Questions tagged [classical-mechanics]

Mathematics of classical mechanics, including Hamiltonian mechanics, Lagrangian mechanics, applications of symplectic geometry to mechanics, deterministic chaos, resonance etc.

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an example on kinematical theory in the book "A treatise on the analytical dynamics of particles and rigid bodies"

In page 3, Example 1 says "A lamina moves in any manner in its plane. Prove that the locus at any instant of points which are at inflexions of their paths is a circle, which touches the loci in the ...
9 votes
1 answer
696 views

When does a Lagrangian dynamical system have an equivalent Hamiltonian description?

Let a Lagrangian dynamical system with $n$ degrees of freedom and configuration space $\mathbb{R}^n$ (i.e. phase space $\mathbb{R}^{2n}$), which is described by $L=L(q_{i},\dot{q}_{i},t)$, $i=1,2,......
2 votes
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From Boundary to righthandside

I have a problem coming from linear elasticity in $(x,y,z)\in\mathbb{R}^2\times \mathbb{R}^+$, $t\in \mathbb R$: $$\left\{\begin{aligned}\partial_{tt} \sigma&=A(D_x,D_y,D_z) \sigma\\ \sigma\big|...
10 votes
1 answer
486 views

Ping-pong progress through a quincunx

A quincunx or Galton board consists of staggered pegs from which ping-pong balls bounce and eventually display a binomial / normal distribution in catch-bins. I am wondering if the downward progress ...
17 votes
2 answers
547 views

Construction of an optimal electron cage

I will describe the question first in 2D, but my interest is in $\mathbb{R}^3$. An electron $x$ will shoot from the origin along an initial vector $v$. You know the speed $|v|$ but not the direction. ...
3 votes
0 answers
102 views

Is there any connection between Lagrange points and the icosahedron?

Given the Newtonian two-body problem, one can ask if there are any orbits that allow a test particle to maintain a fixed configuration relative to the two bodies. In other words, in a frame that ...
27 votes
4 answers
2k views

Stability of the Solar System

Is the Solar System stable? You can see this Wikipedia page. In May 2015 I was at the conference of Cedric Villani at Sharif university of technology with this title: "Of planets, stars and ...
2 votes
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284 views

In search for a more geometric proof of a result of van der Schaft and Maschke on nonholonomic mechanics

Edit: Now I have found something that appears to answer my own question. It is section 2 in the paper "On Submanifolds and Quotients of Poisson and Jacobi Manifolds" by Ch.-M. Marle. (There, he ...
1 vote
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The isotropy group for the Euler-Lagrange vector-fields

Let $Q$ be a manifold, and let $X_{EL}$ be a second order vector-field on $TQ$ derived from the Euler-Lagrange equation, $$ \frac{d}{dt} \left( \frac{\partial L}{\partial \dot{q} } \right) - \frac{ \...
5 votes
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A soft question on Gauge Equivalence in Integrable Systems

I have a question about two well-known spectral problems in Integrable Systems. These are the Dirac and the ZS-AKNS spectral problems. They are are known to be gauge equivalent (please see equations (...
1 vote
1 answer
94 views

One problem about tower stability [closed]

Some years ago i asked myself a question that I still can not answer. Here it is: A given tower consists of finite homogeneous cubic blocks staying one on another and equal to each other. What is ...
4 votes
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Dynamics of pairwise distances in the $n$-body problem

Disclaimer: I have asked this question on Physics SE a week ago, but got no answers. I know that some MO users are interested in the $n$-body problem, so I decided to cross post here as well. ...
5 votes
3 answers
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turbulence as an unsolved problem of classical mechanics

Why is it that turbulence is considered to be an unsolved problem of classical mechanics? What is meant by "unsolved"? Don't the Navier-Stokes equations apply to turbulent flows? It's difficult to ...
0 votes
1 answer
83 views

underdamped oscillation with quadratic decay

I know that for a 2nd order linear differential equation system, there are 3 possible scenarios: over-damped, critically damped and underdamped. For the underdamped case the solutions are of the form: ...
32 votes
5 answers
11k views

Differentiable functions with discontinuous derivatives

For years I've taught my honors calculus students about functions like (the continuous extension of) $x^2 \sin 1/x$, and for just as many years I've told them that they won't encounter functions like ...
9 votes
2 answers
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Classical Limit of Feynman Path Integral

I understand that in the limit that $\hbar$ goes to zero, the Feynman path integral is dominated by the classical path, and then using the stationary phase approximation we can derive an approximation ...
6 votes
2 answers
930 views

Poincaré Recurrence and Dense Sets

This is kind of a spin-off of the question asked here. Take the interval $X:=[0,1]$ with $\mu$ being standard Lebesgue measure. Let $f$ be a measure preserving map $f:[0,1]\rightarrow [0,1]$. The ...
8 votes
2 answers
315 views

Poisson structures on non-smooth manifolds with singularities

It's very known how we can describe a Poisson structure on a manifold $M$, where $M$ is a smooth manifold, but what about a Non-smooth manifold with singularities? In section $(2)$ of the paper The ...
2 votes
1 answer
497 views

Invariance of the Noether charge

The paper http://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/1023098 (Generalizations of Noether’s Theorem in Classical Mechanics, by Willy Sarlet and Frans Cantrijn) mentions "an interesting property of the ...
25 votes
1 answer
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Bouncing a ball down the stairs

In a nutshell, the question is whether it can be faster to bounce a ball down an infinite flight of stairs than to bounce it down a ramp with the same slope. To be more specific: this is a $2$ ...
7 votes
0 answers
471 views

Question about theorem in Arnold's book on action-angles variables

I have a question about the action-angle theorem on p. 283 in Arnold's textbook on classical mechanics.(I added the link to this book in the last part of this question) If you don't have the book or ...
3 votes
1 answer
323 views

Local symplectomorphisms become global ones?

It is widely known that a local diffeomorphism is not necessarily a global diffeomosphism and so on. Now, I stumbled over the question whether in some particular cases, as I will describe below, ...
4 votes
1 answer
371 views

Find a maximizing solution to an ODE which depends on a paramater function

(For the physical meaning of this problem see https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/122818/how-should-i-throttle-my-rocket-to-reach-highest-altitude). Given $g \in (0,\infty), k \in C^1( [0, \...
23 votes
5 answers
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Can the equation of motion with friction be written as Euler-Lagrange equation, and does it have a quantum version?

My (non-expert) impression is that many physically important equations of motion can be obtained as Euler-Lagrange equations. For example in quantum fields theories and in quantum mechanics quantum ...
7 votes
0 answers
160 views

Kinematics of rolling knots

It is well known that there are trefoil knots without tritangent planes, and with 3d printers one can print these beautiful objects and make them roll on planes. (An example:https://www.youtube.com/...
0 votes
1 answer
287 views

Lagrangian flow preserves symplectic form

Let $X$ be a configuration space and $L: TX \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ a Lagrangian. Then I want to show that the Lagrangian flow $F^t(x(0),x'(0)) = (x(t),x'(t))$ preserves the symplectic form just like ...
3 votes
1 answer
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higher order Noether identities

Noether's second variational theorem gives a correspondence between symmetries of a Lagrangian and Noether identities, which are relations among the Euler–Lagrange equations. How about relations ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

1-jet bundle on vector bundle with metric connection

Background I'm working to simplify the Lagrangian formalism of classical field theory for the situation of a vector bundle with a bundle metric and a metric connection. Particularly, I want to specify ...
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Momentum a cotangent vector

Apparently one identifies the configuration space in physics often with a manifold $M$. The tangent bundle $TM$ is then the space of all possible positions and velocities. Furthermore, many sources ...
3 votes
0 answers
131 views

Motivation for the existence of periodic solutions [closed]

I have been reading the book Critical Point Theory and Hamiltonian System by Mawhin and Willem, as well as several other papers on the existence of periodic solutions for equations of the form $$\ddot{...
19 votes
2 answers
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*The* open problem in General Relativity?

Q. Is there a single, clear mathematical question that has emerged as the open problem in General Relativity? I ask this on the ~100th anniversary of Einstein's (4-page!) 1915 paper, "Die ...
3 votes
0 answers
175 views

Dynamics of electrons on a sphere

Suppose one place $n$ electrons closely surrounding the north pole of a sphere, forming a perfect planar regular $n$-gon:           Q1. What will happen if the electrons ...
1 vote
0 answers
114 views

Shortest rope to capture a sphere of diameter 1 [duplicate]

I have a perfect rigid sphere of diameter 1. I have infinite supply of rope. The rope is infinitely flexible and can be cut or glued without losing or adding length. The rope can be glued at any ...
4 votes
1 answer
278 views

Stable equilibria of points on the 2-sphere

Suppose $n$ points lie on the sphere $S^2=\{x\in\mathbb{R}^3\mid \|x\|=1\}$ and are subjected to a repulsive acceleration that pushes away a point from each other point with an intensity proportional ...
2 votes
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163 views

Nature of separatrix in Fokker--Planck Hamiltonian with two degrees of freedom

Background The semiclassical (weak noise, small $D$) limit of the Fokker--Planck equation $$\frac{\partial P}{\partial t}=D\frac{\partial^2 P}{\partial x^2}-\frac{\partial}{\partial x}(v(x) P)$$ can ...
4 votes
1 answer
378 views

Weinstein's local classification of Lagrangian foliations

In the paper "Symplectic manifolds and their Lagrangian submanifolds", Weinstein showed that locally all the Lagrangian foliations are symplectomorhic to the fiber foliation of a cotangent bundle. I ...
3 votes
0 answers
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A taut string of equilateral triangles

Let $T$ be a unit edge-length equilateral triangle composed of three cylinders each of (small) radius $r>0$. (By "small" I mean approximately $< 0.1$.) Think of $T$ as a physical, rigid triangle,...
6 votes
1 answer
543 views

Is there a sideways-walking rolling convex body?

Let $K$ be a solid, homogenous convex body in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Place $K$ on an inclined plane, and let it roll down the plane, under some reasonable assumptions of friction between $K$ and the plane, ...
17 votes
6 answers
3k views

Catenary curve under non-uniform gravitational field

The catenary curve is the shape of a chain hanging between two equal-height poles under the influence of gravity. But the derivation of the (hyperbolic cosine) curve equation from the physics ...
15 votes
9 answers
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Newton equations, second order equation and (im)possible motions

I am am currently studying Newtonian mechanics from a conceptional and axiomatic point of view. Now, if I am not mistaken, one (but surely not all) statement of Newtons second law about nature is, ...
7 votes
2 answers
266 views

Well-definedness of single-particle smooth billiards flow

Single-particle billiards systems in a domain with corners, or multi-particle billiards in a domain with smooth boundary, can exhibit singularities in finite time. (The former phenomenon is well known;...
9 votes
0 answers
365 views

Periodic orbits of a spinning ball in a square

Periodic orbits of a billiard ball bouncing in a square have been well-studied. I am seeking similar analysis of what is sometimes called a rough ball, one whose high friction causes it to pick up ...
3 votes
0 answers
557 views

Find a second integral for Arnold's example

Consider Arnold's example for Arnold diffusion 1964. $$H=I_1^2/2+I_2^2/2+\epsilon(1-\cos\theta_2)(1+\mu(\sin\theta_1+\sin t)) $$ We can first make it a system of three degrees of freedom. Then we ...
9 votes
1 answer
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Oloid and sphericon: rolling develops entire surface

Wikipedia says that, "The oloid is one of the only known objects, along with some members of the sphericon family, that while rolling, develops its entire surface." Below are illustrations of ...
-1 votes
2 answers
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Regarding understanding differential geometry [closed]

I am essentially looking for a book that would hold my hand through basic concepts to more complicated ones. I am coming from physics. I am looking to make some connections with Classical mechanics ...
39 votes
3 answers
6k views

On linear independence of exponentials

Problem. Let $\{\lambda_n\}_{n\in\mathbb N}$ be a sequence of complex numbers . Let's call a family of exponential functions $\{\exp (\lambda_n s)\}_{n\in\mathbb N}$ $F$-independent (where $F$ is ...
4 votes
1 answer
255 views

Minimizing action squared versus action

I have a very basic question in the calculus of variations: Suppose I want to minimize the functional $$A[r, r'] = \int_\Omega L(r, r') dx $$ When is it possible to say that extremals of $A$ agree ...
6 votes
3 answers
447 views

Do there exist small neighborhoods in a classical mechanical system without pairs of focal points?

The question I will ask makes sense in much more generality, but I will leave the translation to the experts, since I'm only looking for a special case (and it would not surprise me if the answer does ...
3 votes
0 answers
166 views

How to find solutions of non-linear ODE with particular BCs

What are some methods, numerical or otherwise, of finding solutions to nonlinear ODEs that satisfy particular boundary conditions? In particular, I'm looking for curves y(s) constrained to a ...
6 votes
1 answer
346 views

Relation between Lee and Yang' s "circle theorem", zeta functions and Weil conjectures?

Ruelle mentions ( http://www.ihes.fr/~ruelle/PUBLICATIONS/%5B94%5D.pdf ) Lee and Yang' s "circle theorem", which comes from statistical mechanics and shall have not yet explored connections with zeta ...