Efficient computation of statistical properties of intermittent dynamics

Abstract

Intermittent maps of the interval are simple and widely-studied models for chaos with slow mixing rates, but have been notoriously resistant to numerical study. In this paper we present an effective framework to compute many ergodic properties of these systems, in particular invariant measures and mean return times. The framework combines three ingredients that each harness the smooth structure of these systems' induced maps: Abel functions to compute the action of the induced maps, Euler-Maclaurin summation to compute the pointwise action of their transfer operators, and Chebyshev Galerkin discretisations to compute the spectral data of the transfer operators. The combination of these techniques allows one to obtain exponential convergence of estimates for polynomially growing computational outlay, independent of the order of the map's neutral fixed point. This enables effective numerical exploration of intermittent dynamics in all parameter regimes, including in the infinite ergodic regime.