Quadratic integrals and the reducibility of the equations of motion of a complex mechanical system in a central field

A mechanical system, consisting of a non-variable rigid body (a carrier) and a subsystem, the configuration and composition of which may vary with time (the motion of its elements with respect to the carrier is specified), is considered. The system moves in a central force field at a distance from its centre which considerably exceeds the dimensions of the system. The effect of the system motion about the centre of mass on the motion of the centre of mass, which is assumed to be known, is ignored (the analogue of the limited problem 1] for a rigid body). The necessary and sufficient conditions for a quadratic integral of the motion around the centre of mass to exist are obtained in the case when there is no dynamic symmetry. It is shown that, for a quadratic integral to exist, it is necessary that the trajectory of the motion of the centre of mass should be on the surface of a certain circular cone, fixed in inertial space, with its vertex at the centre of the force field. If the trajectory does not lie on the generatrix of the cone, only one non-trivial quadratic integral can exist and the initial system, in the presence of this quadratic integral, reduces to autonomous form. For the motion of the centre of mass along the generatrix or the motion of the system around a fixed centre of mass, the necessary and sufficient conditions for a non-trivial quadratic integral to exist are obtained, which are generalizations of the energy integral, the de Brun integral 2] and the integral of the projection of the kinetic moment. When three non-trivial quadratic integrals exist, the condition for reduction to an autonomous system describing the rotation of the rigid body around the centre of mass and integrable in quadratures are indicated 3, 4].