Hamiltonian structures and generating families (Q638914)

The book under review is an enhanced version of a first edition in Russian; it deals with Hamiltonian structures that are often encountered in mathematical models of different physical phenomena. Symplectic geometry plays a fundamental role in the analysis of Hamiltonian structures. There are two possible approaches to express objects in symplectic geometry and mechanics in terms of Lagrangian submanifolds or generating families. Generating families are defined as smooth real functions. They are used to describe special subsets of cotangent bundles known as Lagrangian sets. A Lagrangian set may be a Lagrangian submanifold, but there are several examples of meaningful physical phenomena that are represented by Lagrangian sets that are not submanifolds. Furthermore, although a composition of two symplectic relations may produce a nonsmooth object, the composition of their generating families is always smooth. Therefore, the motto chosen by the author for the book, ``everything has a generating family'', emphasizes the important role generating families play throughout the book. The first two chapters in the book introduce basic notions of calculus on manifolds and explore the notion of ``relation'' at various levels. Chapter 3 examines the notion of ``relation'' in the presence of a symplectic structure. Chapter 4 deals with symplectic relations on cotangent bundles. Canonical lifts play an important role in the theory of symplectic relations and their applications; their properties are studied in Chapter 5. A geometrical construction of a (possibly unique) maximal solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation from suitable initial conditions is first illustrated and then transformed into an analytical method in Chapter 6. Some simple examples of optical devices represented by symplectic relations are discussed in Chapter 7. An important role played by symplectic relations and generating families in control theory of static systems, including thermostatic systems, is emphasized in Chapter 8. Supplementary topics are discussed in the next chapter, whereas global principal functions on the sphere \(\mathbb{S}_{2}\) and the pseudo-sphere \(\mathbb{H}_{2}\) form the subject of the final Chapter 10. The reader can find substantial bibliography and a detailed index at the end. The book is well organized, the exposition is rigorous and clear. It should attract interest of graduate students and researchers interested in the modern symplectic geometry and its applications.