Expansivity on commutative rings

Abstract

In this article we extend the notion of expansivity from topological dynamics to automorphisms of commutative rings with identity. We show that a ring admits a 0-expansive automorphism if and only if it is a finite product of local rings. Generalizing a well known result of compact metric spaces, we prove that if a ring admits a positively expansive automorphism then it admits finitely many maximal ideals. We prove its converse for principal ideal domains. We also consider the topological expansivity induced, in the spectrum of the ring with the Zariski topology, by an automorphism and some consequences are derived.