Higher order first integrals of autonomous non-Riemannian dynamical systems

Abstract

We consider autonomous holonomic dynamical systems defined by equations of the form $\ddot{q}^{a}=-\Gamma_{bc}^{a}(q) \dot{q}^{b}\dot{q}^{c}$ $-Q^{a}(q)$, where $\Gamma^{a}_{bc}(q)$ are the coefficients of a symmetric (possibly non-metrical) connection and $-Q^{a}(q)$ are the generalized forces. We prove a theorem which for these systems determines autonomous and time-dependent first integrals (FIs) of any order in a systematic way, using the `symmetries' of the geometry defined by the dynamical equations. We demonstrate the application of the theorem to compute linear, quadratic, and cubic FIs of various Riemannian and non-Riemannian dynamical systems.