Periodic Solutions of Singular Lagrangian Systems

Thismonographdealswiththeexistenceofperiodicmotionsof Lagrangiansystemswith ndegreesoffreedom ij + V'(q) =0, where Visasingularpotential.Aprototypeofsuchaproblem, evenifitisnottheonlyphysicallyinterestingone,istheKepler problem .. q 0 q+yqr= . This,jointlywiththemoregeneralN-bodyproblem,hasalways beentheobjectofagreatdealofresearch.Mostofthoseresults arebasedonperturbationmethods,andmakeuseofthespecific featuresoftheKeplerpotential. OurapproachismoreonthelinesofNonlinearFunctional Analysis:ourmainpurposeistogiveafunctionalframefor systemswithsingularpotentials,includingtheKeplerandthe N-bodyproblemasparticularcases.PreciselyweuseCritical PointTheorytoobtainexistenceresults,qualitativeinnature, whichholdtrueforbroadclassesofpotentials.Thishighlights thatthevariationalmethods,whichhavebeenemployedtoob tainimportantadvancesinthestudyofregularHamiltonian systems,canbesuccessfallyusedtohandlesingularpotentials aswell. Theresearchonthistopicisstillinevolution,andtherefore theresultswewillpresentarenottobeintendedasthefinal ones. Indeedamajorpurposeofourdiscussionistopresent methodsandtoolswhichhavebeenusedinstudyingsuchprob lems. Vlll PREFACE Partofthematerialofthisvolumehasbeenpresentedina seriesoflecturesgivenbytheauthorsatSISSA,Trieste,whom wewouldliketothankfortheirhospitalityandsupport. We wishalsotothankUgoBessi,PaoloCaldiroli,FabioGiannoni, LouisJeanjean,LorenzoPisani,EnricoSerra,KazunakaTanaka, EnzoVitillaroforhelpfulsuggestions. May26,1993 Notation n 1.For x, yE IR , x. ydenotestheEuclideanScalarproduct, and IxltheEuclideannorm. 2. meas(A)denotestheLebesguemeasureofthesubset Aof n IR 3.Wedenoteby ST =[0,T]/{a,T}theunitarycirclepara metrizedby t E[0,T].Wewillalsowrite SI= ST=I. n 1 n 4.Wewillwrite sn = {xE IR + : Ixl =I}andn = IR {O}. n 5.Wedenoteby LP([O,T], IR ),1~ p~+00,theLebesgue spaces,equippedwiththestandardnorm lIulip. l n l n 6. H (ST, IR )denotestheSobolevspaceof u E H ,2(0, T; IR ) suchthat u(O) = u(T).Thenormin HIwillbedenoted by lIull2 = lIull~ + lIull~· 7.Wedenoteby(·1·)and11·11respectivelythescalarproduct andthenormoftheHilbertspace E. 8.For uE E, EHilbertorBanachspace,wedenotetheball ofcenter uandradiusrby B(u,r) = {vE E: lIu- vii~ r}.Wewillalsowrite B = B(O, r). r 1 1 9.WesetA (n) = {uE H (St,n)}. k 10.For VE C (1Rxil,IR)wedenoteby V'(t, x)thegradient of Vwithrespectto x. l 11.Given f E C (M,IR), MHilbertmanifold,welet r = {uEM: f(u) ~ a}, f-l(a,b) = {uE E : a~ f(u) ~ b}. x NOTATION 12.Given f E C1(M,JR), MHilbertmanifold,wewilldenote by Zthesetofcriticalpointsof fon Mandby Zctheset Z U f-l(c, c). 13.Givenasequence UnE E, EHilbertspace,by Un ---"" Uwe willmeanthatthesequence Unconvergesweaklyto u. 14.With Pds. (E)wewilldenotethesetoflinearandcontinuous operatorson E. 15.With Ck''''(A,JR)wewilldenotethesetoffunctions ffrom AtoJR, ktimesdifferentiablewhosek-derivativeisHolder continuousofexponent0:. Main Assumptions Wecollecthere,forthereader'sconvenience,themainassump tionsonthepotential Vusedthroughoutthebook. (VO) VEC1(lRXO,lR),V(t+T,x)=V(t,X) V(t,x)ElRXO, (VI) V(t,x)

Klappentext
The authors have provided some valuable methods and tools to researchers working on this constantly evolving topic. At the same time, they present the new approach and results that they have shared over recent years with their colleagues and graduate students.

Zusammenfassung
A summary and synthesis of recent research demonstrating that variational methods can be used to successfully handle systems with singular potential, the Lagrangian systems. The classic cases of the Kepler problem and the N-body problem are used as specific examples.

Inhalt
I Preliminaries.- II Singular Potentials.- III The Strongly Attractive Case.- IV The Weakly Attractive Case.- V Orbits with Prescribed Energy.- VI The N-Body Problem.- VII Perturbation Results.