Dynamics and entropy in local algebra

We introduce and study a notion of algebraic entropy for self-maps of finite length of Noetherian local rings, and develop its properties. We show that it shares the standard properties of topological entropy. For finite self-maps we explore the connection between the degree of the map and its algebraic entropy, when the ring is a Cohen-Macaulay domain. As an application of algebraic entropy, we give a characteristic-free interpretation of the definition of Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity.