In mathematics, a measure-preserving dynamical system is an object of study in the abstract formulation of dynamical systems, and ergodic theory in particular.
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A measure-preserving dynamical system is defined as a probability space and a measure-preserving transformation on it. In more detail, it is a system

with the following structure:
is a σ-algebra over X,
is a probability measure, so that μ(X) = 1, and 
is a measurable transformation which preserves the measure μ, i. e. each
satisfies
This definition can be generalized to the case in which T is not a single transformation that is iterated to give the dynamics of the system, but instead is a monoid (or even a group) of transformations
parametrized by
(or
, or
, or
), where each transformation Ts satisfies the same requirements as T above. In particular, the transformations obey the rules
, the identity function on X;
, whenever all the terms are well-defined;
, whenever all the terms are well-defined.The earlier, simpler case fits into this framework by defining
for
.
The existence of invariant measures for certain maps and Markov processes is established by the Krylov–Bogolyubov theorem.
Examples include:
The concept of a homomorphism and an isomorphism may be defined.
Consider two dynamical systems
and
. Then a mapping

is a homomorphism of dynamical systems if it satisfies the following three properties:
, one has μ(ϕ − 1B) = ν(B),
, one has ϕ(Tx) = S(ϕx).The system
is then called a factor of
.
The map φ is an isomorphism of dynamical systems if, in addition, there exists another mapping

that is also a homomorphism, which satisfies
, one has x = ψ(ϕx)
, one has y = ϕ(ψy).A point
is called a generic point if the orbit of the point is distributed uniformly according to the measure.
Consider a dynamical system
, and let Q = { Q1, ..., Qk } be a partition of X into k measurable pair-wise disjoint pieces. Given a point x ∈ X, clearly x belongs to only one of the Qi. Similarly, the iterated point T nx can belong to only one of the parts as well. The symbolic name of x, with regards to the partition Q, is the sequence of integers {an} such that

The set of symbolic names with respect to a partition is called the symbolic dynamics of the dynamical system. A partition Q is called a generator or generating partition if μ-almost every point x has a unique symbolic name.
Given a partition Q = { Q1, ..., Qk } and a dynamical system
, we define T-pullback of Q as

Further, given two partitions Q = { Q1, ..., Qk } and R = { R1, ..., Rm }, we define their refinement
as

With these two constructs we may define refinement of an iterated pullback

which plays crucial role in the construction of the measure-theoretic entropy of a dynamical system.
The entropy of a partition Q is defined as

The measure-theoretic entropy of a dynamical system
with respect to a partition Q = { Q1, ..., Qk } is then defined as

Finally, the Kolmogorov–Sinai or measure-theoretic entropy of a dynamical system
is defined as

where the supremum is taken over all finite measurable partitions. A theorem of Yakov G. Sinai in 1959 shows that the supremum is actually obtained on partitions that are generators. Thus, for example, the entropy of the Bernoulli process is log 2, since every real number has a unique binary expansion. That is, one may partition the unit interval into the intervals [0, 1/2) and [1/2, 1]. Every real number x is either less than 1/2 or not; and likewise so is the fractional part of 2nx.
If the space X is compact and endowed with a topology, or is a metric space, then the topological entropy may also be defined.
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