Logo image
Geometry of Integrable Linkages
Journal article   Open access

Geometry of Integrable Linkages

Ron Perline and Sergei Tabachnikov
Journal of Experimental Mathematics, v 1(1), pp 94-123
28 Feb 2025
url
https://doi.org/10.56994/JXM.001.001.005View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

In analogy with the well-known 2-linkage tractor-trailer problem, we define a 2-linkage problem in the plane with novel non-holonomic “no-slip” conditions. Using constructs from sub-Riemannian geometry, we look for geodesics corresponding to linkage motion with these constraints (“tricycle kinematics”). The paths of the three vertices turn out to be critical points for functionals which appear in the hierarchy of conserved quantities for the planar filament equation, a well known completely integrable evolution equation for planar curves. We show that the geodesic equations are completely integrable, and present a second connection to the planar filament equation.

Metrics

10 Record Views

Details

Logo image