Higher Dimensional Birkhoff attractors (with an appendix by Maxime Zavidovique)

Abstract

We extend to higher dimensions the notion of Birkhoff attractor of a dissipative map. We prove that this notion coincides with the classical Birkhoff attractor. We prove that for the dissipative system associated to the discounted Hamilton-Jacobi equation the graph of a solution is contained in the Birkhoff attractor. We also study what happens when we perturb a Hamiltonian system to make it dissipative and let the perturbation go to zero. The paper contains two important results on $γ$-supports and elements of the $γ$-completion of the space of exact Lagrangians. Firstly the $γ$-support of a Lagrangian in a cotangent bundle carries the cohomology of the base and secondly given an exact Lagrangian $L$, any Floer theoretic equivalent Lagrangian is the $γ$-limit of Hamiltonian images of $L$. The appendix provides instructive counter-examples.