Smooth rigidity for codimension one Anosov flows

Andrey Gogolev, Federico Rodriguez Hertz

Published 2021-12-02, updated 2022-06-13Version 2

We introduce the matching functions technique in the setting of Anosov flows. Then we observe that simple periodic cycle functionals (also known as temporal distance functions) provide a source of matching functions for conjugate Anosov flows. For conservative codimension one Anosov flows $\varphi^t\colon M\to M$, $\dim M\ge 4$, these simple periodic cycle functionals are $C^1$ regular and, hence, can be used to improve regularity of the conjugacy. Specifically, we prove that a continuous conjugacy must, in fact, be a $C^1$ diffeomorphism for an open and dense set of codimension one conservative Anosov flows.