Introduction to Mechanics and Symmetry

Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences. provoking a blurring of boundaries between scientific dis ciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as well as the classical techniques of applied mathematics. This renewal of interest, both in research and teaching, has led to the establishment of the series: Texts in Applied Mathe matics (TAM). The development of new courses is a natural consequence of a high level of excitement on the research frontier as newer techniques, such as numerical and symbolic computer systems, dynamical systems, and chaos, mix with and reinforce the traditional methods of applied mathematics. Thus, the purpose of this textbook series is to meet the current and future needs of these advances and encourage the teaching of new courses. TAM will publish textbooks suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses, and will complement the Applied Mathematical Siiences (AMS) series, which will focus on advanced textbooks and research level monographs. Preface Symmetry and mechanics have been close partners since the time of the founding masters, namely, Newton, Euler, Lagrange, Laplace, Poisson, Ja cobi, and Hamilton, and its subsequent developers, including Noether, Rie mann, Routh, Kelvin, Poincare, and Cartan. To this day, symmetry has continued to playa strong role, especially with the modern work of Arnold, Guillemin, Kirillov, Kostant, Moser, Smale, Souriau, Sternberg, and many others."