Questions tagged [classical-mechanics]
Mathematics of classical mechanics, including Hamiltonian mechanics, Lagrangian mechanics, applications of symplectic geometry to mechanics, deterministic chaos, resonance etc.
53 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Functions approximated by rolling epicycle curves
Imagine a decreasing sequence of (positive) radii $r_1 > r_2 > r_3 > \cdots$
and a series of nested circles $C_1 \supset C_2 \supset C_3 \supset \cdots$
with these radii,
initially each ...
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12
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0
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398
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A model of pillows
(The same system with slightly different questions has been asked in MSE.)
Let $\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^2$ be some simply connected planar domain. We seek for a mapping $\mathbf{r}:\Omega\rightarrow \...
- 134
11
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0
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233
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Mathematical pendulum and $\mathbb C P^n$
I am very puzzled by the following remark on p.346 in Arnold's book "Mathematical methods of classical mechanics":
Another method of construction the same symplectic structure on complex ...
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10
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0
answers
658
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Determinant as a Hamiltonian
Are there two symplectic structures $\omega_1, \omega_2$ on $M_{2n}(\mathbb{R})$ such that the function $Det:M_{2n}(\mathbb{R})\to \mathbb{R}$ is completely integrable with respect to $\omega_{1}$...
- 366
9
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0
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368
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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 ...
- 151k
8
votes
0
answers
246
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Billiards with incompatible regions
An existing question asks whether "almost every" two-dimensional billiard possesses at least one orbit that is dense in its interior. My question is about the following set of strong counter-examples:...
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7
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0
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336
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Hanging a cube with string
This is a variation on a (much) earlier MO question, Hanging a ball with string.
Here instead the task is to arrange a net of string to hang
a unit cube. Assume:
The string is inelastic.
There is no ...
- 151k
7
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0
answers
102
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Is there a convex three-dimensional body with constant width and only finitely-many equilibria? Or: do spheroform gömböcök exist?
Mathematical questions. The mathematical (and 'gravity'-free) formulation of the question in the title is given by the following questions:
Q1. Does there exist $(a,b)\in\omega^2\setminus\{(0,0)\}$ ...
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7
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0
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479
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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 ...
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7
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0
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162
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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/...
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6
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0
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159
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Nonlinear-PDE arising from flat conformal Chebyshev nets
Consider a flat, simply connected surface endowed with the Riemannian metric $g_0=e^{2\Omega(u,v)}\left(\mathbb{d}^2u +\mathbb{d}^2v \right)$, so that $\Omega(u,v)$ is an arbitrary harmonic function. ...
- 134
6
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237
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Generalization of the non-existence of a monostatic planar body
Domokos, Papadopulos, and Ruina showed that there does not exist a convex planar rigid body of uniform density which has only
one orientation of stable equilibrium and one orientation of unstable ...
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6
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0
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450
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Differential equation of line tangent to caustics
This problem (or rather, statement that I cannot understand) has arisen in a paper I have been reading "Geometry of Integrable Billiards and Pencils of Quadrics" by Dragovic and Radnovic. I'd be most ...
- 281
5
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0
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166
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Pocket billiards with balls in general position
There were at least two earlier MO questions about ideal pocket billiards.
(Ideal: frictionless, perfectly elastic collisions.)
Perfectly centered break of a perfectly aligned pool ball rack.
Does ...
- 151k
5
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0
answers
241
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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 (...
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4
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158
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On moments of inertia of planar and 3D convex bodies
The following observation can be readily proved using the perpendicular axes theorem and intermediate value theorem: "Given any planar figure C, through any point on it, there is at least one ...
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4
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235
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Generalising Bäcklund transform to solve $\omega''(t)=t\sin\omega(t)$
Bäcklund transformations may be used also in ODE to solve non-linear problems; for instance, it's well known that for the equation
$$
\frac{\mathrm{d}^2\omega}{\mathrm{d}t^2}=\sin\omega
\tag{*}\label{...
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4
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0
answers
116
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Dynamics of pairwise distances in the $n$-body problem
Disclaimer: I have asked this question on Physics SE a week ago, but got no answers. I know that some MO users are interested in the $n$-body problem, so I decided to cross post here as well.
...
3
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107
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Mathematical formulation of beam: get stress/strain from forces and momentum
I'm working with static beams with Euler–Bernoulli model which ODE is
$$
\dfrac{d^2}{dx^2} \left(EI \cdot \dfrac{d^2w}{dx^2}\right) = q(x).
$$
With a beam along the $x$ axis, the solution consists of ...
- 253
3
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0
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239
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How to mix Lagrange mechanics + KKT conditions?
Question: How can I mix the concepts of Lagrange Mechanics and KKT conditions? I've learned that Lagrange Mechanics derivation comes from variational calculus, and in some formulations, we can add ...
- 253
3
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0
answers
170
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Non-linear, hyperbolic, 2nd order system of PDEs
This is a cross-post.
In the context of two dimensional elasticity theory, when considering deformations of flat membranes into spherical caps, one encounters the following hyperbolic system
\begin{...
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3
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0
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103
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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 ...
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3
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0
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179
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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 ...
- 151k
3
votes
0
answers
122
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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,...
- 151k
3
votes
0
answers
167
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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 ...
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3
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0
answers
194
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Rigid-body in a central field: orbital and attitude motion
Question
I would like to find a nice set of explicit coordinates for the family (parametrised by angular momentum) of reduced systems representing a rigid-body in a central field
in which the orbital ...
3
votes
0
answers
174
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What happens when Appell-Chetaev's rule for constrained mechanical systems is not applicable?
Background:
Let be given a mechanical system whose configuration space is a manifold $Q$, and the kinetic energy is a metric $K$ on $Q$, in presence of a potential function $V$.
Let us identify the ...
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3
votes
0
answers
559
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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 ...
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2
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0
answers
53
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Symplectic (or alike) integrator for system with Coulomb singularity and time-dependent potentials
I am trying to calculate classical trajectories for a single a ion and a single electron inside an RF trap. Therefore, I am dealing with a two-body system that possesses:
Coulomb potential with a ...
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2
votes
0
answers
74
views
Nonintegrable classical dynamical systems and deterministic chaos
I'm trying to delineate a minimal (and informal) "taxonomy" for classical continuous dynamical systems that could be interested by the phenomenon of "chaos" - unfortunately the ...
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2
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0
answers
491
views
How to make sense of the Euler Lagrange equations for an infinite action?
The Euler–Lagrange equation is an equation satisfied by a function $q$, which is a stationary point of the functional
$S(\boldsymbol q) = \int_a^b L(t,q(t),\dot{q}(t))\, \mathrm{d}t$
Say we have an ...
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2
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0
answers
141
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Formulation of contour variational problem
I am having difficulty formulating a problem, which involves optimizing a contour shape, into a well-posed variational form that would give a reasonable answer.
Within a bounded region on the $xy$ ...
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2
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0
answers
52
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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|...
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2
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0
answers
165
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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 ...
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2
votes
0
answers
285
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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 ...
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2
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0
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356
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Dissipative Hamiltonian System with a Periodic Force
Let $H:P \to \mathbb{R}$ be a Hamiltonian on a symplectic manifold $(\omega,P)$ and let $X_H: P \to TP$ be the Hamiltonian vector-field. Let $F:P \to T^*P$ be a dissipative force field such that for $...
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0
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114
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Applicability of van Holten's algorithm for symmetries in classical mechanics
Background
van Holten's algorithm (see e.g. here and here) is a way of constructing or recognizing dynamical/hidden symmetries in classical mechanics by looking for Killing tensors on the ...
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1
vote
0
answers
133
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Is it possible for the Lagrange multiplier to satisfy some constraints themselves?
I am using the field-theoretic langauge, so that we think of some action functional
\begin{equation}
S[f_l,T_{ij}]=\int_0^1 dt \int_{[0,1]^3}d^3\overrightarrow{x}\mathcal{L}(f_l(\overrightarrow{x}, t),...
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1
vote
0
answers
60
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In the context of field-theoretic classical Lagrangian mechanics, can we choose the Lagrange multipliers to be time-independent? - from Physics SE
I originally posted this question on Physics SE, but I think it is more like a math question since I need rigorous justification.
Could anyone please provide any insight to the below question:
Let us ...
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1
vote
1
answer
279
views
Transport theorem in space craft control: tracking a reference angular velocity
I am reading the book named "Analytical mechanics aerospaces systems" by Schaub and Junkins.
In section 7.2, the task is to control the spacecraft to track a specified angular velocity $w_r$ ...
- 191
1
vote
0
answers
59
views
Vertical bundles of higher order tangent bundles
Let $M$ be a smooth (finite dimensional, Hausdorff and second countable) manifold. Let $T^kM$ be the manifold of equivalence class of curves that their derivates (in charts) agree up to order $k$. Let ...
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1
vote
0
answers
131
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Brachistochrone for a rolling sphere with slippage
I was recently looking into generalisations of the brachistochrone problem: for example, in this article the authors study the brachistochrone with Amontons-Coulomb friction where a bead slides along ...
- 5,146
1
vote
0
answers
69
views
Elasticity tensor in terms of principal stretches
Suppose we are given a frame-indifferent isotropic function
$W:GL_+(3) \to [0,\infty)$, where $GL_+(3)$ denotes the set of all real $(3\times 3)$-matrices with positive determinant.
We can write $W(F)$...
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1
vote
0
answers
60
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Optimal contour shape for variational problem over captured area
Let's assume we have a continuous and finite scalar function $f(x,y)$ over the $xy$ plane ($\mathbb{R}^{2}$) and this function is to be integrated over a bounded area (surface) $A\subset\mathbb{R}^{2}...
- 183
1
vote
0
answers
48
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Negative Definiteness of Hopf-Lax-Oleinik Semigroup
Denote by $H_{t}$ the Hopf-Lax semigroup, i.e.\begin{equation}
H_{t}f(x)=\inf_{y\in\mathbb{R}}\left\lbrace f(y)+\frac{(x-y)^{2}}{2t}\right\rbrace.\end{equation} Is $H_{t}$ negative definite on bounded,...
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1
vote
0
answers
37
views
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,
$$ \frac{d}{dt} \left( \frac{\partial L}{\partial \dot{q} } \right) - \frac{ \...
- 614
0
votes
0
answers
22
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Has this notion of "variation along the diagonal of a not-necessarily-smooth function" been studied before?
I am interested in knowing whether something along the lines of the "diagonal variation" defined below has been studied before. In spirit, the basic idea is that it is a kind of ...
- 708
0
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0
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90
views
Some details about Kirillov-Kostant Poisson bracket
Let $G$ be a finite dimensional Lie group with Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$. The Kirillov-Kostant Poisson bracket on $\mathfrak{g}^*$ is defined as $$\{\cdot ,\cdot \} :C^{\infty}(\mathfrak{g}^*)\times ...
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0
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0
answers
157
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Integral expression for the Poisson bracket
I already asked this in the physics forum but without much attention, so I thought it might attract more attention here.
Is there an integral expression for the Poisson bracket that can be derived ...
0
votes
0
answers
64
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Implications for a simple deterministic chaos definition
Among many others, one definition of deterministic chaos terms "chaotic" a classical dynamical system that satisfies the following three properties:
sensitive dependence to initial ...
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