Perturbed closed geodesics are periodic orbits: Index and transversality

We study the classical action functional ${\cal S}_V$ on the free loop space of a closed, finite dimensional Riemannian manifold M and the symplectic action on the free loop space of its cotangent bundle. The critical points of both functionals can be identified with the set of perturbed closed geodesics in M. The potential $V\in C^\infty(M\times S^1,\mathbb{R})$ serves as perturbation and we show that both functionals are Morse for generic V. In this case we prove that the Morse index of a critical point x of equals minus its Conley-Zehnder index when viewed as a critical point of and if is trivial. Otherwise a correction term +1 appears. Received: 21 May 2001; in final form: 10 October 2001 / Published online: 4 April 2002     

Morse linear functionals on orbits of adjoint action of semisimple Lie groups

Linear functionals on the Lie algebra of an arbitrary semisimple compact Lie group with restrictions of these functionals onto an arbitrary orbit of the adjoint action are considered. Criteria for the criticality and non-degenerate criticality of a point on the orbit are formulated and proved for a given functional, a necessary and sufficient condition for a linear functional to be a Morse function on the orbit is also proved. A method calculating the indices of critical points and its applications in the study of topological properties of orbits are indicated.     

Periodic orbits on Riemannian manifolds under the action of an at most quadratic potential

In this paper we look for periodic orbits for a Lagrangian system in a complete Riemannian manifold under the action of an eventually unbounded potential. An upper bound on the fixed period is obtained by means of variational tools involving penalization arguments and Morse theory.     

Remote limit points on surfaces

A flow (continuous real action) on a compact orientable surface M of genus greater than one (a sphere with at least two handles) has sufficient room for orbits to wrap around one of the handles in an exotic fashion. Specifically, an orbit that is wrapping around one handle can, between wraps, spend increasing amounts of time wrapping and unwrapping around a second handle before returning to the first for the next wrap around it. As a result the omega limit set of such an orbit can contain a simple closed curve of fixed points around the second handle in spite of wrapping around the first handle. In an earlier paper (Colloq. Math. 84/85 (2000) 235), the authors constructed such a flow from this perspective and studied its lift to the universal covering space of the surface. In this paper it is shown that many of the properties of the example are consequences of a general theory that extends classical limit cycle theory.     

On bifurcations of multidimensional diffeomorphisms having a homoclinic tangency to a saddle-node

We study the main bifurcations of multidimensional diffeomorphisms having a nontransversal homoclinic orbit to a saddle-node fixed point. On a parameter plane we build a bifurcation diagram for single-round periodic orbits lying entirely in a small neighborhood of the homoclinic orbit. Also, a relation of our results to the well-known codimension one bifurcations of a saddle fixed point with a quadratic homoclinic tangency and a saddle-node fixed point with a transversal homoclinic orbit is discussed.     

Maslov index for homoclinic orbits of Hamiltonian systems

A useful tool for studying nonlinear differential equations is index theory. For symplectic paths on bounded intervals, the index theory has been completely established, which revealed tremendous applications in the study of periodic orbits of Hamiltonian systems. Nevertheless, analogous questions concerning homoclinic orbits are still left open. In this paper we use a geometric approach to set up Maslov index for homoclinic orbits of Hamiltonian systems. On the other hand, a relative Morse index for homoclinic orbits will be derived through Fredholm index theory. It will be shown that these two indices coincide.     

Maslov index and Morse theory for the relativistic Lorentz force equation

We study the Jacobi equation for fixed endpoints solutions of the Lorentz force equation on a Lorentzian manifold. The flow of the Jacobi equation along each solution preserves the so-called twisted symplectic form, and the corresponding curve in the symplectic group determines an integer valued homology class called the Maslov index of the solution. We introduce the notion of F-conjugate plane for each conjugate instant; the restriction of the spacetime metric to the F-conjugate plane is used to compute the Maslov index, which is given by a sort of algebraic count of the conjugate instants. For a stationary Lorentzian manifold and an exact electromagnetic field admitting a potential vector field preserving the flow of the Killing vector field, we introduce a constrained action functional having finite Morse index and whose critical points are fixed endpoints solution of the Lorentz force equation. We prove that the value of this Morse index equals the Maslov index and we prove the Morse relations for the solutions of the Lorentz force equation in a static spacetime.Mathematics Subject Classification (2002): Primary: 58E10, 83C10; Secondary: 53D12     

Transverse intersections between invariant manifolds of doubly hyperbolic invariant tori, via the Poincaré-Mel’nikov method

We consider a perturbation of an integrable Hamiltonian system having an equilibrium point of elliptic-hyperbolic type, having a homoclinic orbit. More precisely, we consider an (n + 2)-degree-of-freedom near integrable Hamiltonian with n centers and 2 saddles, and assume that the homoclinic orbit is preserved under the perturbation. On the center manifold near the equilibrium, there is a Cantorian family of hyperbolic KAM tori, and we study the homoclinic intersections between the stable and unstable manifolds associated to such tori. We establish that, in general, the manifolds intersect along transverse homoclinic orbits. In a more concrete model, such homoclinic orbits can be detected, in a first approximation, from nondegenerate critical points of a Mel’nikov potential. We provide bounds for the number of transverse homoclinic orbits using that, in general, the potential will be a Morse function (which gives a lower bound) and can be approximated by a trigonometric polynomial (which gives an upper bound).     

Morse theory for periodic solutions of hamiltonian systems and the maslov index

In this paper we prove Morse type inequalities for the contractible 1-periodic solutions of time dependent Hamiltonian differential equations on those compact symplectic manifolds M for which the symplectic form and the first Chern class of the tangent bundle vanish over π₂ (M). The proof is based on a version of infinite dimensional Morse theory which is due to Floer. The key point is an index theorem for the Fredholm operator which plays a central role in Floer homology. The index formula involves the Maslov index of nondegenerate contractible periodic solutions. This Maslov index plays the same role as the Morse index of a nondegenerate critical point does in finite dimensional Morse theory. We shall use this connection between Floer homology and Maslov index to establish the existence of infinitely many periodic solutions having integer periods provided that every 1-periodic solution has at least one Floquet multiplier which is not equal to 1.     

Lectures on the free period Lagrangian action functional

In this expository article we study the question of the existence of periodic orbits of prescribed energy for classical Hamiltonian systems on compact configuration spaces.We use a variational approach, by studying how the behavior of the free period Lagrangian action functional changes when the energy crosses certain values, known as the Mañé critical values.     

Prime and almost prime integral points on principal homogeneous spaces

We develop the affine sieve in the context of orbits of congruence subgroups of semisimple groups acting linearly on affine space. In particular, we give effective bounds for the saturation numbers for points on such orbits at which the value of a given polynomial has few prime factors. In many cases these bounds are of the same quality as what is known in the classical case of a polynomial in one variable where the orbit consists of the integers. When the orbit is the set of integral matrices of a fixed determinant, we obtain a sharp result for the saturation number, and thus establish the Zariski density of matrices all of whose entries are prime numbers. Among the key tools used are explicit approximations to the generalized Ramanujan conjectures for such groups, and sharp and uniform counting of points on such orbits when ordered by various norms.     

Coherent orientations in symplectic field theory

We study the coherent orientations of the moduli spaces of holomorphic curves in Symplectic Field Theory, generalizing a construction due to Floer and Hofer. In particular we examine their behavior at multiple closed Reeb orbits under change of the asymptotic direction. The orientations are determined by a certain choice of orientation at each closed Reeb orbit, that is similar to the orientation of the unstable tangent spaces of critical points in finite–dimensional Morse theory.in final form: 22 October 2003     

Slow Passage Through the Nonhyperbolic Homoclinic Orbit of the Saddle-Center Hamiltonian Bifurcation

Slowly varying Hamiltonian systems, for which action is a well-known adiabatic invariant, are considered in the case where the system undergoes a saddle center bifurcation. We analyze the situation in which the solution slowly passes through the nonhyperbolic homoclinic orbit created at the saddle-center bifurcation. The solution near this homoclinic orbit consists of a large sequence of homoclinic orbits surrounded by near approaches to the autonomous nonlinear nonhyperbolic saddle point. By matching this solution to the strongly nonlinear oscillations obtained by averaging before and after crossing the homoclinic orbit, we determine the change in the action. If one orbit comes sufficiently close to the nonlinear saddle point, then that one saddle approach instead satisfies the nonautonomous first Painlevé equation, whose stable manifold of the unstable saddle (created in the saddle-center bifurcation) separates solutions approaching the stable center from those involving sequences of nearly homoclinic orbits.     

Nonlinear free surface condition due to second order diffraction by a pair of cylinders

An analysis of the non-homogeneous term involved in the free surface condition for second order wave diffraction on a pair of cylinders is presented. In the computations of the nonlinear loads on offshore structures the most challenging task is the computation of the free surface integral. The main contribution to this integrand is due to the nonhomogeneous term present in the free surface condition for second order scattered potential. In this paper, the free surface condition for the second order scattered potential is derived. Under the assumption of large spacing between the two cylinders, waves scattered by one cylinder may be replaced in the vicinity of the other cylinder by equivalent plane waves together with non-planner correction terms. Then solving a complex matrix equation, the first order scattered potential is derived and since the free surface term for second order scattered potential can be expressed in terms of the first order potentials, the free surface term can be obtained using the knowledge of first order potentials only.     

Snakes: Oriented families of periodic orbits,their sources,sinks, and continuation

Poincaré observed that for a differential equation $\text{x′ = ?(x, α)}$ depending on a parameter α, each periodic orbit generally lies in a connected family of orbits in (x, α)-space. In order to investigate certain large connected sets (denoted Q) of orbits containing a given orbit, we introduce two indices: an orbit index φ and a “center” index

defined at certain stationary points. We show that genetically there are two types of Hopf bifurcation, those we call “sources” ($\textcolor{red}{}\text{= 1}$) and “sinks” ($\textcolor{red}{}\text{= ?1}$). Generically if the set Q is bounded in (x, α)-space, and if there is an upper bound for periods of the orbits in Q, then Q must have as many source Hopf bifurcations as sink Hopf bifurcations and each source is connected to a sink by an oriented one-parameter “snake” of orbits. A “snake” is a maximal path of orbits that contains no orbits whose orbit index is 0. See Fig. 1.1.     

Generic Morse–Smale property for the parabolic equation on the circle

In this paper, we show that, for scalar reaction–diffusion equations ut=u_xx+f(x,u,ux)$u_t=u_{xx}+f(x,u,u_x)$ on the circle S¹$S^1$, the Morse–Smale property is generic with respect to the non-linearity f. In Czaja and Rocha (2008) [13], Czaja and Rocha have proved that any connecting orbit, which connects two hyperbolic periodic orbits, is transverse and that there does not exist any homoclinic orbit, connecting a hyperbolic periodic orbit to itself. In Joly and Raugel (2010) [31], we have shown that, generically with respect to the non-linearity f, all the equilibria and periodic orbits are hyperbolic. Here we complete these results by showing that any connecting orbit between two hyperbolic equilibria with distinct Morse indices or between a hyperbolic equilibrium and a hyperbolic periodic orbit is automatically transverse. We also show that, generically with respect to f, there does not exist any connection between equilibria with the same Morse index. The above properties, together with the existence of a compact global attractor and the Poincaré–Bendixson property, allow us to deduce that, generically with respect to f, the non-wandering set consists in a finite number of hyperbolic equilibria and periodic orbits. The main tools in the proofs include the lap number property, exponential dichotomies and the Sard–Smale theorem. The proofs also require a careful analysis of the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the linearized equations along the connecting orbits.     

Infinitely many noncontractible closed magnetic geodesics on non-compact manifolds

In this paper we study the existence and multiplicity of periodic orbits of exact magnetic flows with energy levels above the Mañé critical value of the universal cover on a non-compact manifold from the viewpoint of Morse theory.     

Reduced spaces and their relation to relative equilibria

Summary It is known that the Hamiltonian motion of a mechanical system with symmetry induces Hamiltonian flows on reduced phase spaces. In this paper we apply Morse theory to study the relationship between the topology of the reduced space and the number of relative equilibria in the corresponding momentum level set. Our attention is restricted to simple mechanical systems with compact configuration space and compact symmetry group. We begin by showing that the set of relative equilibria in a level set of the momentum map is compact. We then employ techniques from Morse theory to prove that the number of orbits of relative equilibria with momentum in the coadjoint orbit of a given regular momentum value is bounded below by the the sum of Betti numbers of the corresponding reduced space when the Hamiltonian is fibre quadratic and the reduced Hamiltonian is nondegenerate. In addition, for a certain class of group actions on the configuration manifold, it is shown that the above result extends to Hamiltonians of the form potential plus kinetic.     

On the geometry and quantization of symplectic Howe pairs

We study the orbit structure and the geometric quantization of a pair of mutually commuting hamiltonian actions on a symplectic manifold. If the pair of actions fulfils a symplectic Howe condition, we show that there is a canonical correspondence between the orbit spaces of the respective moment images. Furthermore, we show that reduced spaces with respect to the action of one group are symplectomorphic to coadjoint orbits of the other group. In the Kähler case we show that the linear representation of a pair of compact connected Lie groups on the geometric quantization of the manifold is then equipped with a representation-theoretic Howe duality.     

Robustly transitive actions of ℝ<Superscript>2</Superscript> on compact three manifolds

In this paper, we define robust transitivity for actions of ℝ² on closed connected orientable manifolds. We prove that if the ambient manifold is three dimensional and the dense orbit of a robustly transitive action is not planar, then the action is defined by an Anosov flow, i.e. its orbits coincide with the orbits of an Anosov flow.