Introduction to Mechanics and Symmetry (Texts in Applied Mathematics ; 17) - Tapa blanda

Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences. provoking a blurring of boundaries between scientific dis ciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as well as the classical techniques of applied mathematics. This renewal of interest, both in research and teaching, has led to the establishment of the series: Texts in Applied Mathe matics (TAM). The development of new courses is a natural consequence of a high level of excitement on the research frontier as newer techniques, such as numerical and symbolic computer systems, dynamical systems, and chaos, mix with and reinforce the traditional methods of applied mathematics. Thus, the purpose of this textbook series is to meet the current and future needs of these advances and encourage the teaching of new courses. TAM will publish textbooks suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses, and will complement the Applied Mathematical Siiences (AMS) series, which will focus on advanced textbooks and research level monographs. Preface Symmetry and mechanics have been close partners since the time of the founding masters, namely, Newton, Euler, Lagrange, Laplace, Poisson, Ja cobi, and Hamilton, and its subsequent developers, including Noether, Rie mann, Routh, Kelvin, Poincare, and Cartan. To this day, symmetry has continued to playa strong role, especially with the modern work of Arnold, Guillemin, Kirillov, Kostant, Moser, Smale, Souriau, Sternberg, and many others."

Symmetry has always played an important role in mechanics, from fundamental formulations of basic principles to concrete applications. The theme of the book is to emphasize the role of symmetry in various aspects of mechanics. In recent times, this feature has accelerated because of new applications of symmetry techniques for studying integrable and chaotic systems, stability and bifurcation, as well as for obtaining new insight into specific rigid, fluid, plasma and elastic systems. Introduction to Mechanics and Symmetry lays the basic foundation for these topics. It also covers reduction theory and includes numerous specific applications, making it beneficial to physicists and engineers. Unlike the competition, this text has specific examples and applications showing how the theory works, and up-to-date techniques, all of which makes it accessible to a wide variety of readers, especially senior undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics, physics and engineering.