A lively, varied and topical presentation of this branch of theoretical physics.

This book is an introduction to the field of constrained Hamiltonian systems and their quantization, a topic which is of central interest to theoretical physicists who wish to obtain a deeper understanding of the quantization of gauge theories, such as describing the fundamental interactions in nature. Beginning with the early work of Dirac, the book covers the main developments in the field up to more recent topics, such as the field?antifield formalism of Batalin and Vilkovisky, including a short discussion of how gauge anomalies may be incorporated into this formalism. All topics are well illustrated with examples emphasizing points of central interest. The book should enable graduate students to follow the literature on this subject without much problems, and to perform research in this field.

1. Nonholonomically constrained motions. 1.1. Newton's equations. 1.2. Constraints. 1.3. Lagrange-d'Alembert equations. 1.4. Lagrange derivative. 1.5. Hamilton-d'Alembert equations. 1.6. Distributional Hamiltonian formulation. 1.7. Almost Poisson brackets. 1.8. Momenta and momentum equation. 1.9. Projection principle. 1.10. Accessible sets. 1.11. Constants of motion. 1.12. Notes -- 2. Group actions and orbit spaces. 2.1. Group actions. 2.2. Orbit spaces. 2.3. Isotropy and orbit types. 2.4. Smooth structure on an orbit space. 2.5. Subcartesian spaces. 2.6. Stratification of the orbit space by orbit types. 2.7. Derivations and vector fields on a differential space. 2.8. Vector fields on a stratified differential space. 2.9. Vector fields on an orbit space. 2.10. Tangent objects to an orbit space. 2.11. Notes -- 3. Symmetry and reduction. 3.1. Dynamical systems with symmetry. 3.2. Nonholonomic singular reduction. 3.3. Nonholonomic regular reduction. 3.4. Chaplygin systems. 3.5. Orbit types and reduction. 3.6. Conservation laws. 3.7. Lifted actions and the momentum equation. 3.8. Notes -- 4. Reconstruction, relative equilibria and relative periodic orbits. 4.1. Reconstruction. 4.2. Relative equilibria. 4.3. Relative periodic orbits. 4.4. Notes -- 5. Carathéodory's sleigh. 5.1. Basic set up. 5.2. Equations of motion. 5.3. Reduction of the E(2) symmetry. 5.4. Motion on the E(2) reduced phase space. 5.5. Reconstruction. 5.6. Notes -- 6. Convex rolling rigid body. 6.1. Basic set up. 6.2. Unconstrained motion. 6.3. Constraint distribution. 6.4. Constrained equations of motion. 6.5. Reduction of the translational [symbol] symmetry. 6.6. Reduction of E(2) symmetry. 6.7. Body of revolution. 6.8. Notes -- 7. The rolling disk. 7.1. General set up. 7.2. Reduction of the E(2) x S[symbol] symmetry. 7.3. Reconstruction. 7.4. Relative equilibria. 7.5. A potential function on an interval. 7.6. Scaling. 7.7. Solutions of the rescaled Chaplygin equations. 7.8. Bifurcations of a vertical disk. 7.9. The global geometry of the degeneracy locus. 7.10. Falling flat. 7.11. Near falling flat. 7.12. The bifurcation diagram. 7.13. The integral map. 7.14. Constant energy slices. 7.15. The spatial rotational shift. 7.16. Notes.

Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Geometric Mechanics provides a comprehensive tour of two fields that are intimately entwined: dynamical systems is the study of the behavior of physical systems that may be described by a set of nonlinear first-order ordinary differential equations in Euclidean space, whereas geometric mechanics explore similar systems that instead evolve on differentiable manifolds. The first part discusses the linearization and stability of trajectories and fixed points, invariant manifold theory, periodic orbits, Poincaré maps, Floquet theory, the Poincaré-Bendixson theorem, bifurcations, and chaos. The second part of the book begins with a self-contained chapter on differential geometry that introduces notions of manifolds, mappings, vector fields, the Jacobi-Lie bracket, and differential forms.

The Handbook of Geometric Constraint Systems Principles is an entry point to the currently used principal mathematical and computational tools and techniques of the geometric constraint system (GCS). It functions as a single source containing the core principles and results, accessible to both beginners and experts. The handbook provides a guide for students learning basic concepts, as well as experts looking to pinpoint specific results or approaches in the broad landscape. As such, the editors created this handbook to serve as a useful tool for navigating the varied concepts, approaches and results found in GCS research. Key Features: A comprehensive reference handbook authored by top researchers Includes fundamentals and techniques from multiple perspectives that span several research communities Provides recent results and a graded program of open problems and conjectures Can be used for senior undergraduate or graduate topics course introduction to the area Detailed list of figures and tables About the Editors: Meera Sitharam is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Computer & Information Science and Engineering. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Audrey St. John is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Mount Holyoke College, who received her Ph. D. from UMass Amherst. Jessica Sidman is a Professor of Mathematics on the John S. Kennedy Foundation at Mount Holyoke College. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

For too many students, mathematics consists of facts in a vacuum, to be memorized because the instructor says so, and to be forgotten when the course of study is completed. In this all-too-common scenario, young learners often miss the chance to develop skills-specifically, reasoning skills-that can serve them for a lifetime. The elegant pages of Teaching Mathematical Reasoning in Secondary School Classrooms propose a more positive solution by presenting a reasoning- and discussion-based approach to teaching mathematics, emphasizing the connections between ideas, or why math works. The teachers whose work forms the basis of the book create a powerful record of methods, interactions, and decisions (including dealing with challenges and impasses) involving this elusive topic. And because this approach shifts the locus of authority from the instructor to mathematics itself, students gain a system of knowledge that they can apply not only to discrete tasks relating to numbers, but also to the larger world of people and the humanities. A sampling of the topics covered: Whole-class discussion methods for teaching mathematics reasoning. Learning mathematical reasoning through tasks. Teaching mathematics using the five strands. Classroom strategies for promoting mathematical reasoning. Maximizing student contributions in the classroom. Overcoming student resistance to mathematical conversations. Teaching Mathematical Reasoning in Secondary School Classrooms makes a wealth of cutting-edge strategies available to mathematics teachers and teacher educators. This book is an invaluable resource for researchers in mathematics and curriculum reform and of great interest to teacher educators and teachers.

To make the content of the book more systematic, this book mainly briefs some related basic knowledge reported by other monographs and papers about geometric mechanics. The main content of this book is based on the last 20 years’ jobs of the authors. All physical processes can be formulated as the Hamiltonian form with the energy conservation law as well as the symplectic structure if all dissipative effects are ignored. On the one hand, the important status of the Hamiltonian mechanics is emphasized. On the other hand, a higher requirement is proposed for the numerical analysis on the Hamiltonian system, namely the results of the numerical analysis on the Hamiltonian system should reproduce the geometric properties of which, including the first integral, the symplectic structure as well as the energy conservation law.