An almost sure ergodic theorem for quasistatic dynamical systems

Abstract

We prove almost sure ergodic theorems for a class of systems called quasistatic dynamical systems. These results are needed, because the usual theorem due to Birkhoff does not apply in the absence of invariant measures. We also introduce the concept of a physical family of measures for a quasistatic dynamical system. These objects manifest themselves, for instance, in numerical experiments. We then verify the conditions of the theorems and identify physical families of measures for two concrete models, quasistatic expanding systems and quasistatic dispersing billiards.