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Entropy and Its Variational Principle for Locally Compact Metrizable Systems

For a given topological dynamical system $(X,T)$ over a compact set $X$ with a metric $d$, the "variational principle" states that \begin{equation*} \sup_μh_μ(T) = h(T) = h_d(T), \end{equation*} where $h_μ(T)$ is the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, with the supremum taken over every $T$-invariant probability measure, $h_d(T)$ is the Bowen entropy, and $h(T)$ is the topological entropy as defined by Adler, Konheim and McAndrew. In [9], the concept of topological entropy was adapted for the case where $T$ is a proper map and $X$ is locally compact separable and metrizable, and the variational principle was extended to \begin{equation*} \sup_μh_μ(T) = h(T) = \min_d h_d(T), \end{equation*} where the minimum is taken over every distance compatible with the topology of $X$. In the present work, we dropped the properness assumption, extending the above result for any continuous map $T$. We also apply our results to extend some previous formulas for the topological entropy of continuous endomorphisms of connected Lie groups proved in [4]. In particular, we prove that any linear transformation $T: V \to V$ over a finite dimensional vector space $V$ has null topological entropy.