A partial differential equation with infinitely many periodic orbits: Chaotic oscillations of a forced beam

This paper delineates a class of time-periodically perturbed evolution equations in a Banach space whose associated Poincaré map contains a Smale horseshoe. This implies that such systems possess periodic orbits with arbitrarily high period. The method uses techniques originally due to Melnikov and applies to systems of the form x=f _o(X)+f ₁(X,t), where f _o(X) is Hamiltonian and has a homoclinic orbit. We give an example from structural mechanics: sinusoidally forced vibrations of a buckled beam.     

Energy balance invariance for interacting particle systems

This paper studies the principle of invariance of balance of energy and its consequences for a system of interacting particles under groups of transformations. Balance of energy and its invariance is first examined in Euclidean space. Unlike the case of continuous media, it is shown that conservation and balance laws do not follow from the assumption of invariance of balance of energy under time-dependent isometries of the ambient space. However, the postulate of invariance of balance of energy under arbitrary diffeomorphisms of the ambient (Euclidean) space, does yield the correct conservation and balance laws. These ideas are then extended to the case when the ambient space is a Riemannian manifold. Pairwise interactions in the case of geodesically complete Riemannian ambient manifolds are defined by assuming that the interaction potential explicitly depends on the pairwise distances of particles. Postulating balance of energy and its invariance under arbitrary time-dependent spatial diffeomorphisms yields balance of linear momentum. It is seen that pairwise forces are directed along tangents to geodesics at their end points. One also obtains a discrete version of the Doyle–Ericksen formula, which relates the magnitude of internal forces to the rate of change of the interatomic energy with respect to a discrete metric that is related to the background metric.     

Energy balance invariance for interacting particle systems

This paper studies the principle of invariance of balance of energy and its consequences for a system of interacting particles under groups of transformations. Balance of energy and its invariance is first examined in Euclidean space. Unlike the case of continuous media, it is shown that conservation and balance laws do not follow from the assumption of invariance of balance of energy under time-dependent isometries of the ambient space. However, the postulate of invariance of balance of energy under arbitrary diffeomorphisms of the ambient (Euclidean) space, does yield the correct conservation and balance laws. These ideas are then extended to the case when the ambient space is a Riemannian manifold. Pairwise interactions in the case of geodesically complete Riemannian ambient manifolds are defined by assuming that the interaction potential explicitly depends on the pairwise distances of particles. Postulating balance of energy and its invariance under arbitrary time-dependent spatial diffeomorphisms yields balance of linear momentum. It is seen that pairwise forces are directed along tangents to geodesics at their end points. One also obtains a discrete version of the Doyle–Ericksen formula, which relates the magnitude of internal forces to the rate of change of the interatomic energy with respect to a discrete metric that is related to the background metric. Dedicated to the memory of Shahram Kavianpour (1975-2007). Jerrold E. Marsden: Research partially supported by the California Institute of Technology and NSF-ITR Grant ACI-0204932. Arash Yavari: Research supported by the Georgia Institute of Technology.     

A low-dimensional model of separation bubbles

In this work, motivated by the problem of model-based predictive control of separated flows, we identify the key variables and the requirements on a model-based observer and construct a prototype low-dimensional model to be embedded in control applications.Namely, using a phenomenological physics-based approach and dynamical systems and singularity theories, we uncover the low-dimensional nature of the complex dynamics of actuated separated flows and capture the crucial bifurcation and hysteresis inherent in separation phenomena. This new look at the problem naturally leads to several important implications, such as, firstly, uncovering the physical mechanisms for hysteresis, secondly, predicting a finite amplitude instability of the bubble, and, thirdly, to new issues to be studied theoretically and tested experimentally.     

Temporal and spatial chaos in a van der Waals fluid due to periodic thermal fluctuations

The Mel'nikov technique is applied to prove the existence of deterministic chaos in two problems for a van der Waals fluid. The first problem shows that temporal chaos results as a result of small time periodic fluctuations about a subcritical temperature when the fluid is initially quenched in the unstable spinoidal region. The second problem shows that spatial chaos arises from small spatially periodic flunctions in an infinite tube of fluid if the ambient pressure is appropriately chosen.