The integrability of positively definite Lagrangian systems via variational criterion: mechanical systems (Q1958443)

This paper considers the integrability of periodic Hamiltonian systems by looking at the related critical Hamiltonian-Jacobi equations. The Hamiltonian \(H: T\mathbb{T}^n\to\mathbb{R}\) has an associated Hamilton-Jacobi equation \(H(x,u_x(c,x))= \alpha(c)\), where \(\alpha(c)\) is a Mather \(\alpha\)-function, \(c\) lies in the first cohomology group \(H^1(\mathbb{T}^n, \mathbb{R})= \mathbb{R}^n\), and \(u(c,x)\) is a Lipschitz function of \(x\) for each \(c\). If \(L: T\mathbb{T}^n\to \mathbb{R}\) is the Tonelli Lagrangian associated with \(H\), the author makes the following assumptions: (1) \(L\) is at least \(C^2\); (2) The Hessian \({\partial^2 L\over\partial x^2} (x,\dot x)\) is positive definite on each fiber \(T_x\mathbb{T}^n\); and (3) \(\lim_{|\dot x|\to\infty} {L(x,\dot x)\over|\dot x|}= \infty\) uniformly in \(x\in\mathbb{T}^n\). Under these assumptions, the associated Hamiltonian is also at least \(C^2\), and also satisfies conditions analogous to (2) and (3) above. The author's main result is that, for a certain class of mechanical systems, the strict convexity of the \(\alpha\)-function implies complete integrability when the potential energy function is real-analytic or when technical topological conditions on a critical set of the potential energy are satisfied.