Geometrical theory of fluid flows and dynamical systems

Various dynamical systems have often common geometrical structures and can be formulated on the basis of Riemannian geometry and Lie group theory, provided that a dynamical system has a group symmetry, namely it is invariant under group transformations, and further that the group manifold is endowed with a Riemannian metric. The basic ideas and tools are described, and their applications are presented for the following five problems: (a) free rotation of a rigid body, which is a well-known system in mechanics and presented as an illustrative example of the geometrical theory; (b) geodesic equation and KdV equation on the group of diffeomorphisms of a circle and its extended group; (c) a self-gravitating system of a finite number of points masses and a geometrical interpretation of chaos of Hénon–Heiles system; (d) geometrical formulation of hydrodynamics of an incompressible ideal fluid on the group of volume preserving diffeomorphisms, where an interpretation of the origin of Riemannian curvatures of the fluid flow is given; (e) geodesic equation on a loop group and the local induction equation for the motion of a vortex filament, where the geodesic equation on its extended group is found to be equivalent to the equation for a vortex filament with an axial flow along it. It is remarkable that the present geometrical formulations are successful for all the problems considered here and give an insight into the deep background common to the diverse physical systems. Furthermore, the geometrical formulation opens a new approach to various dynamical systems, which is rewarded with new results.