Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Geometric Mechanics

Jared M. Maruskin

Apr 2012 · Solar Crest Publishing LLC

About this ebook

Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Geometric Mechanics provides a comprehensive tour of two fields that are intimately entwined: dynamical systems is the study of the behavior of physical systems that may be described by a set of nonlinear first-order ordinary differential equations in Euclidean space, whereas geometric mechanics explores similar systems that instead evolve on differentiable manifolds. In the study of geometric mechanics, however, additional geometric structures are often present, since such systems arise from the laws of nature that govern the motions of particles, bodies, and even galaxies. In the first part of the text, we discuss linearization and stability of trajectories and fixed points, invariant manifold theory, periodic orbits, Poincar maps, Floquet theory, the Poincar -Bendixson theorem, bifurcations, and chaos. The second part of the text begins with a self-contained chapter on differential geometry that introduces notions of manifolds, mappings, vector fields, the Jacobi-Lie bracket, and differential forms. The final chapters cover Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics from a modern geometric perspective, mechanics on Lie groups, and nonholonomic mechanics via both moving frames and fiber bundle decompositions. The text can be reasonably digested in a single-semester introductory graduate-level course. Each chapter concludes with an application that can serve as a springboard project for further investigation or in-class discussion.

About the author

Jared M. Maruskin earned his PhD in Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 2008. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at San José State University. His research interests include geometric mechanics, nonholonomic mechanics, applications to astrodynamics, orbital debris orbit determination, and space situational awareness.