Nonholonomic Dynamics and Integrability (07w5029)
Description
A number of prominent specialists in sub-Riemannian geometery, nonholonomic mechanics and control theory will converge on The Banff Centre on January 28-February 2, 2007 for the workshop on nonholonomic dynamics and integrability hosted by the Banff International Research Station. This event is co-organized by Professors Boris Khesin (University of Toronto) and Sergei Tabachnikov (Penn State University). Nonholonomic mechanics describes the motion of systems subbordinated to nonholonomic constraints, i.e. systems whose restrictions on velocities do not arise from the constraints on the configuration space. The best known examples of such systems are a sliding skate, a rolling ball and the Chaplygin sleigh, as well as their numerous generalizations. These systems usually exhibit very peculiar, often counter-intuitive, behavior.
The integrability vs. chaos dichotomy in such systems is one of their main points of interest, which is yet to be better understood. Furthermore, a more profound understanding of the relation between several competing paradigms in nonholonomic mechanics, the applications to control theory, as well as the similarities with Hamiltonian systems would be very important for further progress in the theory. This workshop is an opportunity to bring specialists in these domains together and foster interactions between researchers with diverse and often complimentary backgrounds in nonholonomic mechanics and in the adjacent areas, including sub-Riemannian geometry, Hamiltonian systems, billiard theory sub-elliptic operators, and others.
The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is administered by the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, in collaboration with the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems Network (MITACS), the Berkeley-based Mathematical Science Research Institute (MSRI) and the Instituto de Matematicas at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM).
The integrability vs. chaos dichotomy in such systems is one of their main points of interest, which is yet to be better understood. Furthermore, a more profound understanding of the relation between several competing paradigms in nonholonomic mechanics, the applications to control theory, as well as the similarities with Hamiltonian systems would be very important for further progress in the theory. This workshop is an opportunity to bring specialists in these domains together and foster interactions between researchers with diverse and often complimentary backgrounds in nonholonomic mechanics and in the adjacent areas, including sub-Riemannian geometry, Hamiltonian systems, billiard theory sub-elliptic operators, and others.
The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is administered by the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, in collaboration with the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems Network (MITACS), the Berkeley-based Mathematical Science Research Institute (MSRI) and the Instituto de Matematicas at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM).
