THE SLOW INVARIANT MANIFOLD OF A CONSERVATIVE PENDULUM-OSCILLATOR SYSTEM

Abstract

We analyze the motions of a conservative pendulum-oscillator system in the context of invariant manifolds of motion. Using the singular perturbation methodology, we show that whenever the natural frequency of the oscillator is sufficiently larger than that of the pendulum, there exists a global invariant manifold passing through all static equilibrium states and tangent to the linear eigenspaces at these equilibrium states. The invariant manifold, called slow, carries a continuum of slow periodic motions, both oscillatory and rotational. Computations to various orders of approximation to the slow invariant manifold allow analysis of motions on the slow manifold, which are verified with numerical experiments. Motion on the slow invariant manifold is identified with a slow nonlinear normal mode.