Infinite-horizon Lorentz tubes and gases: recurrence and ergodic properties

Abstract

We construct classes of two-dimensional aperiodic Lorentz systems that have infinite horizon and are 'chaotic', in the sense that they are (Poincaré) recurrent, uniformly hyperbolic, ergodic, and the first-return map to any scatterer is $K$-mixing. In the case of the Lorentz tubes (i.e., Lorentz gases in a strip), we define general measured families of systems (\emph{ensembles}) for which the above properties occur with probability 1. In the case of the Lorentz gases in the plane, we define families, endowed with a natural metric, within which the set of all chaotic dynamical systems is uncountable and dense.

Final version, to appear in Physica D (2011)