Integrable Systems: In the Footprints of the Greats

In his 1842 lectures on dynamics C.G. Jacobi summarized difficulties with differential equations by saying that the main problem in the integration of differential equations appears in the choice of right variables. Since there is no general rule for finding the right choice, it is better to introduce special variables first, and then investigate the problems that naturally lend themselves to these variables. This paper follows Jacobi’s prophetic observations by introducing certain “meta” variational problems on semi-simple reductive groups G having a compact subgroup K . We then use the Maximum Principle of optimal control to generate the Hamiltonians whose solutions project onto the extremal curves of these problems. We show that there is a particular sub-class of these Hamiltonians that admit a spectral representation on the Lie algebra of G . As a consequence, the spectral invariants associated with the spectral curve produce a large number of integrals of motion, all in involution with each other, that often meet the Liouville complete integrability criteria. We then show that the classical integrals of motion associated, with the Kowalewski top, the two-body problem of Kepler, and Jacobi’s geodesic problem on the ellipsoid can be all derived from the aforementioned Hamiltonian systems. We also introduce a rolling geodesic problem that admits a spectral representation on symmetric Riemannian spaces and we then show the relevance of the corresponding integrals on the nature of the curves whose elastic energy is minimal.