Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2014
An algebraic flip system is an action of the infinite dihedral group by automorphisms of a compact abelian group $X$. In this paper, a fundamental structure theorem is established for irreducible algebraic flip systems, that is, systems for which the only closed invariant subgroups of $X$ are finite. Using irreducible systems as a foundation, for expansive algebraic flip systems, periodic point counting estimates are obtained that lead to the orbit growth estimate