The construction of a set of recurrence which is not a set of strong recurrence

This paper deals with two possible definitions of recurrence in measure preserving systems. A set of integersR is said to be a set of (Poincaré) recurrence if, for all measure preserving systems (X, B, μ, T) and any measurable setA of positive measure, there is anr εR such thatμ(T ^r A∩A)>0.R is said to be a set of strong recurrence if, for all measure preserving systems (X, B, μ, T) and any measurable setA of positive measure, there is ane>0 and an infinite number of elementsr ofR such thatμ(T ^r A∩A)≥e (see Bergelson’s 1985 paper). This paper constructs a set of recurrenceR, an example of a measure preserving system (X, B, μ, T) and a measurable setA of measure 1/2, such that lim _{r→∞:rεRμ} (A∩T ^r A)=0. In particularR is a set of recurrence but not a set of strong recurrence, giving a negative answer to a question of Bergelson posed in 1985. Further, it also constructs a set of recurrence which does not force the continuity of positive measures and so reproves a result of Bourgain published in 1987. This paper forms a part of the author’s Ph.D. Thesis at the Ohio State University. The author wishes to thank his advisor, Professor Bergelson, for suggesting the problem of this paper and for his guidance.