On the stability problem for the so(5)\mathfrak{so}(5) free rigid body

In the general case of the $\mathfrak{so}(n)$ free rigid body we give a list of integrals of motion, which generate the set of Mishchenko's integrals. In the case of $\mathfrak{so}(5)$ we prove that there are fifteen coordinate type Cartan subalgebras which on a regular adjoint orbit give fifteen Weyl group orbits of equilibria. These coordinate type Cartan subalgebras are the analogues of the three axes of equilibria for the classical rigid body on $\mathfrak{so}(3)$. The nonlinear stability and instability of these equilibria is analyzed. In addition to these equilibria there are ten other continuous families of equilibria.Comment: Preprint of an article submitted for consideration in International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics \copyright 2011 copyright World Scientific Publishing Company http://www.worldscinet.com/ijgmmp

Instability conditions for circulatory and gyroscopic conservative systems

We give a method which generates sufficient conditions for instability of equilibria for circulatory and gyroscopic conservative systems. The method is based on the Gramians of a set of vectors whose coordinates are powers of the roots of the characteristic polynomial for the studied systems. New instability results are obtained for general circulatory and gyroscopic conservative systems. We also apply this method for studying the instability of motion for a charged particle in a stationary electromagnetic field