70,156 research outputs found
Stiffness pathologies in discrete granular systems: bifurcation, neutral equilibrium, and instability in the presence of kinematic constraints
The paper develops the stiffness relationship between the movements and
forces among a system of discrete interacting grains. The approach is similar
to that used in structural analysis, but the stiffness matrix of granular
material is inherently non-symmetric because of the geometrics of particle
interactions and of the frictional behavior of the contacts. Internal geometric
constraints are imposed by the particles' shapes, in particular, by the surface
curvatures of the particles at their points of contact. Moreover, the stiffness
relationship is incrementally non-linear, and even small assemblies require the
analysis of multiple stiffness branches, with each branch region being a
pointed convex cone in displacement-space. These aspects of the particle-level
stiffness relationship gives rise to three types of micro-scale failure:
neutral equilibrium, bifurcation and path instability, and instability of
equilibrium. These three pathologies are defined in the context of four types
of displacement constraints, which can be readily analyzed with certain
generalized inverses. That is, instability and non-uniqueness are investigated
in the presence of kinematic constraints. Bifurcation paths can be either
stable or unstable, as determined with the Hill-Bazant-Petryk criterion.
Examples of simple granular systems of three, sixteen, and sixty four disks are
analyzed. With each system, multiple contacts were assumed to be at the
friction limit. Even with these small systems, micro-scale failure is expressed
in many different forms, with some systems having hundreds of micro-scale
failure modes. The examples suggest that micro-scale failure is pervasive
within granular materials, with particle arrangements being in a nearly
continual state of instability
Relative Critical Points
Relative equilibria of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems with symmetry are
critical points of appropriate scalar functions parametrized by the Lie algebra
(or its dual) of the symmetry group. Setting aside the structures - symplectic,
Poisson, or variational - generating dynamical systems from such functions
highlights the common features of their construction and analysis, and supports
the construction of analogous functions in non-Hamiltonian settings. If the
symmetry group is nonabelian, the functions are invariant only with respect to
the isotropy subgroup of the given parameter value. Replacing the parametrized
family of functions with a single function on the product manifold and
extending the action using the (co)adjoint action on the algebra or its dual
yields a fully invariant function. An invariant map can be used to reverse the
usual perspective: rather than selecting a parametrized family of functions and
finding their critical points, conditions under which functions will be
critical on specific orbits, typically distinguished by isotropy class, can be
derived. This strategy is illustrated using several well-known mechanical
systems - the Lagrange top, the double spherical pendulum, the free rigid body,
and the Riemann ellipsoids - and generalizations of these systems
Steve Smale and Geometric Mechanics
Thus, one can say-perhaps with only a slight danger of oversimplification-
that reduction theory synthesises the work of Smale, Arnold (and their
predecesors of course) into a bundle, with Smale as the base and Arnold as
the fiber. This bundle has interesting topology and carries mechanical connections (with associated Chern classes and Hannay-Berry phases) and has interesting singularities (Arms, Marsden, and Moncrief, Guillemin and Sternberg, Atiyab, and otbers). We will describe some of these features later
Numerical loop quantum cosmology: an overview
A brief review of various numerical techniques used in loop quantum cosmology
and results is presented. These include the way extensive numerical simulations
shed insights on the resolution of classical singularities, resulting in the
key prediction of the bounce at the Planck scale in different models, and the
numerical methods used to analyze the properties of the quantum difference
operator and the von Neumann stability issues. Using the quantization of a
massless scalar field in an isotropic spacetime as a template, an attempt is
made to highlight the complementarity of different methods to gain
understanding of the new physics emerging from the quantum theory. Open
directions which need to be explored with more refined numerical methods are
discussed.Comment: 33 Pages, 4 figures. Invited contribution to appear in Classical and
Quantum Gravity special issue on Non-Astrophysical Numerical Relativit
Stability of relative equilibria with singular momentum values in simple mechanical systems
A method for testing -stability of relative equilibria in Hamiltonian
systems of the form "kinetic + potential energy" is presented. This method
extends the Reduced Energy-Momentum Method of Simo et al. to the case of
non-free group actions and singular momentum values. A normal form for the
symplectic matrix at a relative equilibrium is also obtained.Comment: Partially rewritten. Some mistakes fixed. Exposition improve
One-dimensional solitary waves in singular deformations of SO(2) invariant two-component scalar field theory models
In this paper we study the structure of the manifold of solitary waves in
some deformations of SO(2) symmetric two-component scalar field theoretical
models in two-dimensional Minkowski space. The deformation is chosen in order
to make the analogous mechanical system Hamilton-Jacobi separable in polar
coordinates and displays a singularity at the origin of the internal plane. The
existence of the singularity confers interesting and intriguing properties to
the solitary waves or kink solutions.Comment: 25 pages, 18 figure
Geometric Mechanics, Stability and Control
This paper gives an overview of selected topics in mechanics and their relation
to questions of stability, control and stabilization. The mechanical connection,
whose holonomy gives phases and that plays an important role in block
diagonalization, provides a unifying theme
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