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The rigid body and the pendulum revisited

2019/02/27 by Manuel Cruz-López, de la Cruz, Manuel, Néstor Gaspar +3
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Differential Geometry Research #Advanced Topics in Algebra #Algebraic and Geometric Analysis #Classical Physics (physics.class-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Mathematical Physics (math-ph)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1902.10358

openalex publication_date 2019/02/27 · openalex created_date 2019/03/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

In this paper we revisit the construction by which the SL(2,ℝ) symmetry of the Euler equations allows to obtain the simple pendulum from the rigid body. We begin reviewing the original relation found by Holm and Marsden in which, starting from the two Casimir functions of the extended rigid body with Lie algebra ISO(2) and introducing a proper momentum map, it is possible to obtain both the Hamiltonian and equations of motion of the pendulum. Important in this construction is the fact that both Casimirs have the geometry of an elliptic cylinder. By considering the whole SL(2,ℝ) symmetry group, in this contribution we give all possible combinations of the Casimir functions and the corresponding momentum maps that produce the simple pendulum, showing that this system can also appear when the geometry of one of the Casimirs is given by a hyperbolic cylinder and the another one by an elliptic cylinder. As a result we show that from the extended rigid body with Lie algebra ISO(1,1), it is possible to obtain the pendulum but only in circulating movement. Finally, as a by product of our analysis we provide the momentum maps that give origin to the pendulum with an imaginary time. Our discussion covers both the algebraic and the geometric point of view.

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