Alexey Bolsinov

This paper develops topological methods for qualitative analysis of the behavior of nonholonomic dynamical systems. Their application is illustrated by considering a new integrable system of nonholonomic mechanics, called a nonholonomic hinge. Although this system is nonholonomic, it can be represented in Hamiltonian form with a Lie –Poisson bracket of rank 2. This Lie – Poisson bracket is used to perform stability analysis of fixed points. In addition, all possible types of integral manifolds are found and a classification of trajectories on them is presented.

This paper develops the theory of the reducing multiplier for a special class of nonholonomic dynamical systems, when the resulting nonlinear Poisson structure is reduced to the Lie–Poisson bracket of the algebra $e(3)$. As an illustration, the Chaplygin ball rolling problem and the Veselova system are considered. In addition, an integrable gyrostatic generalization of the Veselova system is obtained.

The phenomenon of a topological monodromy in integrable Hamiltonian and nonholonomic systems is discussed. An efficient method for computing and visualizing the monodromy is developed. The comparative analysis of the topological monodromy is given for the rolling ellipsoid of revolution problem in two cases, namely, on a smooth and on a rough plane. The first of these systems is Hamiltonian, the second is nonholonomic. We show that, from the viewpoint of monodromy, there is no difference between the two systems, and thus disprove the conjecture by Cushman and Duistermaat stating that the topological monodromy gives a topological obstruction for Hamiltonization of the rolling ellipsoid of revolution on a rough plane.

In the paper we consider a system of a ball that rolls without slipping on a plane. The ball is assumed to be inhomogeneous and its center of mass does not necessarily coincide with its geometric center. We have proved that the governing equations can be recast into a system of six ODEs that admits four integrals of motion. Thus, the phase space of the system is foliated by invariant 2-tori; moreover, this foliation is equivalent to the Liouville foliation encountered in the case of Euler of the rigid body dynamics. However, the system cannot be solved in terms of quadratures because there is no invariant measure which we proved by finding limit cycles.

The paper is concerned with the use of bifurcation analysis and the Conley index in Hamiltonian dynamical systems. We give the proof of the theorem on the appearance (disappearance) of fixed points in the case of the Morse index change. New relative equilibria in the problem of the motion of point vortices of equal intensity in a circle are found.

Hamiltonisation problem for non-holonomic systems, both integrable and non-integrable, is considered. This question is important for qualitative analysis of such systems and allows one to determine possible dynamical effects. The first part is devoted to the representation of integrable systems in a conformally Hamiltonian form. In the second part, the existence of a conformally Hamiltonian representation in a neighbourhood of a periodic solution is proved for an arbitrary measure preserving system (including integrable). General consructions are always illustrated by examples from non-holonomic mechanics.