We prove a general theorem on the persistence of Whitney $C^\infty$-smooth families of invariant tori in the reversible context 2 of KAM theory. This context refers to the situation where $\dim \text{Fix}\,G < (\text{codim}\,\mathcal{T})/2$, where $\text{Fix}\,G$ is the fixed point manifold of the reversing involution $G$ and $\mathcal{T}$ is the invariant torus in question. Our result is obtained as a corollary of the theorem by H. W. Broer, M.-C. Ciocci, H. Hansmann, and A. Vanderbauwhede (2009) concerning quasi-periodic stability of invariant tori with singular “normal” matrices in reversible systems.

In this paper we give an introduction to the notion of a normally hyperbolic invariant manifold (NHIM) and its role in chemical reaction dynamics. We do this by considering simple examples for one-, two-, and three-degree-of-freedom systems where explicit calculations can be carried out for all of the relevant geometrical structures and their properties can be explicitly understood. We specifically emphasize the notion of a NHIM as a “phase space concept”. In particular, we make the observation that the (phase space) NHIM plays the role of “carrying” the (configuration space) properties of a saddle point of the potential energy surface into phase space.
We also consider an explicit example of a 2-degree-of-freedom system where a “global” dividing surface can be constructed using two index one saddles and one index two saddle. Such a dividing surface has arisen in several recent applications and, therefore, such a construction may be of wider interest.

Nekhoroshev discovered a beautiful theorem in Hamiltonian systems that includes as special cases not only the Poincar´e theorem on periodic orbits but also the theorem of Liouville–Arnol’d on completely integrable systems [7]. Sadly, his early death precluded him publishing a full account of his proof. The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a complete proof of his original theorem and second a generalization to the noncommuting case. Our generalization of Nekhoroshev’s theorem to the nonabelian case subsumes aspects of the theory of noncommutative complete integrability as found in Mishchenko and Fomenko [5] and is similar to what Nekhoroshev’s theorem does in the abelian case.

In this paper we study noncommutative integrable systems on $b$-Poisson manifolds. One important source of examples (and motivation) of such systems comes from considering noncommutative systems on manifolds with boundary having the right asymptotics on the boundary. In this paper we describe this and other examples and prove an action-angle theorem for noncommutative integrable systems on a $b$-symplectic manifold in a neighborhood of a Liouville torus inside the critical set of the Poisson structure associated to the $b$-symplectic structure.

A review is given of the studies aimed at extending to the thermodynamic limit stability results of Nekhoroshev type for nearly integrable Hamiltonian systems. The physical relevance of such an extension, i. e., of proving the persistence of regular (or ordered) motions in that limit, is also discussed. This is made in connection both with the old Fermi–Pasta–Ulam problem, which gave origin to such discussions, and with the optical spectral lines, the existence of which was recently proven to be possible in classical models, just in virtue of such a persistence.

In this paper, we investigate perturbations of linear integrable Hamiltonian systems, with the aim of establishing results in the spirit of the KAM theorem (preservation of invariant tori), the Nekhoroshev theorem (stability of the action variables for a finite but long interval of time) and Arnold diffusion (instability of the action variables). Whether the frequency of the integrable system is resonant or not, it is known that the KAM theorem does not hold true for all perturbations; when the frequency is resonant, it is the Nekhoroshev theorem that does not hold true for all perturbations. Our first result deals with the resonant case: we prove a result of instability for a generic perturbation, which implies that the KAM and the Nekhoroshev theorem do not hold true even for a generic perturbation. The case where the frequency is nonresonant is more subtle. Our second result shows that for a generic perturbation the KAM theorem holds true. Concerning the Nekhrosohev theorem, it is known that one has stability over an exponentially long (with respect to some function of $\varepsilon^{-1}$) interval of time and that this cannot be improved for all perturbations. Our third result shows that for a generic perturbation one has stability for a doubly exponentially long interval of time. The only question left unanswered is whether one has instability for a generic perturbation (necessarily after this very long interval of time).

In this paper, we present Poisson brackets of certain classes of mappings obtained as general periodic reductions of integrable lattice equations. The Poisson brackets are derived from a Lagrangian, using the so-called Ostrogradsky transformation. The $(q,−p)$ reductions are $(p + q)$-dimensional maps and explicit Poisson brackets for such reductions of the discrete KdV equation, the discrete Lotka–Volterra equation, and the discrete Liouville equation are included. Lax representations of these equations can be used to construct sufficiently many integrals for the reductions. As examples we show that the $(3,−2)$ reductions of the integrable partial difference equations are Liouville integrable in their own right.

We consider Hamiltonian systems on $(T^{*}\mathbb R^2, dq \wedge dp)$ defined by a Hamiltonian function $H$ of the “classical” form $H = p^2/2 + V (q)$. A reasonable decay assumption $V(q) \to 0, \, \|q\| \to \infty$, allows one to compare a given distribution of initial conditions at $t = −\infty$ with their final distribution at $t = +\infty$. To describe this Knauf introduced a topological invariant $\text{deg}(E)$, which, for a nontrapping energy $E > 0$, is given by the degree of the scattering map. For rotationally symmetric potentials $V = W(\|q\|)$, scattering monodromy has been introduced independently as another topological invariant. In the present paper we demonstrate that, in the rotationally symmetric case, Knauf’s degree $\text{deg}(E)$ and scattering monodromy are related to one another. Specifically, we show that scattering monodromy is given by the jump of the degree $\text{deg}(E)$, which appears when the nontrapping energy $E$ goes from low to high values.

The long-term diffusion properties of the action variables in real analytic quasiintegrable Hamiltonian systems is a largely open problem. The Nekhoroshev theorem provides bounds to such a diffusion as well as a set of techniques, constituting its proof, which have been used to inspect also the instability of the action variables on times longer than the Nekhoroshev stability time. In particular, the separation of the motions in a superposition of a fast drift oscillation and an extremely slow diffusion along the resonances has been observed in several numerical experiments. Global diffusion, which occurs when the range of the slow diffusion largely exceeds the range of fast drift oscillations, needs times larger than the Nekhoroshev stability times to be observed, and despite the power of modern computers, it has been detected only in a small interval of the perturbation parameter, just below the critical threshold of application of the theorem. In this paper we show through an example how sharp this phenomenon is.

Using the hyperbolic circular billiard, introduced in [31] by Delos et al. as possibly the simplest system with Hamiltonian monodromy, we illustrate the method developed by N. N. Nekhoroshev and coauthors [48] to uncover this phenomenon. Nekhoroshev’s very original geometric approach reflects his profound insight into Hamiltonian monodromy as a general topological property of fibrations. We take advantage of the possibility of having closed form elementary function expressions for all quantities in our system in order to provide the most explicit and detailed explanation of Hamiltonian monodromy and its relation to similar phenomena in other domains.

This paper is concerned with two systems from sub-Riemannian geometry. One of them is defined by a Carnot group with three generatrices and growth vector $(3, 6, 14)$, the other is defined by two generatrices and growth vector $(2, 3, 5, 8)$. Using a Poincaré map, the nonintegrability of the above systems in the general case is shown. In addition, particular cases are presented in which there exist additional first integrals.