A qualitative analysis of the motion of a heavy solid of resolution on an absolutely rough plane (Q582949)

A strictly convex heavy solid of revolution, moving without slipping on a horizontal plane in a uniform gravitational field, is considered. Thanks to the existence of three first integrals (the explicit form of two of which is not known), the motion is amenable to qualitative analysis. The variation of the angle of nutation is studied and the motion of the point of contact on the surface of the body and on the supporting plane is analysed. It is shown that in the phase space there are three-dimensional tori with conditionally-periodic motions. The problem of the motion of a body similar in shape and mass distribution to a dynamically and geometrically symmetric body is considered. Generalizations of KAM-theory to reversible systems are used to establish the conservation of the majority of invariant tori.