Some linear Jacobi structures on vector bundles

We study Jacobi structures on the dual bundle $A^\ast$ to a vector bundle $A$ such that the Jacobi bracket of linear functions is again linear and the Jacobi bracket of a linear function and the constant function 1 is a basic function. We prove that a Lie algebroid structure on $A$ and a 1-cocycle $\phi \in \Gamma (A^\ast)$ induce a Jacobi structure on $A^\ast$ satisfying the above conditions. Moreover, we show that this correspondence is a bijection. Finally, we discuss some examples and applications.Comment: 6 pages, To appear in C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, S\'erie

Non-existence of an invariant measure for a homogeneous ellipsoid rolling on the plane

It is known that the reduced equations for an axially symmetric homogeneous ellipsoid that rolls without slipping on the plane possess a smooth invariant measure. We show that such an invariant measure does not exist in the case when all of the semi-axes of the ellipsoid have different length.Comment: v2: Minor changes after journal review. This text uses the theory developed in arXiv:1304.1788 for the specific example of a homogeneous ellipsoid rolling on the plan

Unimodularity and preservation of volumes in nonholonomic mechanics

The equations of motion of a mechanical system subjected to nonholonomic linear constraints can be formulated in terms of a linear almost Poisson structure in a vector bundle. We study the existence of invariant measures for the system in terms of the unimodularity of this structure. In the presence of symmetries, our approach allows us to give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an invariant volume, that unify and improve results existing in the literature. We present an algorithm to study the existence of a smooth invariant volume for nonholonomic mechanical systems with symmetry and we apply it to several concrete mechanical examples.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figures; v3 includes several changes to v2 that were done in accordance to the referee suggestion

The inhomogeneous Suslov problem

We consider the Suslov problem of nonholonomic rigid body motion with inhomogeneous constraints. We show that if the direction along which the Suslov constraint is enforced is perpendicular to a principal axis of inertia of the body, then the reduced equations are integrable and, in the generic case, possess a smooth invariant measure. Interestingly, in this generic case, the first integral that permits integration is transcendental and the density of the invariant measure depends on the angular velocities. We also study the Painlev\'e property of the solutions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Leibniz algebroid associated with a Nambu-Poisson structure

The notion of Leibniz algebroid is introduced, and it is shown that each Nambu-Poisson manifold has associated a canonical Leibniz algebroid. This fact permits to define the modular class of a Nambu-Poisson manifold as an appropiate cohomology class, extending the well-known modular class of Poisson manifolds