A conceptual approach to the problem of action-angle variables (Q724356): Difference between revisions

A theorem due to Arnold-Liouville-Mineur asserts the existence of action-angle variables near a Liouville torus on a symplectic manifold. While there have been several generalizations of this theorem in different contexts, a unified picture has not established. In this paper the author claims to do just that. The fundamental piece is his theorem on the conservation property of associated torus actions. The author begins with integrable systems of type \((p,q)\) (sometimes called non-Hamiltonian integrable) on a manifold \(M\) of dimension \(m\). These consist of an \(m\)-tuple \((X_1,\dots, X_p,F_1,\dots, F_q)\), where \(p\geq 1\), \(q\geq 0\), \(p+q=m\), \(X_i\) are vector fields on \(M\) and \(F_j\) are functions on \(M\) with these conditions: \[ \begin{aligned} [X_i,X_j]= 0\quad &\text{for all }i\text{ and }j=1,\dots, p,\\ X_i(F_j)= 0\quad &\text{for all }i\leq p\text{ and }j\leq q,\end{aligned} \] \[ X_1\wedge\cdots\wedge X_p\neq 0\text{ and }dF_1\wedge\cdots\wedge dF_q\neq 0\text{ almost everywhere on }M. \] This is broader than ordinary integrability of a Hamiltonian system on a symplectic manifold, but includes it. The author's primary theorem is as follows: if \(N\) is a Liouville torus of an integrable system \((X_1,\dots, X_p,F_1,\dots,F_q)\) on a manifold \(M\) and \({\mathcal Y}\) is a tensor field on \(M\) preserved by all the vector fields of the system (so the Lie derivatives \(L_{X_i}{\mathcal Y}= 0\) for \(i=1,\dots, p\)), then the Liouville torus \(\mathbb{T}^p\)-action on a tubular neighborhood \({\mathcal U}(N)\) of \(N\) also preserves \({\mathcal Y}\). In the rest of the paper he states and proves a version for integrable Hamiltonian systems with a differentiable two-form that is not necessarily closed or non-degenerate. He provides similar results for contact manifolds and Dirac manifolds. A final section suggests how action-angle variables or interesting normal forms might be found for other systems such as infinite-dimensional, stochastic, or quantum mechanical systems.