Hamiltonian Reduction by Stages


Book Description

This volume provides a detailed account of the theory of symplectic reduction by stages, along with numerous illustrations of the theory. It gives special emphasis to group extensions, including a detailed discussion of the Euclidean group, the oscillator group, the Bott-Virasoro group and other groups of matrices. The volume also provides ample background theory on symplectic reduction and cotangent bundle reduction.




Momentum Maps and Hamiltonian Reduction


Book Description

* Winner of the Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize in 2000. * Reviews the necessary prerequisites, beginning with an introduction to Lie symmetries on Poisson and symplectic manifolds. * Currently in classroom use in Europe. * Can serve as a resource for graduate courses and seminars in Hamiltonian mechanics and symmetry, symplectic and Poisson geometry, Lie theory, mathematical physics, and as a comprehensive reference resource for researchers.




Hamiltonian Reduction by Stages


Book Description

In this volume readers will find for the first time a detailed account of the theory of symplectic reduction by stages, along with numerous illustrations of the theory. Special emphasis is given to group extensions, including a detailed discussion of the Euclidean group, the oscillator group, the Bott-Virasoro group and other groups of matrices. Ample background theory on symplectic reduction and cotangent bundle reduction in particular is provided. Novel features of the book are the inclusion of a systematic treatment of the cotangent bundle case, including the identification of cocycles with magnetic terms, as well as the general theory of singular reduction by stages.




Lagrangian Reduction by Stages


Book Description

This booklet studies the geometry of the reduction of Lagrangian systems with symmetry in a way that allows the reduction process to be repeated; that is, it develops a context for Lagrangian reduction by stages. The Lagrangian reduction procedure focuses on the geometry of variational structures and how to reduce them to quotient spaces under group actions. This philosophy is well known for the classical cases, such as Routh reduction for systems with cyclic variables (where the symmetry group is Abelian) and Euler-Poincare reduction (for the case in which the configuration space is a Lie group) as well as Euler-Poincare reduction for semidirect products.




Lectures on Symplectic Geometry


Book Description

The goal of these notes is to provide a fast introduction to symplectic geometry for graduate students with some knowledge of differential geometry, de Rham theory and classical Lie groups. This text addresses symplectomorphisms, local forms, contact manifolds, compatible almost complex structures, Kaehler manifolds, hamiltonian mechanics, moment maps, symplectic reduction and symplectic toric manifolds. It contains guided problems, called homework, designed to complement the exposition or extend the reader's understanding. There are by now excellent references on symplectic geometry, a subset of which is in the bibliography of this book. However, the most efficient introduction to a subject is often a short elementary treatment, and these notes attempt to serve that purpose. This text provides a taste of areas of current research and will prepare the reader to explore recent papers and extensive books on symplectic geometry where the pace is much faster. For this reprint numerous corrections and clarifications have been made, and the layout has been improved.




Global Formulations of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics on Manifolds


Book Description

This book provides an accessible introduction to the variational formulation of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, with a novel emphasis on global descriptions of the dynamics, which is a significant conceptual departure from more traditional approaches based on the use of local coordinates on the configuration manifold. In particular, we introduce a general methodology for obtaining globally valid equations of motion on configuration manifolds that are Lie groups, homogeneous spaces, and embedded manifolds, thereby avoiding the difficulties associated with coordinate singularities. The material is presented in an approachable fashion by considering concrete configuration manifolds of increasing complexity, which then motivates and naturally leads to the more general formulation that follows. Understanding of the material is enhanced by numerous in-depth examples throughout the book, culminating in non-trivial applications involving multi-body systems. This book is written for a general audience of mathematicians, engineers, and physicists with a basic knowledge of mechanics. Some basic background in differential geometry is helpful, but not essential, as the relevant concepts are introduced in the book, thereby making the material accessible to a broad audience, and suitable for either self-study or as the basis for a graduate course in applied mathematics, engineering, or physics.




Geometric Mechanics - Part I: Dynamics And Symmetry (2nd Edition)


Book Description

See also GEOMETRIC MECHANICS — Part II: Rotating, Translating and Rolling (2nd Edition) This textbook introduces the tools and language of modern geometric mechanics to advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in mathematics, physics and engineering. It treats the fundamental problems of dynamical systems from the viewpoint of Lie group symmetry in variational principles. The only prerequisites are linear algebra, calculus and some familiarity with Hamilton's principle and canonical Poisson brackets in classical mechanics at the beginning undergraduate level.The ideas and concepts of geometric mechanics are explained in the context of explicit examples. Through these examples, the student develops skills in performing computational manipulations, starting from Fermat's principle, working through the theory of differential forms on manifolds and transferring these ideas to the applications of reduction by symmetry to reveal Lie-Poisson Hamiltonian formulations and momentum maps in physical applications.The many Exercises and Worked Answers in the text enable the student to grasp the essential aspects of the subject. In addition, the modern language and application of differential forms is explained in the context of geometric mechanics, so that the importance of Lie derivatives and their flows is clear. All theorems are stated and proved explicitly.The organisation of the first edition has been preserved in the second edition. However, the substance of the text has been rewritten throughout to improve the flow and to enrich the development of the material. In particular, the role of Noether's theorem about the implications of Lie group symmetries for conservation laws of dynamical systems has been emphasised throughout, with many applications./a




Mathematics of Complexity and Dynamical Systems


Book Description

Mathematics of Complexity and Dynamical Systems is an authoritative reference to the basic tools and concepts of complexity, systems theory, and dynamical systems from the perspective of pure and applied mathematics. Complex systems are systems that comprise many interacting parts with the ability to generate a new quality of collective behavior through self-organization, e.g. the spontaneous formation of temporal, spatial or functional structures. These systems are often characterized by extreme sensitivity to initial conditions as well as emergent behavior that are not readily predictable or even completely deterministic. The more than 100 entries in this wide-ranging, single source work provide a comprehensive explication of the theory and applications of mathematical complexity, covering ergodic theory, fractals and multifractals, dynamical systems, perturbation theory, solitons, systems and control theory, and related topics. Mathematics of Complexity and Dynamical Systems is an essential reference for all those interested in mathematical complexity, from undergraduate and graduate students up through professional researchers.




Geometric Mechanics and Symmetry


Book Description

The lectures in this 2005 book are intended to bring young researchers to the current frontier of knowledge in geometrical mechanics and dynamical systems.




Hamiltonian Group Actions and Equivariant Cohomology


Book Description

This monograph could be used for a graduate course on symplectic geometry as well as for independent study. The monograph starts with an introduction of symplectic vector spaces, followed by symplectic manifolds and then Hamiltonian group actions and the Darboux theorem. After discussing moment maps and orbits of the coadjoint action, symplectic quotients are studied. The convexity theorem and toric manifolds come next and we give a comprehensive treatment of Equivariant cohomology. The monograph also contains detailed treatment of the Duistermaat-Heckman Theorem, geometric quantization, and flat connections on 2-manifolds. Finally, there is an appendix which provides background material on Lie groups. A course on differential topology is an essential prerequisite for this course. Some of the later material will be more accessible to readers who have had a basic course on algebraic topology. For some of the later chapters, it would be helpful to have some background on representation theory and complex geometry.