Observing expansive maps

Abstract

We consider the problem of the observability of positively expansive maps by the time series associated to continuous real functions. For this purpose we prove a general result on the generic observability of a locally injective map of a compact metric space of finite topological dimension, extending earlier work by Gutman [6]. We apply this result to partially solve the problem of finding the minimal number of functions needed to observe a positively expansive map. We prove that two functions are necessary and sufficient for positively expansive maps on tori.