Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4592645 Journal of Functional Analysis 2008 15 Pages PDF
Abstract

Lyapunov exponents of a dynamical system are a useful tool to gauge the stability and complexity of the system. This paper offers a definition of Lyapunov exponents for a sequence of free linear operators. The definition is based on the concept of the extended Fuglede–Kadison determinant. We establish the existence of Lyapunov exponents, derive formulas for their calculation, and show that Lyapunov exponents of free variables are additive with respect to operator product. We illustrate these results using an example of free operators whose singular values are distributed by the Marchenko–Pastur law, and relate this example to C.M. Newman's “triangle” law for the distribution of Lyapunov exponents of large random matrices with independent Gaussian entries. As an interesting by-product of our results, we derive a relation between the extended Fuglede–Kadison determinant and Voiculescu's S-transform.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Mathematics Algebra and Number Theory