On the orbital stability of pendulum-like motions of a rigid body in the Bobylev-Steklov case (Q2430937)

The article deals with the orbital stability of pendulum-like periodic motions of a heavy rigid body with a fixed point. Under the assumption that the geometry of the body corresponds to the Bobylev-Steklov case, the author first investigates the stability by calculating the normal form of the Hamiltonian (of unperturbed motion and of perturbed motion) and by applying the stability criteria of Hamiltonian systems. The unperturbed motion represents oscillations or rotations of the body around a principal axis, occupying a fixed horizontal position. In the case of oscillations with small amplitudes as well as in the case of rotations with high angular velocities, the problem is studied analytically. Finally, the orbital stability is considered for some special cases using a nonlinear analysis.