(co)Quasi-irreducible and (co)expanding random maps

Abstract

We study quasi-irreducibility, expansion, and their cotangent duals for random $C^1$ (local) diffeomorphisms on compact invariant sets of a Riemannian manifold. Quasi-irreducibility is defined through stationary lifts to the projective tangent bundle: every lift must realize the Furstenberg--Kifer formula for the top Lyapunov exponent. We prove that, for ergodic stationary measures, this is equivalent to the absence of equators, namely non-random invariant subbundles on which the top exponent drops. Under simplicity of the first Lyapunov exponent for every stationary measure, quasi-irreducibility is also equivalent to vertical mostly contraction, contraction on average, a vertical spectral gap, and uniqueness of stationary projective lifts. We then apply these criteria to continuity of the top Lyapunov exponent and to expansion on average. In particular, expansion is characterized by positivity of the top Lyapunov exponent on all non-random invariant subbundles; under quasi-irreducibility, it is equivalent to positivity of the top Lyapunov exponent for every stationary measure. Dual statements hold for coquasi-irreducibility, coequators, coexpansion, and continuity of the bottom Lyapunov exponent. We also describe the interplay between expansion and coexpansion and extend the formalism to Grassmannian bundles, obtaining higher-dimensional versions controlling intermediate sums of Lyapunov exponents.