Some applications of differential geometry in the theory of mechanical systems

Abstract

In the paper, some concepts of modern differential geometry are used as a basis to develop an invariant theory of mechanical systems, including systems with gyroscopic forces. An interpretation of systems with gyroscopic forces in the form of flows of a given geodesic curvature is proposed. For illustration, the problem of the motion of a rigid body about a fixed point in an axially symmetric force field is examined. The form of gyroscopic forces of the reduced system is calculated. It is shown that this form is a product of the momentum constant, the volume form of the 2-sphere, and an explicitly written everywhere positive function on the sphere.