Reduced spaces and their relation to relative equilibria (Q1924181)

It is known that one can reduce a given phase space with symmetry to obtain symplectic manifolds in smaller dimension. In [\textit{J. Marsden} and \textit{A. Weinstein}, Rep. Math. Phys. 5, 121-130 (1974; Zbl 0327.58005)] this reduction process was formalized by showing that for weakly regular momentum values \(\nu\in {\mathcal G}\), the reduced space is a symplectic manifold, provided the isotropy group \(G_\nu\) acts freely and properly on the level set. The aim of the present article is to investigate the relation between the topology of the reduced space and the number of relative equilibria in the corresponding momentum level set. The author considers relative equilibria for purely kinetic \(G\)-invariant Hamiltonians defined on the cotangent bundle \(T^*Q\) of a compact \(G\)-manifold \(Q\) where \(G\) is a compact Lie group. It is shown that if the restriction of such a Hamiltonian to \(J^{-1} ({\mathcal O}_\nu)\) is nondegenerate for a nonzero regular momentum value \(\nu\in {\mathcal G}^*\) then the number \(\# (\nu)\) of distinct orbits of relative equilibria contained in \(J^{-1} ({\mathcal O}_\nu)\) is greater than or equal to the sum of the Betti numbers of the reduced space \(P_\nu\). The obtained results are applied to the problem considered by the author in ibid., 293-310 (1996; see the review below).