Poincar\'e inverse problem and torus construction in phase space

Abstract

The phase space of an integrable Hamiltonian system is foliated by invariant tori. For an arbitrary Hamiltonian H such a foliation may not exist, but we can artificially construct one through a parameterised family of surfaces, with the intention of finding, in some sense, the closest integrable approximation to H. This is the Poincar\'e inverse problem (PIP). In this paper, we review the available methods of solving the PIP and present a new iterative approach which works well for the often problematic thin orbits.