If x ∈ |CU f |, then CU f (x) is CU f invariant and so x is contained in an inward
set A iff it is contained in the associated attractor. Hence (iii) ⇔ (iv) in this case.
Notice that if x ∈ |CU f | then {x} is contained in the closed set CU f (x). 2

Proposition 6.23. If A∞ is the U attractor associated with the U inward set


A, then A ∩ |CU f | ⊂ A∞ . Furthermore,

(6.37) |CU f | = {A∞ ∪ B∞ : (A, B) a U attractor-repellor pair for f }.

If x ∈ |CU f | then the CU f ∩ CU f −1 equivalence class of x in |CU f | is given by



(6.38) (CU f ∩ CU f −1 )(x) = {B : B a U attractor or repellor with x ∈ B}.

Proof: For any CU f + invariant set A, if x ∈ |CU f | then CU f (x) is a CU f


invariant subset of A and so is contained (CU f )∞ (A). So if (A, B) is an attractor-
repellor pair then |CU f | = |CU f | ∩ (A ∪ B) ⊂ |CU f | ∩ (A∞ ∪ B∞ ).
In particular, if L is a U elementary Lyapunov function then with A = {x :
L(x) > 0} and B = {x : L(x) < 1}, the associated attractor-repellor pair (A∞ , B∞ )
satisfies A∞ ⊂ L−1 (1), B∞ ⊂ L−1 (0) and so |CU f | ∩ L−1 (1) = |CU f | ∩ A∞ and
|CU f | ∩ L−1 (0) = |CU f | ∩ B∞ . Hence, (6.37) follows from (6.34).
Finally, (CU f ∩CU f −1 )(x) = CU f (x)∩CU f −1 (x). By Proposition 6.22 CU f (x)
is the intersection of the attractors containing x and CU f −1 (x) is the intersection
of the repellors containing x. 2
CHAIN RECURRENCE AND STRONG CHAIN RECURRENCE ON UNIFORM SPACES 29

References
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American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 1993. MR1219737
[2] E. Akin and J. Wiseman, Chain recurrence for general spaces, arXiv:1707.09601v1.
[3] O. Bernardi and A. Florio, A Conley-type decomposition of the strong chain recurrent set,
Ergod. Theo. & Dyn. Sys., to appear, DOI:10.1017/etds.2017.70.
[4] N. Bourbaki, General topology. Chapters 1–4, Elements of Mathematics (Berlin), Springer-
Verlag, Berlin, 1989. Translated from the French; Reprint of the 1966 edition. MR979294
[5] C. Conley, Isolated invariant sets and the Morse index, CBMS Regional Conference Series
in Mathematics, vol. 38, American Mathematical Society, Providence, R.I., 1978. MR511133
[6] R. Easton, Chain transitivity and the domain of influence of an invariant set, The structure
of attractors in dynamical systems (Proc. Conf., North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, N.D.,
1977), Lecture Notes in Math., vol. 668, Springer, Berlin, 1978, pp. 95–102. MR518550
[7] A. Fathi and P. Pageault, Aubry-Mather theory for homeomorphisms, Ergodic Theory Dy-
nam. Systems 35 (2015), no. 4, 1187–1207, DOI 10.1017/etds.2013.107. MR3345168
[8] J. Franks, A variation on the Poincaré-Birkhoff theorem, Hamiltonian dynamical systems
(Boulder, CO, 1987), Contemp. Math., vol. 81, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1988,
pp. 111–117, DOI 10.1090/conm/081/986260. MR986260
[9] M. Hurley, Noncompact chain recurrence and attraction, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 115 (1992),
no. 4, 1139–1148, DOI 10.2307/2159367. MR1098401
[10] J. L. Kelley, General topology, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Toronto-New York-London,
1955. MR0070144
[11] P. Pageault, Conley barriers and their applications: chain-recurrence and Lyapunov func-
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Mathematics Department, The City College, 137 Street and Convent Avenue, New
York City, NY 10031, USA
Email address: ethanakin@earthlink.net

Department of Mathematics, Agnes Scott College, 141 East College Avenue,


Decatur, GA 30030, USA
Email address: jwiseman@agnesscott.edu
Contemporary Mathematics
Volume 736, 2019
https://doi.org/10.1090/conm/736/14846

Towards the prediction of critical transitions in spatially


extended populations with cubical homology

Laura S. Storch and Sarah L. Day


Abstract. The prediction of critical transitions, such as extinction events, is
vitally important to preserving vulnerable populations in the face of a rapidly
changing climate and continuously increasing human resource usage. Predict-
ing such events in spatially distributed populations is challenging because of
the high dimensionality of the system and the complexity of the system dy-
namics. Here, we reduce the dimensionality of the problem by quantifying
spatial patterns via Betti numbers (β0 and β1 ), which count particular topo-
logical features in a topological space. Spatial patterns representing regions
occupied by the population are analyzed in a coupled patch population model
with Ricker map growth and nearest-neighbors dispersal on a two-dimensional
lattice. We illustrate how Betti numbers can be used to characterize spatial
patterns by type, which in turn may be used to track spatiotemporal changes
via Betti number time series and characterize asymptotic dynamics of the
model parameter space. En route to a global extinction event, we find that
the Betti number time series of a population exhibits characteristic changes.
We hope these preliminary results will be used to aide in the prediction of crit-
ical transitions in spatially extended systems. Additional applications of this
technique include analysis of spatial data (e.g., GIS) and model validation.

1. Introduction
The dynamics of spatially distributed populations are difficult to understand
and predict, both due to their complex behavior and high dimensionality. Improv-
ing our understanding of these systems, and attempting to predict critical changes
in their behavior, become vitally important in the context of a globally changing
climate, habitat destruction, and exploitation pressures, all of which contribute to
increased dynamical volatility and extinction risk (e.g., [20], [13], [22]). Here, we
aim to understand and predict the dynamics of a spatially distributed population
by examining spatial patterns and how they change over time. We accomplish this
by analyzing the topological features of spatial patterns representing the regions
of space that are occupied by members of the population. More specifically, us-
ing cubical homology to calculate the first and second Betti numbers (β0 and β1 )
of the union of occupied patches in a two-dimensional lattice model allows us to
quantify properties of these population patterns. These numbers, β0 and β1 , count
the number of connected components and one-dimensional holes, respectively, in
the population pattern. Population time series are generated via a coupled patch

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 92-XX (Primary) and 54-XX (Secondary).

2019
c American Mathematical Society
31
32 L.S. STORCH AND S.L. DAY

model with Ricker map growth ([23]), symmetric nearest-neighbors dispersal, and
absorbing boundaries. We find that β0 and β1 can be used to characterize spatial
patterns by type, and to track spatial pattern changes over time. We track popu-
lation global extinction events via Betti number time series and find characteristic
changes in β0 and β1 en route to global extinction, suggesting that Betti numbers
may be useful in the prediction of critical transitions.
Coupled patch lattice models and tools from computational topology have a
separate, established history in the literature. Coupled patch models are relatively
simple, yet can exhibit complicated dynamics in both space and time. Studies have
experimented with the coupling of two patches (e.g., [26], [11], [32]), the coupling
of multiple patches along a line (e.g., [3], [14], [16], [17], [19], [31], [30]) and the
coupling of patches in a two-dimensional spatial lattice (e.g., [15]). Here, we fo-
cus on the two-dimensional lattice models. Likewise, computational topology has
been used to measure structure in many systems, including time-varying models
and data. These studies range from using cubical homology to study patterns in
models ([18], [5], [7]) to using simplicial persistent homology to study time evolving
patterns of population point cloud data ([6], [29], [1], [2], [27]). Our focus here
is to use cubical homology to quantify and track population patterns represent-
ing the occupied regions of space, forming the foundation for later studies using
the more sophisticated tool of cubical persistent homology to study the additional
information offered by patch-wise abundance data.
Our goal is to use topology to study the complex patterns that arise in cou-
pled patch lattice models. In a similar model to our own, Kaneko ([15]) finds
that a population distributed across two-dimensional space can fall into several
typical patterns, depending on the parameter combination. Such patterns include
checkerboard, fully-developed spatiotemporal chaos, and the frozen random pat-
tern, which consists of a population pattern that appears largely periodic in space
and time, with small sections of sustained non-periodic behavior. The Kaneko
model consists of a coupled patch model with logistic map growth, symmetric
nearest-neighbors dispersal, and periodic boundary conditions. Our model em-
ploys a different growth map and boundary conditions, but we observe qualitatively
similar dynamics. While previous work has also focused on characterizing system
dynamics over the model parameter space, here, we focus specifically on the topo-
logical features of the spatial patterns produced by the model. The topological
features allow for the characterization of spatial patterns by type, allow for obser-
vation of changes in spatial patterns over time, and provide an additional tool for
labeling of the parameter space.
One goal of our spatial pattern analysis is to determine if there is a characteristic
change in spatial patterns that occurs en route to a critical dynamical transition,
and if we can use this information to predict critical transitions. More specifically,
we focus on the changes in spatial pattern en route to a global extinction event.
To our knowledge, this is a novel approach to the prediction of critical transitions,
which currently focuses on dynamical or statistical markers of impending change.
Scheffer et al. ([25]) outline several potential symptoms of critical dynamical
transitions, which manifest as critical slowing down events. The symptoms of an
impending transition can include slowing of recovery from perturbation, increased
variance, and increased autocorrelation. Such symptoms have been observed in
real-world systems (e.g., [13]) but direct applications remain limited. In spatially
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cords of three dogs, and in each instance produced changes which
he interpreted as comparable to the myelitis of human pathology. But
the inflammation thus provoked was not of the cord-substance alone;
it also involved the membranes, and the inflammatory foci were in
several instances purulent. Now, pus never85 forms in ordinary
myelitis. An abscess of the cord never occurs where a septic agency
can be excluded. In six dogs whose spinal cords I wounded in the
dorsal and lumbar regions by aseptic methods, and who survived
from two to seven days, I never found purulent or indeed any active
inflammatory process, as that term is ordinarily understood, but
exactly such passive and necrotic or reactive changes as occur in
the acute myelitis of human pathology.
83 Klinik der Rückenmarkskrankheiten, ii. p. 115.

84 Cited by Leyden.

85 In the textbooks and encylopædias, without an exception, the statement that pus
may be a product of myelitis is made. This is true of traumatic cases and of such
depending on septic and zymotic causes alone. I am unable to find a single carefully
observed case of the occurrence of pus in simple myelitis in the literature.

Owing to the advance of clinical and anatomical knowledge made


within the past fifteen years many forms of spinal disease classed
with the inflammations have been recognized as distinct pathological
entities, no longer to be confounded with simple acute myelitis,
ordinarily so called. Special forms of acute spinal paralysis, notably
acute poliomyelitis anterior of children and the corresponding chronic
affection among adults, have become separated in this way, and are
accordingly treated of in separate parts of this volume.86
86 For other and practical reasons the traumatic and compression forms of myelitis
are also assigned a separate place.

Some dispute exists as to the propriety of making a distinction


between acute and chronic myelitis, since an acute myelitis, if the
initial attack be recovered from with life, presents a similar condition
clinically as chronic myelitis; and this quiescent or slowly-progressing
condition may extend over many years. The term acute with
reference to inflammation of the spinal cord refers only to the active
period of the disease. Just as an embolic softening of the brain is an
acute affection, but may be followed by a chronic paralysis or
aphasia, so the acute myelitic process may be followed by a chronic
paraplegia. It is improper to call the latter a chronic myelitis. It is
merely a protracted symptomatic sequel of the acute process. The
latter is distinguished from chronic myelitis both clinically (by the
rapidity of its onset) and anatomically (by the early dissolution of
nerve-elements in the focus of disease). Limited in this sense, acute
myelitis, excluding the special clinical forms already adverted to, is
rather a rare disease.

MORBID ANATOMY.—The most recognizable change noted in an acute


myelitic focus is one of consistency: the spinal substance is
softened. In some cases the softening is so slight that the observer
may doubt whether he has a pathological or cadaveric softening to
deal with, the dorsal cord, which is most apt to be the site of an
acute transverse myelitis, being precisely the part which is most apt
to show the latter change even in fairly well-preserved bodies. In
extreme cases the softening may be so intense that the cord-
substance, completely fluidified, runs out of the meningeal sac,
leaving the latter a collapsed membranous cylinder to mark the place
where the cord once was. Where the cord-substance is sufficiently
firm to permit of sections being made through it, the normal outline of
the gray and white substance is found obliterated, either presenting
the appearance as if the gray and white matter had been stirred up
together or of a more uniform color-change. The color may be either
white, reddish, yellowish, or chocolate-like. It depends upon the
participation of the blood-vessels in the change. If there be much
hyperæmia, there will be developed what is known as red softening;
if there be much extravasation and commingling of blood with the
diffluent cord-tissue, a chocolate color will mark the diseased area;
and similarly one and the same focus may present different tints in
different parts according to the age and intensity of the process and
the more or less advanced retrogressive metamorphosis of the
extravasated fluid. As already stated, the purulent form of softening
or abscess does not occur in ordinary myelitis.

There is considerable variation in the extent of the affected areas of


acute myelitis. In the typical and severe transverse form the whole
thickness of the cord may be disorganized, and the disorganization
may extend in the length of the cord, so as to involve the level of exit
of from two to five pairs of nerves. In less furibund cases the area of
absolute softening is confined to the gray substance and its
immediate neighborhood, the submeningeal white substance being
but slightly affected or escaping. Sometimes several foci of intense
softening are scattered through a short length of the cord and
connected by less severely involved areas of softening or œdema.
Leyden distinguishes three types of distribution—the transverse, the
longitudinal, and the disseminated insular or multiple form. He
includes under the longitudinal type the so-called central softening of
Albert, but undoubtedly many cases of syringo-myelia have passed
under this designation. The submeningeal form of softening which,
with Ollivier, he states to occur in association with spinal meningitis,
must be a very rare affection, as it is difficult to find a well-
established case recorded. The longitudinal form shows the same
predilection for the gray substance which the acute myelitic process
generally does, but I have seen a finely demarcated fascicular
myelitis limited to the lateral column in a paretic negro. In this case
the pyramid tract and the contiguous area in front of it were so
intensely softened that for a length of twelve centimeters a hollow
canal ran through the cord in the place previously occupied by the
diseased substance. In recent cases of myelitis the diseased area is
usually found surrounded by a transition zone in which, the morbid
change gradually becoming less intense, the consistency is firmer,
and which merges into that of the normal cord. In cases where death
occurs after a few weeks a more abrupt demarcation is usually
found; this is due to the reactive changes occurring in the
neighborhood. The connective tissue becomes firmer, and thus the
softening centre becomes surrounded by a sclerosing capsule.
Ultimately, the centre undergoes complete disintegration and
absorption, and a cavity is left behind filled with a clear fluid; in short,
a cyst surrounded by a firm capsule represents the residua of
disease. In cases where the softening at the centre of the focus does
not proceed so rapidly nor reach so high a degree as to result in
liquefaction, the less vulnerable elements, the blood-vessels and
supporting tissues, survive the death of the ganglionic and
conducting substance; the connective elements hypertrophy, and
thus a firm sclerotic patch is formed, indicating the location of the
previously softened field.

It seems to be generally admitted, with Hayem, that the blood found


exuded in the hemorrhagic form of myelitis does not necessarily
indicate an active determination, but is rather, like some forms of so-
called red softening of the brain, the result of capillary rupture or
necrosis in the midst of the disintegrated tissue, now rendered
incapable of supporting the vessels. The existence of a purely white
form of myelitic softening shows that a textural change is the primary
occurrence, and that the participation of hyperæmia or congestion is
not an essential feature of myelitis. The assumption of an initial
inflammatory congestion is made rather on theoretical grounds than
on the basis of observation. It is simply incredible that, as Ross87
claims, white softening should be a third stage, preceded by red and
yellow softening as a first and a second stage! How the extravasated
blood, which pathologists generally allow to leave long-lasting traces,
manages to disappear, and how blood-vessels in the midst of
necrotic or œdematous surroundings suddenly acquire such
contractile energy as to produce a total emptying of their contents
while the perishable nerve-elements remain behind, are problems
which should be solved before attempting to assign to a condition
which is often found to be a primary phase of myelitis the position of
a late and regressive stage. Erb admits that red softening, to which
he also assigns the position of a first stage, is very rarely seen, only
traumatic and rapidly fatal cases of central myelitis offering
opportunities of examining it. None of the various forms of exudation
claimed to occur at this period under the names of vitreous, colloid,
or hyaline deposit have been confirmed in any recently well-studied
case.88 The great mass of authorities, however, still agree in
regarding the minute changes of the initial stage of myelitis to
correspond to those of ordinary inflammation. The vessels are
described as injected, the adventitial spaces as crowded with the
formed elements of the blood, and the vascular walls and the
neuroglia infiltrated with granule-cells and fatty granular matter. By
some, inflammatory changes of the neuroglia are described, but I am
unable to find a single case in which these were determined in early
fatal cases. As far as our observation goes, the hypertrophy of the
neuroglia is a later occurrence.
87 A Treatise on Diseases of the Nervous System, 1882, vol. ii. p. 280. The author
states no authority, nor does he advance his own observations in support of this
statement.

88 Baumgarten's case of hyaline exudation, Archiv der Heilkunde, vol. xvii. 276, was
an infectious myelitis and associated with anthrax.

As to the nervous elements themselves, they are always found


affected. The nerve-cells appear inflated, their processes fragile,
sometimes suddenly swollen in their course, at others very thin and
brittle. Multiplication of the nuclei of the large multipolar cells has
been described. It must be an unusual occurrence, as it has been
confirmed by but a few of the numerous observers who have
examined into this question. The protoplasm of the nervous
elements loses its normal striation and fine molecular granulation; it
becomes either coarsely granular or hyaline. The axis-cylinders, both
in their intracinereal and their intramyelinic course, show changes
similar to those of the cell-processes in the gray matter. Particularly
frequent are swellings in their course, the diameter of the cylinder
being so much increased as to almost equal that of the myelin tube.
This increase in diameter is regarded as an inflammatory swelling by
some, as secondary to disturbed nutrition by others; it precedes
disintegration: the substance becomes granular, fragile, and in the
end dissolves. In the mean time the myelin loses its continuity,
irregular segments of it fusing into round and oval masses.89
89 Many of the bodies represented as granule and colloidal cells are in reality round
spheres of myelin, whose resemblance to a nucleated cell is sometimes heightened
by their occasional inclusion of a fragment of an axis-cylinder which has not yet lost
its power of imbibing carmine and other dyes. Where softening has proceeded
farthest, there the spherical and other forms of myelin are found crowding the field,
and mingled with them are blood-corpuscles, fragments of blood-pigment, granular
detritus, and bodies known as fatty granular cells. A number of bodies of very different
origin have received this name, some of them, like the fragments of myelin alluded to,
not even meriting the name of cells. Others, however, are veritable formed histological
elements, either leucocytes or cellular ingredients of the neuroglia, which, having fed
on the products of myelin disintegration, have become enlarged and coarsely
granular. The longer the duration of the process the more numerous are these bodies,
showing that they are not the coarse and essential factor of the inflammation, but an
accompaniment, subserving some conservative process, inasmuch as they either
remove effete material or contribute to the permanent organization of the cicatricial or
atrophic tissue.

The period now reached by the morbid process may be regarded as


a sort of interregnum. The necrotic tissues have not yet disappeared
on the one hand, the products of inflammation have not yet
organized themselves on the other. It is in this period that the
ganglionic elements are described as undergoing certain changes in
outline and in appearance. Above all, one change has interested
observers, which, consisting in the development of what appear to
be spherical vacuoles in the interior of the cell, is termed
vacuolization. I can compare it to nothing so nearly as to the
appearance which is produced by the formation of gas-bubbles in a
putrefying albumen or other semifluid substance.

This vacuolization of ganglion-cells is now regarded as a cadaveric


change. It is not agreed, as yet, whether its occurrence in myelitis is
so frequent as to suggest its ante-mortem occurrence as a veritable
feature of the disease. I have been struck by this change in the
neighborhood of wounds artificially produced in dogs, even in the
fresh specimen. It must be remembered, however, that under these
circumstances, the nutrition of the cell being destroyed and exposure
to the macerating effect of the cerebro-spinal and pathologically
exuded fluids occurring, a cadaveric change may take place intra
vitam.
The influence of phosphorus and alkaloid as well as metallic poisons
on the cord has been experimentally studied by a number of
observers. Unfortunately, Popow, Tschisch, and Danillo—who
described as characteristic a resulting change in the staining
reaction of the cells, the development of vacuoli in them, and an
atrophy of their processes—had not made a sufficient number of
examinations of normal cords under like methods of preparation to
recognize which of these deviations is without the physiological
confines. Kreyssig90 demonstrated the existence of all these
conditions in the cords of perfectly healthy animals preserved in
chromic acid;91 and Schultze confirms him, and expresses a
surprise, which must be shared by all reflecting investigators, that
poisons of so widely different a character should have an identical
effect on the cord-substance, as is claimed by the writers named.
90 Virchow's Archiv, cii.

91 He attributes the remarkable difference in staining of nerve-cells of the same


ganglionic group and in the same section to the sudden transferral of the hardened
specimens to strong alcohol, which seems to be the custom in some German
laboratories. He claims that uniformity in staining is effected if the specimen be
transferred from the chromic preparation to weak alcohol, then to stronger, and thus
by gradual increase of the strength to strong spirit. Possibly, instead of approximating
the real structural indications by this method, Kreyssig may obliterate them. In
specimens which alcohol is not permitted to touch before staining is completed, very
deeply and very lightly stained cells will be found almost side by side. The shorter the
hardening process, the more perfect the staining method, the more likely are these
differences to be found. It is reasonable to assume that the difference in dye-
absorbing power indicates slight differences in the cell-protoplasm, marking the
nutritive state of the latter and occurring within physiological limits.

If life be prolonged and the conservative processes assert


themselves, the disintegrated material disappears, and as the white
color of the greater area of the cord was due to the myelin, and the
latter has now become destroyed within the diseased area, the latter
presents a grayish color. This phase is often termed gray softening.
The consistency is, however, much firmer than in the previous stage.
Trabeculæ of connective tissue form, enclosing in their meshes a
large number of neuroglia-nuclei and sometimes spaces filled with
fluid. According as condensation and retraction or rarefication
preponderate the process will terminate either in the formation of a
sclerotic focus or of a cyst. Occasionally an irregular spongy tissue
containing several small cysts results.

Charcot claims that a restitution of anatomical continuity, and


therefore of physiological potentiality, may occur in a myelitic cicatrix.
But the experiments of Kahler92 and Homén93 prove that when a
nerve-tract is once destroyed within the spinal cord all hope of
restoring that tract in structure, and thus to restore its functions, is at
an end. Unlike the fibres of the peripheral nerves, those of the spinal
cord and brain do not seem capable of regeneration.94 If a
restoration of function is to occur at all, it must occur through other
channels than those destroyed—in other words, by vicarious action.
92 Prager medizinische Wochenschrift, 1884, No. 31.

93 Contribution expérimentale à la Pathologie et à l'Anatomie pathologique de la


moelle épinière, Helsingfors, 1885, abstracted in Centralblatt für die medizinisches
Wochenschriften, 1886, No. 16.

94 According to the first observer, this is probably due to structural differences. The
extramedullary fibres have a sheath and annular constrictions which are absent in the
intramedullary.

In a large number of cases myelitis is a limited affection; that is, its


ravages remain confined to the area originally involved. But
occasionally the morbid process involves the next segments above
or below, extending with specially great rapidity through the anterior
gray horns. Exceptionally, the entire cord may thus become the site
of a generalized myelitis. There is one segment of the cord which
may be regarded as possessing an acquired vulnerability when a
myelitic focus is in its neighborhood, and that is the lower end. It
seems that while the results of a transverse myelitis in the middle
dorsal cord may remain stationary for ten or more years, those of a
transverse myelitis at the upper lumbar level do not; on the contrary,
the entire cord below the lesion appears to be doomed to undergo
the same degeneration by contiguity. This is the only occurrence
which seems to deserve the name of a descending myelitis: an
ascending extension is more frequently noted in other parts of the
cord, but the frequency of both the so-called ascending and
descending types has been unduly magnified by the inclusion of the
secondary degenerations, which are constant sequelæ of all
complete destructive transverse lesions of the cord, but which are
rather passive phenomena, and probably influence the clinical
progress of the case but little, except under such conditions as are
potent in that chronic form of myelitis which underlies tabes dorsalis.

CLINICAL HISTORY.—The symptoms of acute myelitis usually


correspond to those of any more or less completely transverse lesion
of the cord, and accordingly vary with the altitude of the upper level
of the lesion. In a general way, they may be stated as consisting of—

First, paralysis of movement in the parts supplied from the nerves


given off below the level of the lesion. The reason for this can be
easily recognized in those cases where the pyramid tract, which
conveys voluntary impulses centrifugally, is interrupted by the
softening.

Second, paralysis of sensation in the parts supplied by the same


nerves. This is equally explained by the pathological interruption of
the centripetal impressions normally conveyed brainward.

Third, alterations in the nutrition of the parts supplied by the nerves


arising in the affected level.

Fourth, abolition of those reflexes which are translated in the level of


the lesion.

Speaking crudely, then, the symptoms of a transverse myelitis fall


into two natural groups. The one which includes the first and second
categories enumerated are symptoms due to interruption of cerebral
functions; the other, which comprises the last two categories, being
due to abolition or perversion of spinal functions. There is a third
group comprising certain constitutional symptoms.

Aside from those variations due to the distribution, extent, and


intensity of the lesion there are others which depend on the rapidity
of its invasion. There are three types in this respect—the
apoplectiform, the ordinary acute, and the subacute. The term
apoplectiform has been used in two different senses, one being
clinical, and referring to the rapidity of onset of the symptoms; the
other anatomical, and referring to the nature of the lesion. It is,
however, doubtful if a distinction in the latter sense is practically
valuable. The presence of a blood-clot in a myelitic focus is itself
secondary to the softening, and the intensity and rapidity of the
process must have shown itself in the development of the latter.95
The term ought, therefore, to be used in a clinical sense only.
95 I am able to recall but a single case in which, even clinically speaking, a primary
hemorrhage into the cord-substance was plausible. In this instance a sudden arrest of
menstruation had occurred nearly simultaneously with a combined strain and
exposure in a young girl.

The constitutional symptoms of acute myelitis—which, however, are


often absent—are its most distinctive features in one sense.
Disorders of motion and sensation and perversions of nutrition are
signs common to all destructive affections of the cord, whether of a
traumatic, neoplastic, or a chronic inflammatory character. But fever,
headache, and delirium,96 associated with gastric and visceral
disturbances of acute development, are not found to be initial and
intrinsic symptoms with them as with acute myelitis. In their absence
the mode of onset is characteristic. A high degree of paralysis, motor
or sensory, is developed with a rapidity unequalled in any chronic
affection of the cord. Sometimes there is a prodromal period in which
formication, numbness, and disorders of movement are observed in
the same part of the body which are destined to become paralyzed
at a later stage of the malady. Within a few hours, days, or at most
weeks, complete paraplegia may become developed. The prodromal
symptoms may include any form of disturbed sensation. Lancinating
pains, tingling, a feeling of the limbs falling asleep, peculiar and
indescribable sensations attending the acts of micturition and
defecation or of placing the feet violently on the ground, are
common. Occasionally they are found in one limb only, although
motor and sensory paralysis may ultimately occupy the symmetrical
member as completely as the one first involved. In some cases it has
been noted that the patient is unable to lie down, or, if lying, to
occupy the dorsal recumbent position. This feature has been utilized
to support the theory of an initial congestion, which is supposed to
be relieved or aggravated according as the cord is kept elevated or
depressed.
96 These symptoms are to be regarded as actual parts of the myelitic symptoms only
when they accompany the prodromal or initial periods. The later complications,
uræmia and septicæmia, the latter arising from pyelitis, cystitis, or decubitus, often
lead to constitutional disturbance which is not due to the myelitis as such.

In most cases of transverse myelitis, when the anterior cornua are


destructively involved, we possess in the electrical tests valuable
and unerring means of determining the altitude and extent of the
lesion. Whenever we find the atrophy of a paralyzed muscle
accompanied by qualitative electrical changes in myelitis, we must
conclude that the cell-group from which that muscle receives its
nerve-supply is destructively involved.97 These changes are
particularly well demonstrable when the cervical or lumbar
enlargements are affected. They are not as readily ascertainable in
the case of a transverse myelitis in the upper dorsal region, on
account of the situation of the muscles supplied by the upper dorsal
nerves, and the consequent difficulty of application of the necessary
tests.
97 The proposition, originally, I believe, made by myself, that there are distinct cell-
groups in the spinal cord which are constant with certain animal species, and
correspond in relative development to ventral, dorsal, and appendicular muscular
groups (“Architecture and Mechanism of the Brain,” Journal of Nervous and Mental
Diseases, April, 1880), appears to be confirmed in a general way by the researches
and cases of Edinger, Kahler-Pick, Dejerine-Major, Genzmer, Von Monakow, Sahli,
Prévost-David, F. Schultze, Remak, and Parrot-Joffroy; for the knowledge of the first
and last of which I am indebted to the review of the subject by Starr (“Localization of
the Functions of the Spinal Cord,” American Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry,
August, 1883).

The disturbance of the deep reflexes with very few exceptions


affects the same peripheries as are represented in the destroyed
and impaired gray nuclei. Thus, if the lower part of the lumbar
enlargement be affected, the reflexes of the Achilles tendon and the
gluteal muscles will disappear; if the upper lumbar enlargement, the
knee-jerk disappears.98 Disease of the lower part of the cervical
enlargement is in like manner associated with absence of the wrist-
tendon reflexes, while the disappearance of the elbow-tendon reflex
suggests a higher involvement at the levels of the fifth and sixth
cervical nerve-roots.
98 The disappearance of the knee-jerk and similar reflexes was originally supposed to
be a phenomenon exclusively pertaining to spinal disease and to a destructive lesion
anywhere in the track of the centripetal and centrifugal nerves connected with that
segment of the cord in which the reflex is supposed to be translated. But aside from a
number of physiological observations99 which prove that cerebral conditions may
influence the intensity of the jerk, there are pathological ones which show that it may
be permanently abolished in disease of the pons and cerebellum, and temporarily
abolished or diminished immediately after capsular and ventricular hemorrhage. The
associated symptoms in the former case, and the history of the onset and total
hemiplegia in the latter, serve to distinguish them from destructive spinal lesions
should the occasion for discriminating between them ever arise; which is not likely.

99 S. Weir Mitchell and M. J. Lewis found that voluntary effort increases the jerk at
first, but if continued diminishes its excursiveness (The Medical News, 1886, Feb.
13th and 20th).

In complete transverse acute myelitis of the cervical region high


fever is a constant symptom. In unilateral myelitis of this region
flushing of the face and unilateral sweating are produced, together
with iridoplegia, sometimes preceded by dilatation, owing to initial
irritation and succeeding paralysis of the sympathetic branches
originating at this level of the cord.
Just as the disturbed reflexes and the belt sensations enable us to
distinguish at what levels of the cord the myelitis is situated, so the
distribution of the motor and sensory paralysis affords corroborative
evidence of such location and additional proof of its extent and
intensity.

Transverse myelitis at and above the level of origin of the phrenic


nerve is almost immediately fatal, through its interference with the
innervations required in respiration. In the upper part of the cervical
enlargement it produces complete paraplegia of motion and
sensation in the trunk and all four extremities. In the lowest part of
the cervical enlargement it produces paralysis of the same parts, but
the serratus magnus and scapular muscles escape. The nuclei of
origin of the muscles moving the upper extremity are situated so that
those which are farthest removed from the axis of the body when the
arms are extended are situated lowest in the cord. The sensory
paralysis is distributed in harmony with the motor paralysis; that is,
when there is paralysis of motion in the hand and forearm the
anæsthesia or subjective numbness is also in the hand and forearm.
The same correspondence is not found in affections of the lumbar
enlargement, for anæsthesia of the gluteal region accompanies
paralysis of the crural muscles when the lesion is low down at the
level of the lower lumbar and upper sacral nerves. The distribution of
the anæsthesia, in other words, is not by segments of the limb, but
by surfaces. The gluteal, posterior femoral, gastrocnemial, and outer
pedal surfaces are affected together with the muscles moving the
foot, while the thigh and inner side of the leg and foot become
anæsthetic, with lesion of the upper part of the lumbar enlargement
accompanying paralysis of the quadriceps and deep muscles. It is
not difficult to understand this discrepancy when we bear in mind the
different plan of distribution followed by the brachial plexus as
compared with the lumbar and sacral plexuses. It is not, in my
experience, found that the anæsthesia affects that surface which
covers the part moved by the paralyzed muscle; which is
characteristic of associated paralysis and anæsthesia from cortical
disease.
One of the most dreaded occurrences in acute myelitis is the
malignant bed-sore. The ordinary decubitus which results from the
protracted sojourn of the patient in bed, coupled with the prominence
of his trochanters and sacrum resulting from general or atrophic
emaciation, is also common, but is comparatively benign and easy to
prevent or to manage when established. The malignant bed-sore, on
the other hand, is a spontaneous occurrence, due to the same
obscure but undeniable trophic influences exerted for good by the
normal and for evil by the diseased nerve-centres, which play so
large a part in the symptomatology of tabes dorsalis. It cannot be
avoided; it is not due to pressure alone, or, as some have claimed, to
the macerating influence of the dribbling and decomposing urine.
The development of this lesion is exceedingly rapid, and it may be
regarded as a sort of local gangrene. The skin shows a livid color;
vesicles appear, then burst; the part becomes denuded; and within a
few days a deep ulcer with a dark border and base appears,
discharging a sanious fluid. The subsequent history is that of a rapid
extension and destruction of the neighboring tissues, even down to
the bone, and if situated over the sacrum opening into the spinal
canal through the necrotic arches of the sacral vertebra, thus leading
either to general septicæmia or to putrid infection of the spinal
meningeal sac. Occasionally, gangrenous spots coexist on other
parts of the body, notably the lower extremities, where neither
pressure nor maceration can be accused of playing a part, proving
that the process is primarily due to the spinal affection.

Acute central myelitis, as described by Dujardin-Beaumetz, Hayem,


Hallopeau, and Erb, usually runs its course very rapidly. Indeed, all
of these observers speak of it as the most violent and quickly fatal
variety of spinal inflammation. I have, however, seen one case with
T. A. McBride at the Presbyterian Hospital in which all the
characteristic symptoms of acute central myelitis were markedly
developed and present in their characteristic groupings, and yet the
patient had been suffering from progressing symptoms of myelitis for
one year and a half before that time.100 Usually, complete
anæsthesia and paralysis of the lower half of the body occur in this
form. But the most characteristic feature is a rapidly progressive
atrophy not only of the paralyzed muscles, but also of some which
are still partially under the dominion of the will. With this there is
extreme vesical and rectal trouble, the sphincters being paralyzed.
As a rule, the deep and superficial reflexes are destroyed—they are
always diminished—and trophic disturbances of a malignant type,
such as acute decubitus, joint-changes, and œdema, are common.
The paraplegia is characterized by the flaccid condition of the limbs;
the contractures and spastic symptoms found with other forms of
myelitis are entirely absent, and qualitative electrical changes,
beginning with disappearance of farado-muscular contractility, are
found in the atrophying muscles. There are marked constitutional
symptoms with this form; the tendency to an ascent of the process
and successive involvement of one segment after another of the
gray matter is great, and a fatal issue, as far as known, is inevitable.
100 At the time the patient had undergone such a profound change in appearance that
I failed to remember him, and it was only by accident I learned that I had seen him in
private consultation with his family attendent, F. A. McGuire, a year previous. On the
latter occasion I had made the diagnosis of subacute myelitis chiefly limited to the
posterior columns; there were ataxia, both static and locomotor, slight incontinence,
belt sensation, and ocular symptoms, with abolition of the deep reflexes in the lower
limbs.

DIAGNOSIS.—The principles governing the determination of the


affected region of the cord in acute myelitis are exactly the same as
those detailed in the later sections on Chronic Myelitis or Sclerosis,
the acuteness of the onset, and the relapses which sometimes
occur, and the predominance of irritative spasms—which, however,
is an inconstant criterion—serving to distinguish between the acute
and chronic form of spinal inflammation. In the present state of our
knowledge it is impossible to always differentiate between acute
central myelitis and syringo-myelus—a condition in which the
formation of a periendymal neoplasm, and its subsequent breaking
down in the axis of the cord, lead to the formation of a tubular
cavity.101 The neoplasm in this instance is classified among the
gliomatous new formations. The symptoms depend, exactly as do
those of myelitis, on the distribution of the destructive lesion. In some
cases the posterior cornua and columns are chiefly involved, and
extreme anæsthesia is found; in others the anterior columns are
affected, and the symptoms of a poliomyelitis or an imperfect
transverse myelitis may be imitated.102
101 This cavity, unlike that of hydro-myelus, is not a dilatation of the central canal, but,
lying to one side of it, is excavated in the cord-substance.

102 Repeated fractures have been noted in cases marked by profound analgesia. It is
believed that they are not always due to trophic changes, but may be the result of
muscular action, exaggerated on account of the patient's inability to gauge his efforts.
Still, in the majority of cases the presence of positive trophic disturbances of the skin
seems to indicate the probability of some textural change facilitating the fracture.

As a rule, the sensory disturbance in syringo-myelus is out of


proportion to the muscular atrophy developed; that is, it involves a
far more extensive province. It is usually of a peculiar character:
some forms of sensation are involved but slightly, or even escape,
and others may be nearly destroyed. Commonly, it is the pain and
temperature-sense which suffer most, while the cutaneous space
and pressure, as well as the muscular sense, are not materially
disturbed. These peculiarities are not commonly found in cases of
myelitis, and when present, and particularly when the paralytic or
sensory affections involve all four extremities alike, they suggest the
existence of syringo-myelus. As yet we are unable to make more
than a probable diagnosis between the two diseases.

DURATION AND PROGNOSIS.—The duration of the disease varies.


Cases of the apoplectiform variety are mentioned, in which the
process reached its height in a few minutes, or where the patient,
having retired in good health the night before, awoke finding himself
paralyzed in the lower half of his body. Death may terminate such a
case in a few days or weeks. In another class of cases, complicated
by serious involvement of the bladder, the fatal termination is often
precipitated by putrid cystitis, pyelitis, or uræmic poisoning, and even
in cases which have passed the dangers of the early period in safety
these ominous complications may develop with the usual result
many years after the beginning of the illness. In a number of cases
the first period, that in which the morbid process becomes
developed, is followed by one of comparative quiescence, in which
the paralyses of sensation and motion then established remain
stationary for months and years. A number of authors, Erb, Leyden,
Strümpell, and Ross, speak of such a case as one in which chronic
myelitis has followed an acute myelitis. It seems improper to use the
terms acute or chronic in this way. As it is generally understood that
the term acute applies to myelitis in which disintegration of the
nerve-elements predominates over interstitial proliferation, and in
which the secondary sclerosis is rather like the cicatrix of an acute
inflammation and necrosis, it should not be confounded at any
period, no matter how similar the clinical signs may be, with a
process which is essentially an interstitial one from the start. If
chronic amaurosis results from an acute glaucoma, we do not
change the latter designation to chronic glaucoma.

In cases where the symptoms at the acme indicate rather an


involvement of the peripheral than the central paths of the cord, and
in which an incomplete motor and sensory paralysis develops, the
patients often regain a considerable amount of motor power and
sensation, so that they may reach a good age, suffering at most from
a paresis of some one muscle or muscular group, occasional bladder
trouble, and pains. It has been laid down as a rule that where
paraplegia and other signs remain stationary for years, there is no
hope of even partial recovery. The following remarkable and well-
attested case proves that this rule is not without exceptions:

Isidor K——, æt. forty-four years, worker in tobacco. After over-


exertion in the fall of the year 1879 he had numbness, tingling,
dorsal pain, and paresis rapidly developed, which induced him to
consult the physicians at the clinic of the University of the City of
New York. After some slight improvement a relapse occurred, and
several others followed, usually provoked by over-exertion, till he
became completely paraplegic. He was, according to his account,
several times exhibited to a medical class by William A. Hammond,
and remembers that this authority spoke of a possible ascent of the
affection and ensuing involvement of the arms. His bladder was at
no time seriously disturbed. For four years and three months he was
totally paraplegic; his lower extremities were without life; and for the
greater part of the time he could not move his toes. The limbs were
cold and pale, but underwent little atrophy. The only exercise
obtained during this time was in a roller carriage. His sexual power
was abolished throughout the whole four years and over. Nothing
can be learned as to his reflexes in this period.103 The paralysis of
sensation was as complete as that of motion, and the lower limbs
never perspired. The arms remained free. There was a dorsal belt
sensation.
103 Hammond has no notes of the case, having discontinued the clinic, and Ludwig
Weiss, the physician in charge, saw him only occasionally in behalf of a benefit
society.

On July 23, 1884, shortly before mid-day, while lying on the bed, in
which he had lain a helpless cripple for over four years, except when
lifted into the roller carriage, he felt a sudden rush of warmth.
Surprised at this first sensation he had felt for years in limbs which
had been quasi-foreign appendages, he raised up the bed-clothes
and saw that they changed color. There was some tingling for about
three minutes, and a perspiration broke out in the affected members.
With this he found he could move his feet: half alarmed, half exulting,
he sent for his physician, L. Weiss, who found that the patient could
stand and walk with considerable freedom. I was then consulted, and
found the patient presenting a picture of incomplete transverse
myelitis. He could walk, turn about, stand with closed eyes with slight
swaying, and his knee-phenomenon was of short excursiveness, but
exceedingly spasmodic, and this symmetrically so. He was carefully
watched, and against the advice of his physician engaged in
peddling cigars, and subsequently took a position as attendant at the
pauper asylum on Ward's Island. Here he was on his feet fully twelve
hours a day, and his motion, which had continued improving until it
was to all practical intents and purposes normal, aside from a slight
stiffness, again became impaired, and a joint trouble in the
metacarpo-phalangeal articulation of the right little toe, which had
troubled him a week after his partial recovery, recurred.104 On
January 15th of the present year I again examined him. His knee-
phenomenon was greatly exaggerated, cutaneous sensations
scarcely impaired, gait paraparetic, but he could walk great
distances, and claimed to suffer less from the exertion than from the
tenderness accompanying the joint trouble referred to. There had,
therefore, occurred, without any assignable cause—for the patient
was not under treatment for a year or more before the event—an
almost instantaneous restoration of sensation, locomotion, and
sexual power; all of which faculties, notwithstanding the infraction of
every medical direction given, remained established for two years,
with prospects of so continuing a longer period.
104 This was a trophic joint trouble.

TREATMENT.—Most of the therapeutic propositions relating to the


treatment of the acute myelitic process are based on the theory that
it is of a congestive character or associated with congestion.
Accordingly, the internal administration of such drugs as ergotin,
which diminish the calibre of the blood-vessels, and local measures,
such as depletion, wet cupping, and counter-irritation, intended to act
in the same way by derivation, are unanimously recommended by
authorities. The suggestion of Hammond, that the patient occupy a
ventral or lateral, and not the dorsal, position, is based on, and
entirely consistent with, this same view. It is difficult to say what
effect is attributable to these measures. Remarkable spontaneous
changes—retrogressions as well as advances of the morbid process
—occur equally under expectant as under active treatment. I have
never seen any improvement in the active phase of simple myelitis
which I felt confident I could attribute to any special remedy
employed with a view of acting directly on the morbid process.
Indeed, improvement has been claimed by Jewell as a result of the
use of strychnia—a drug which under the very dogmas governing the
orthodox treatment of the disease might be expected to do positive
damage.105
105 Jewell gives very large doses of this alkaloid. L. C. Gray, in a discussion held
before the American Neurological Association, cited numerous observations directly
conflicting with those of Jewell. I cannot, in view of a recent observation in a typical
case of acute anterior poliomyelitis, in which by accident the toxic effects of strychnia
were obtained, consider this dispute as at all settled. In direct connection with the
toxic symptoms the abolished patellar jerk returned in an exaggerated form; motion
also returned, and rapid improvement ensued.

In relapses of acute myelitis which had been brought on by chilling of


the feet I have obtained good results by derivation to the lower
extremities, and on many grounds think that the morbid process in
the cord, if it can be affected at all, can be affected by treating the
periphery where the symptoms are noted more readily than by
applying the cautery or bleeding over the proven site of the disease.
Exposure of the dorsal region to cold has not yet been noted as a
cause of acute myelitis, whereas such exposure of the lower
extremities is a frequent one. This seems to show that the spinal
cord is more vulnerable to influences affecting its nervous
distribution than to those which are topographically nearer. If this is
true as regards morbid influences, it may be urged that it is plausible
as regards remedial influences if these are to drive out the disease
tendency by the same door it entered.

Rest is imperative during the active progress of the disease. It may


be stated as a canon that the earlier the patient takes to his bed, and
the more thoroughly he obeys the injunction to attempt no motion of
the affected members, the better, cæteris paribus, will the result
obtained be. Countless cases are on record where a relapse was
directly traceable to a walk undertaken prematurely or carried farther
than was wise. As convalescence or partial restitution advances,
gradually increasing exercise is to be attempted, not waiting for the
danger-signal of a tired feeling to discontinue it; for that feeling,
developed, means positive harm already done. It is therefore
necessary to allow the returning function to be utilized only within
small limits at first, and extending them slowly.

In all cases of severe myelitis where the formation of bed-sores is to


be apprehended the water-bed should be employed. Owing to the
low temperature which the rubber sac constituting it has, it is

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