Some Classes of Integrable Problems in Spatial Dynamics of a Rigid Body in a Nonconservative Force Field

Abstract

This paper is a review of some previous and new results on integrable cases in the dynamics of a three-dimensional rigid body in a nonconservative field of forces. These problems are stated in terms of dynamical systems with the so-called zero-mean variable dissipation. Finding a complete set of transcendental first integrals for systems with dissipation is a very interesting problem that has been studied in many publications. We introduce a new class of dynamical systems with a periodic coordinate. Since such systems possess some nontrivial groups of symmetries, it can be shown that they have variable dissipation whose mean value over the period of the periodic coordinate vanishes, although in various regions of the phase space there may be energy supply or scattering. The results obtained allow us to examine some dynamical systems associated with the motion of rigid bodies and find some cases in which the equations of motion can be integrated in terms of transcendental functions that can be expressed as finite combinations of elementary functions.