Completeness of the trajectories of particles coupled to a general force field (Q1944757)

The authors analyze the extendability of solutions to second order differential equations on a Riemannian manifold \((M, g)\) which is defined by a general class of forces (both prescribed on \(M\) or depending on the velocity). The results include the general time-dependent anholonomic case, and further refinements for autonomous systems or forces derived from a potential are obtained. These extend classical results for Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems. Several examples show the optimality of the assumptions as well as the utility of the results, including an application to relativistic pp-waves.