Multiple brake orbits in bounded convex symmetric domains (Q2497332)

The authors establish the existence of at least two geometrically different break orbits for a class of Hamiltonian systems on bounded convex symmetric domains in \(\mathbb R^n\), \(n\geq2\). Break orbits are a special kind of periodic solutions with prescribed energy. The proof starts out with the known fact that there exists at least one such break orbit, and uses (mean) Maslov-type index considerations to show that there has to be a second one. These arguments rely on a saddle point reduction theorem for break orbits.