Geodesic Flow on Negative Curvature — Ergodicity

On surfaces of constant negative curvature (hyperbolic plane quotients), geodesic flow is ergodic and mixing. Nearby trajectories diverge exponentially — the simplest chaotic dynamical system.

Parameters

Key Theorem

Hopf (1939): Geodesic flow on a compact surface of negative curvature is ergodic — time averages equal space averages for a.e. trajectory.

Lyapunov exponent λ > 0: neighboring geodesics diverge as e^{λt}.

This is the simplest proven example of deterministic chaos.

Poincaré Disk Model

Hyperbolic plane: metric ds² = 4(dx²+dy²)/(1−r²)²

Geodesics = circular arcs orthogonal to boundary (or diameters).

Ideal boundary = {|z|=1} — points at "infinity" (never reached in finite time).

Divergence

Lyapunov: ~0.00