Mechanics Analysis And Geometry 200 Years After Lagrange

Providing a logically balanced and authoritative account of the different branches and problems of mathematical physics that Lagrange studied and developed, this volume presents up-to-date developments in differential goemetry, dynamical systems, the calculus of variations, and celestial and analytical mechanics.

One of modern science's most famous and controversial figures, Jerzy Plebanski was an outstanding theoretical physicist and an author of many intriguing discoveries in general relativity and quantum theory. Known for his exceptional analytic talents, explosive character, inexhaustible energy, and bohemian nights with brandy, coffee, and enormous amounts of cigarettes, he was dedicated to both science and art, producing innumerable handwritten articles — resembling monk's calligraphy — as well as a collection of oil paintings.As a collaborator but also an antagonist of Leopold Infeld's (a coauthor of Albert Einstein's), Plebanski is recognized for designing the “heavenly” and “hyper-heavenly” equations, for introducing new variables to describe the gravitational field, for the exact solutions in Einstein's gravity and in quantum theory, for his classification of the tensor of matter, for some outstanding results in nonlinear electrodynamics, and for analyzing general relativity with continuous sources long before Chandrasekhar et al.A tribute to Plebański's contributions and the variety of his interests, this is a unique and wide-ranging collection of invited papers, covering gravity quantization, strings, branes, supersymmetry, ideas on the deformation quantization, and lesser known results on the continuous Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff problem.

This book illustrates the broad range of Jerry Marsden’s mathematical legacy in areas of geometry, mechanics, and dynamics, from very pure mathematics to very applied, but always with a geometric perspective. Each contribution develops its material from the viewpoint of geometric mechanics beginning at the very foundations, introducing readers to modern issues via illustrations in a wide range of topics. The twenty refereed papers contained in this volume are based on lectures and research performed during the month of July 2012 at the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, in a program in honor of Marsden's legacy. The unified treatment of the wide breadth of topics treated in this book will be of interest to both experts and novices in geometric mechanics. Experts will recognize applications of their own familiar concepts and methods in a wide variety of fields, some of which they may never have approached from a geometric viewpoint. Novices may choose topics that interest them among the various fields and learn about geometric approaches and perspectives toward those topics that will be new for them as well.

This advanced undergraduate textbook begins with the Lagrangian formulation of Analytical Mechanics and then passes directly to the Hamiltonian formulation and the canonical equations, with constraints incorporated through Lagrange multipliers. Hamilton's Principle and the canonical equations remain the basis of the remainder of the text. Topics considered for applications include small oscillations, motion in electric and magnetic fields, and rigid body dynamics. The Hamilton-Jacobi approach is developed with special attention to the canonical transformation in order to provide a smooth and logical transition into the study of complex and chaotic systems. Finally the text has a careful treatment of relativistic mechanics and the requirement of Lorentz invariance. The text is enriched with an outline of the history of mechanics, which particularly outlines the importance of the work of Euler, Lagrange, Hamilton and Jacobi. Numerous exercises with solutions support the exceptionally clear and concise treatment of Analytical Mechanics.

This is a comprehensive exposition of topics covered by the American Mathematical Society’s classification “Global Analysis , dealing with modern developments in calculus expressed using abstract terminology. It will be invaluable for graduate students and researchers embarking on advanced studies in mathematics and mathematical physics.This book provides a comprehensive coverage of modern global analysis and geometrical mathematical physics, dealing with topics such as; structures on manifolds, pseudogroups, Lie groupoids, and global Finsler geometry; the topology of manifolds and differentiable mappings; differential equations (including ODEs, differential systems and distributions, and spectral theory); variational theory on manifolds, with applications to physics; function spaces on manifolds; jets, natural bundles and generalizations; and non-commutative geometry. - Comprehensive coverage of modern global analysis and geometrical mathematical physics- Written by world-experts in the field- Up-to-date contents

This book collects a series of contributions addressing the various contexts in which the theory of Lie groups is applied. A preliminary chapter serves the reader both as a basic reference source and as an ongoing thread that runs through the subsequent chapters. From representation theory and Gerstenhaber algebras to control theory, from differential equations to Finsler geometry and Lepage manifolds, the book introduces young researchers in Mathematics to a wealth of different topics, encouraging a multidisciplinary approach to research. As such, it is suitable for students in doctoral courses, and will also benefit researchers who want to expand their field of interest.

This monograph gives an overview of various classes of infinite-dimensional Lie groups and their applications in Hamiltonian mechanics, fluid dynamics, integrable systems, gauge theory, and complex geometry. The text includes many exercises and open questions.