The σ-isotypic decomposition and the σ-index of reversible-equivariant systems

This work is concerned with dynamical systems in presence of symmetries and reversing symmetries. We describe a construction process of subspaces that are invariant by linear Γ-reversible-equivariant mappings, where Γ is the compact Lie group of all the symmetries and reversing symmetries of such systems. These subspaces are the σ-isotypic components, first introduced by Lamb and Roberts in (1999) [10] and that correspond to the isotypic components for purely equivariant systems. In addition, by representation theory methods derived from the topological structure of the group Γ, two algebraic formulae are established for the computation of the σ-index of a closed subgroup of Γ. The results obtained here are to be applied to general reversible-equivariant systems, but are of particular interest for the more subtle of the two possible cases, namely the non-self-dual case. Some examples are presented.