Global formulations of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics on manifolds. A geometric approach to modeling and analysis (Q526986)

The starting point of this impressive textbook is the important fact that there are remarkable situations where the variables that describe a dynamical system do not lie in a vector space (i.e., a simple flat algebraic structure) but rather lie in a geometrical setting allowing the differential calculus, namely a differential manifold. The first chapter presents the necessary mathematical background. The second chapter concerns kinematics. Chapter 3 deals with classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics (here classical refers to the Euclidean space \(\mathbb{R}^n\)). Starting with Chapter 4 the curved framework is considered. Chapter 4 is devoted to \((S^1)^n\), Chapter 5 to \((S^2)^n\), Chapter 6 to the Lie group \(\mathrm{SO}(3)\) and Chapter 7 to the Lie group \(\mathrm{SE}(3)\). Having these settings at hand, Chapter 8 is devoted to the general Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics on manifolds. Chapter 9 turns to the rigid and multi-body systems while the last chapter concerns with deformable multi-body systems. There are two appendices: {``Fundamental lemmas of the calculus of variations''} and {``Linearization as an approximation to Lagrangian dynamics on a manifold''}. Each chapter ends with problems and exercises. In conclusion, this book is extremely useful for each reader who wishes to develop a modern knowledge of analytical mechanics.