Kovalevskaya Top

The Kovalevskaya Top is one of a brief list of known examples of integrable rigid body motion.[1] In classical mechanics, there are three known integrable top problems, the Lagrange, Euler and Kovalevskaya tops. It was discovered by Sofia Kovalevskaya in 1888 and presented in her paper 'Sur Le Probleme De La Rotation D'Un Corps Solide Autour D'Un Point Fixe'.[2]

It is defined as a top in which two of the principal moments of inertia are twice that of the third and the center of mass is in the plane of the two equal moments of inertia.

References

  1. E. T. Whittaker, A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies, Cambridge University Press (1952).
  2. S. Kovalevskaya, Sur Le Probleme De La Rotation D'Un Corps Solide Autour D'Un Point Fixe, Acta Mathematica 12 (1889) 177-232.

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