On the existence of periodic invariant curves for analytic families of twist maps and billiards

Abstract: In this paper we prove that in any analytic one-parameter family of twist maps of the annulus, homotopically invariant curves filled with periodic points corresponding to a given rotation number, either exist for all values of the parameters or at most for a discrete subset. Moreover, we show that the set of analytic twist maps having such an invariant curve of a given rotation number is a strict analytic subset of the set of analytic twist maps. The first result extends, in dimension 2, a previous result by Arnaud, Massetti and Sorrentino. We then apply our result to rational caustics of billiards, considering several models such as Birkhoff billiards, outer billiards and symplectic billiards.