Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10735037 | Journal of Geometry and Physics | 2005 | 19 Pages |
Abstract
We discuss a general mechanism by which first integrals of mechanical systems, in particular systems that satisfy non-holonomic constraints, can be obtained from a systematic search for adjoint symmetries. Such an approach has already been used in our earlier work and is re-advocated here in the context of a recent analysis by Giachetta, in which first integrals are generated by vector fields which are not symmetries. Further advantages of our approach are: the fact that an essential projection operator associated to the constraints need not be related to some given fibre metric on the full evolution space, and the specific selection of a connection, which is naturally associated to this projection and the second-order dynamics on the constraint submanifold. The computational aspects of the method are illustrated by some simple examples.
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Physical Sciences and Engineering
Mathematics
Mathematical Physics
Authors
W. Sarlet, D.J. Saunders, F. Cantrijn,