Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 November 2021
Let f be a smooth symplectic diffeomorphism of ${\mathbb R}^2$ admitting a (non-split) separatrix associated to a hyperbolic fixed point. We prove that if f is a perturbation of the time-1 map of a symplectic autonomous vector field, this separatrix is accumulated by a positive measure set of invariant circles. However, we provide examples of smooth symplectic diffeomorphisms with a Lyapunov unstable non-split separatrix that are not accumulated by invariant circles.
A preliminary version of this paper was discussed by the authors some months before Anatole Katok passed away in April 2018.