No label defined (Q4938586)

After giving a detailed historical picture of the evolution of the concepts that underly the formulation of the principle of virtual velocities (PVV), the authors demonstrate that PVV can be formulated as a necessary and sufficient condition for the equilibrium of systems of constrained mass points and rigid bodies. In such a context, in order to prove PVV, it is necessary to show the uniqueness of the rest solution for a system of coupled differential equations and inequalities. The necessity of the principle is almost evident; on the contrary, its sufficiency is a very involved mathematical problem. Here, the authors give a general proof in the case in which the active force is independent of time and satisfies the standard Lipschitz condition ensuring existence and uniqueness of solutions to systems of differential equations. For time-dependent forces it is finally shown that sufficiency still holds true, under some additional assumptions on forces or on the geometric structure of constraints. Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. The Greek origins of statics; 3. Statics from the middle age to the XIVth century; 4. The birth of modern statics; 5. The formulation of the principle of virtual velocities; 6. The early role of the principle in the rising modern mechanics; 7. Attempts to prove the principle in the framework of statics, 8. Towards a proof in the framework of dynamics; 9. A proof of the principle of virtual velocities. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0910.00031].