Jacobi-Haantjes manifolds, integrability and dissipative mechanical systems

Abstract

The notion of Jacobi-Haantjes manifold, consisting of a Jacobi manifold endowed with an algebra of extended Haantjes operator fields, is proposed as a natural geometric framework which allows us to define the notion of integrability of both conservative and dissipative Hamiltonian systems, in a unified way. As a reduction, contact-Haantjes manifolds are defined. We prove that the integrability of a contact Hamiltonian system is equivalent to the existence of a suitable Abelian extended Haantjes algebra associated with the system. This result allows us to define a large class of new, completely integrable contact Hamiltonian systems from a given extended Haantjes algebra. Moreover, we propose a theory of separation of variables for dissipative systems. This result is achieved by lifting a dissipative system into a higher-dimensional manifold, obtained as the symplectization of the Jacobi-Haantjes structure associated with the system. This new manifold naturally acquires the structure of a symplectic-Haantjes manifold. We prove that the Darboux-Haantjes coordinates which separate the Hamilton-Jacobi equation of the higher-dimensional symplectic-Haantjes manifold are in fact separation variables for the Hamilton equations associated with the original dissipative system.