LAUSR

A compact space X is said to be minimal if there exists a map $$f:X\rightarrow X$$ f : X → X such that the forward orbit of any point is dense in X . We consider rigid minimal spaces, motivated by recent results of Downarowicz, Snoha and Tywoniuk (J Dyn Differ Equ, 29:243–257, 2017 ) on spaces with cyclic group of homeomorphisms generated by a minimal homeomorphism, and results of the first author, Clark and Oprocha (Adv Math, 335:261–275, 2018 ) on spaces in which the square of every homeomorphism is a power of the same minimal homeomorphism. We show that the two classes do not coincide, which gives rise to a new class of spaces that admit minimal homeomorphisms, but no minimal maps. We modify the latter class of examples to show for the first time existence of minimal spaces with degenerate homeomorphism groups. Finally, we give a method of constructing decomposable compact and connected spaces with cyclic group of homeomorphisms, generated by a minimal homeomorphism, answering a question in Downarowicz et al.