arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Philip Arathoon.
We exhibit a configuration of five point charges in Euclidean space whose electrostatic potential admits at least 24 critical points all of which are non-degenerate. Maxwell's conjecture that the field of \(n\) point charges has at most \((n-1)^2\) critical points which are all non-degenerate is therefore false.
We consider the problem of determining the class of continuous-time dynamical systems that can be globally linearized in the sense of admitting an embedding into a linear system on a higher-dimensional Euclidean space. We solve this problem for dynamical systems on connected state spaces that are either compact or contain at least one nonempty compact attractor, obtaining necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of linearizing $C^k$ embeddings for $k\in \mathbb{N}_{\geq 0}\cup \{\infty\}$. Corollaries include (i) several checkable necessary conditions for global linearizability and (ii) extensions of the Hartman-Grobman and Floquet normal form theorems beyond the classical settings. Our results open new perspectives on linearizability by establishing relationships to symmetry, topology, and invariant manifold theory.
We analyse the geometry of the rubber-rolling distribution on the special orthogonal group and show that almost all the normal geodesics of any right-invariant sub-Riemannian metric defined on this distribution are completely integrable. Our argument is an adaptation of the method used to establish integrability of the Riemannian metric arising from the $n$-dimensional rigid body: namely, by exhibiting a Lax pair and bi-Hamiltonian structure for the reduced equations of motion.
By complexifying a Hamiltonian system one obtains dynamics on a holomorphic symplectic manifold. To invert this construction we present a theory of real forms which not only recovers the original system but also yields different real Hamiltonian systems which share the same complexification. This provides a notion of real forms for holomorphic Hamiltonian systems analogous to that of real forms for complex Lie algebras. Our main result is that the complexification of any analytic mechanical system on a Grassmannian admits a real form on a compact symplectic manifold. This produces a `unitary trick' for Hamiltonian systems which curiously requires an essential use of hyperkähler geometry. We demonstrate this result by finding compact real forms for the simple pendulum, the spherical pendulum, and the rigid body.
We consider the task of classifying relative equilibria for mechanical systems with rotational symmetry. We divide relative equilibria into two natural groups: a generic class which we call normal, and a non-generic abnormal class. The eigenvalues of the locked inertia tensor descend to shape-space and endow it with the geometric structure of a 3-web with the property that any normal relative equilibrium occurs as a critical point of the potential restricted to a leaf from the web. To demonstrate the utility of this web structure we show how the spherical 3-body problem gives rise to a web of Cayley cubics on the 3-sphere, and use this to fully classify the relative equilibria for the case of equal masses.
A frequently repeated claim in the "applied Koopman operator theory'' literature is that a dynamical system with multiple isolated equilibria cannot be linearized in the sense of admitting a smooth embedding as an invariant submanifold of a linear dynamical system. This claim is sometimes made only for the class of super-linearizations, which additionally require that the embedding "contain the state''. We show that both versions of this claim are false by constructing (super-)linearizable smooth dynamical systems on $\mathbb{R}^k$ having any countable (finite) number of isolated equilibria for each $k>1$.
The 2-body problem on the sphere and hyperbolic space are both real forms of holomorphic Hamiltonian systems defined on the complex sphere. This admits a natural description in terms of biquaternions and allows us to address questions concerning the hyperbolic system by complexifying it and treating it as the complexification of a spherical system. In this way, results for the 2-body problem on the sphere are readily translated to the hyperbolic case. For instance, we implement this idea to completely classify the relative equilibria for the 2-body problem on hyperbolic 3-space for a strictly attractive potential.
We consider the dynamics and symplectic reduction of the 2-body problem on a sphere of arbitrary dimension. It suffices to consider the case for when the sphere is 3-dimensional and where we take the group of symmetries to be $SO(4)$. As the 3-sphere is a group, both left and right multiplication on itself are commuting symmetries which together generate the full symmetry group. This gives rise to a notion of left and right momenta for the problem, and allows for a reduction in stages, first by the left and then the right, or vice versa. The intermediate reduced spaces obtained by left or right reduction are shown to be coadjoint orbits of the special Euclidean group $SE(4)$. The full reduced spaces are generically 4-dimensional and we describe these spaces and their singular strata. The dynamics of the 2-body problem descend through a double cover to give a dynamical system on $SO(4)$, which after reduction is the same as that of a 4-dimensional spinning top with symmetry. This connection allows us to `hit two birds with one stone' and derive results about both the spinning top and the 2-body problem simultaneously. We provide the equations of motion on the reduced spaces and fully classify the relative equilibria and discuss their stability.
We prove that there exists a geometric bijection between the sets of adjoint and coadjoint orbits of a semidirect product, provided a similar bijection holds for particular subgroups. We also show that under certain conditions the homotopy types of any two orbits in bijection with each other are the same. We apply our theory to the examples of the affine group and the Poincaré group, and discuss the limitations and extent of this result to other groups.
We study the adjoint and coadjoint representations of a class of Lie group including the Euclidean group. Despite the fact that these representations are not in general isomorphic, we show that there is a geometrically defined bijection between the sets of adjoint and coadjoint orbits of such groups. In addition, we show that the corresponding orbits, although different, are homotopy equivalent. We also provide a geometric description of the adjoint and coadjoint orbits of the Euclidean and orthogonal groups as a special class of flag manifold which we call a Hermitian flag manifold. These manifolds consist of flags endowed with complex structures equipped to the quotient spaces that define the flag.