Smooth orbit equivalence rigidity for dissipative geodesic flows

Abstract

Let $M$ be a smooth closed oriented surface. Gaussian thermostats on $M$ correspond to the geodesic flows arising from metric connections, including those with non-zero torsion. These flows may not preserve any absolutely continuous measure. We prove that if two Gaussian thermostats on $M$ with negative thermostat curvature are related by a smooth orbit equivalence isotopic to the identity, then the two background metrics are conformally equivalent via a smooth diffeomorphism of $M$ isotopic to the identity. We also give a relationship between the thermostat forms themselves. Finally, we prove the same result for Anosov magnetic flows.