The Elements Of Mechanics

The word "elements" in the title of this book does not convey the implica tion that its contents are "elementary" in the sense of "easy": it mainly means that no prerequisites are required, with the exception of some basic background in classical physics and calculus. It also signifies "devoted to the foundations". In fact, the arguments chosen are all very classical, and the formal or technical developments of this century are absent, as well as a detailed treatment of such problems as the theory of the planetary motions and other very concrete mechanical problems. This second meaning, however, is the result of the necessity of finishing this work in a reasonable amount of time rather than an a priori choice. Therefore a detailed review of the "few" results of ergodic theory, of the "many" results of statistical mechanics, of the classical theory of fields (elasticity and waves), and of quantum mechanics are also totally absent; they could constitute the subject of two additional volumes on mechanics. This book grew out of several courses on meccanica razionaie, i.e., essentially, theoretical mechanics, which I gave at the University of Rome during the years 1975-1978.

The first volume in a three-part series, Elements of Mechanics provides a rigorous calculus-based introduction to classical physics. It considers diverse phenomena in a systematic manner and emphasises the development of consistent and coherent models guided by symmetry considerations and the application of general principles. Modern developments c

The lectures here reported were first delivered in August and September, 1965, for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engi neering at syracuse University, New York under the sponsorship of the New York State Science and Technology Foundation. Lectures 1-6 and 22-23 are revised from a version prepared by Professor Kin N. Tong on the basis of a transcription of the lectures, kindly provided by Professor S. Eskinazi. The remainder of th~ text has been written out afresh from my own notes. Much of the same ground was covered in my lectures to the Austra lian Mathematical Society's Summer Research Institute at Melbourne in January and February, 1966, and for the parts affected the text conforms to this latter presentation. I am grateful to Professors C.-C. Wang and K. N. Tong for criticism of the manuscript. These lectures constitute a course, not a treatise. Names are attached to theorems justly, to the best of my knowledge, but are not intended to replace a history of the subject or references to the sources.

Analytical Elements of Mechanics, Volume 1, is the first of two volumes intended for use in courses in classical mechanics. The books aim to provide students and teachers with a text consistent in content and format with the author’s ideas regarding the subject matter and teaching of mechanics, and to disseminate these ideas. The book opens with a detailed exposition of vector algebra, and no prior knowledge of this subject is required. This is followed by a chapter on the topic of mass centers, which is presented as a logical extension of concepts introduced in connection with centroids. A theory of moments and couples is constructed without reference to forces, these being mentioned only in illustrative examples. This is done because it eventually becomes necessary to apply the theory to systems of vectors which are not forces, such as momenta and impulses. Equilibrium is discussed in the final chapter, preceded by extended examination of the concept of force.

Elements of Continuum Mechanics and Conservation Laws presents a systematization of different models in mathematical physics, a study of the structure of conservation laws, thermodynamical identities, and connection with criteria for well-posedness of the corresponding mathematical problems. The theory presented in this book stems from research carried out by the authors concerning the formulations of differential equations describing explosive deformations of metals. In such processes, elasticity equations are used in some zones, whereas hydrodynamics equations are stated in other zones. Plastic deformations appear in transition zones, which leads to residual stresses. The suggested model contains some relaxation terms which simulate these plastic deformations. Certain laws of thermodynamics are used in order to describe and study differential equations simulating the physical processes. This leads to the special formulation of differential equations using generalized thermodynamical potentials.

The book systematically presents variational principles and methods of analysis for applied elasticity and structural mechanics. The variational approach is used consistently for both, constructing numerical procedures and deriving basic governing equations of applied mechanics of solids; it is the derivation of equations where this approach is most powerful and best grounded by mathematics.

In the second edition, a number of misprints that appeared in the first edition have been corrected. In addition to this, we have made improvements based on the experience gathered in the use of the first English edition of the book in the introductory course in physics at the University of Copenhagen. A chapter introducing nonlinear dynamics has been added. The purpose of this chapter is to provide supplementary reading for the students who are interested in this area of active research, where Newtonian mechanics plays an essential role. The students who wish to dig deeper, should consult texts dedicated to the study of nonlinear dynamical systems and chaos. The literature list at the end of this book contains several references for the topic. The book still contains a one-semester (15 weeks) first university course on Newtonian mechanics. This necessarily introduces some constraints on the choice of topics and the level of mathematical sophistication expected from the reader. If one looks for discussions of technical issues, such as the physics behind various manifestations of friction, or the tensorial nature of the rotation vector, one will look in vain. The book contains what we feel are the essential aspects of Newtonian Mechanics. It is a pleasure again to thank Springer-Verlag and in particular Dr. H. J. KOisch and the staff at the Heidelberg office for helpfulness and professional collaboration.