Time-reversal symmetry in dynamical systems: a survey

Stability of a linear autonomous non-conservative system in the presence of potential, gyroscopic, dissipative, and non-conservative positional forces is studied. The cases when the non-conservative system is close to a gyroscopic system or to a circulatory one are examined. It is known that marginal stability of gyroscopic and circulatory systems can be destroyed or improved up to asymptotic stability due to action of small non-conservative positional and velocity-dependent forces. The present paper shows that in both cases the boundary of the asymptotic stability domain of the perturbed system possesses singularities such as “Dihedral angle” and “Whitney umbrella” that govern stabilization and destabilization. In case of two degrees of freedom, approximations of the stability boundary near the singularities are found in terms of the invariants of matrices of the system. As an example, the asymptotic stability domain of the modified Maxwell–Bloch equations is investigated with an application to the stability problems of gyroscopic systems with stationary and rotating damping.

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Destabilization paradox due to breaking the Hamiltonian and reversible symmetry

This paper examines the destabilization of the equilibria of reversible dynamical systems which is induced by the addition of irreversible perturbations. Attention is restricted to reversible dynamical systems which have frequently appeared in the literature on elastic stability. There they are often referred to as follower force problems. The destabilization phenomenon is linear in nature and explicit criteria are established to determine the particular eigenvalue splittings. The post-destabilization dynamics are also examined using the appropriate normal forms for two specific cases, one where the eigenvalues are non-resonant and the other where the eigenvalues are in a strong one-to-one resonance. Finally, the destabilization criteria and certain features of the post-destabilization dynamics are illustrated using two examples of follower force systems.

Some aspects of destabilization in reversible dynamical systems with application to follower forces

For position-dependent forces whose curl is non-zero (‘curl forces’), there is no associated scalar potential and therefore no obvious Hamiltonian or Lagrangean and, except in special cases, no obvious conserved quantities. Nevertheless, the motion is nondissipative (measure-preserving in position and velocity). In a class of planar motions, some of which are exactly solvable, the curl force is directed azimuthally with a magnitude varying with radius, and the orbits are usually spirals. If the curl is concentrated at the origin (for example, the curl force could be an electric field generated by a changing localized magnetic flux, as in the betatron), a Hamiltonian does exist but violates the rotational symmetry of the force. In this case, reminiscent of the Aharonov–Bohm effect, the spiralling is extraordinarily slow.

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Classical dynamics with curl forces, and motion driven by time-dependent flux

This work focuses on the persistence of lower-dimensional tori with prescribed frequencies and singular normal matrices in reversible systems. By the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theory and the special structure of unperturbed nonlinear terms in the differential equation, we prove that the invariant torus with given frequency persists under small perturbations. Our result is a generalization of X. Wang et al [Degenerate lower dimensional tori in reversible systems. J. Math. Anal. Appl.387 (2012), 776–790].

V.N. Tkhai

Papers

On stability of mechanical systems under the action of position forces