On the ergodicity of geodesic flows on surfaces of nonpositive curvature

Abstract

Let $M$ be a smooth compact surface of nonpositive curvature, with genus $\geq 2$. We prove the ergodicity of the geodesic flow on the unit tangent bundle of $M$ with respect to the Liouville measure under the condition that the set of points with negative curvature on $M$ has finitely many connected components. Under the same condition, we prove that a non closed "flat" geodesic doesn't exist, and moreover, there are at most finitely many flat strips, and at most finitely many isolated closed "flat" geodesics.