Discrete Mechanics and Variational Integrators

 

MATTHEW WEST
Control and Dynamical Systems 107-81
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125-8100, USA
mwest@cds.caltech.edu

[ poster ]

Abstract:

Lagrangian systems can be discretized at the level of the variational principle, giving integrators which are automatically symplectic and momentum preserving. This poster reviews the derivation of such variational integrators and discusses their properties and behavior, illustrated with some examples of well-known methods for molecular dynamics.

[ abstract ]