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17:6
Chapter 1
Introduction
KAMstory
December 1, 2013
17:6
1.1
This book presents classical4 KAM theory in its broadest context. It is intended for mathematicians, physicists and other interested scientists whose
training in classical mechanics stopped at the level of, say, (one of the editions of) H. Goldsteins book [Gold59], [Gold80], [GoldPS02] but who are
nevertheless curious about what lies beyond. Experts may also find certain
portions interesting, and I hope that they will add to or correct parts of
the story with which theyre especially familiar.5 Finally, the historical and
speculative parts should also appeal to anyone interested in the history of
ideas.
But let me be frank right from the start: this book will not teach you
about KAM theory at a very deep mathematical level. I do not present a
complete proof of a KAM theorem in these pages. Instead, the mathematical part of the story is connected by a century-long thread running from
Henri Poincare to Kolmogorov, Arnold, Moser, and beyond. I trace this
thread by way of a Hamiltonian function in modern notation, using it to
2 One hears KAM theory more often than the KAM theorem. As was evident right
from the start when the founders announced several different versions, there is no one
theorem, but instead many variations, each reflecting choices made in the underlying
hypotheses and methods of proof. Many of these variations will be detailed below. For
another succinct discussion of the early results focusing more on priority, see Part D.1.1
of the readers guide in Appendix D.
3 The acronym KAM was coined in [IzC68] by F.M. Izrailev and B.V. Chirikov. Note
that in English, one customarily pronounces the three letters separately (K-A-M),
whereas in Russian (and French), it is a true acronym, pronounced as the one-syllable
word kam.
4 By classical KAM theory, I mean the theory as it was originally developed for finitedimensional Hamiltonian systems and twist maps of the annulus. The expansion of KAM
theory outside its original framework is also touched upon in this book, but is not a main
emphasis.
5 See the books website http://thekamstory.wordpress.com/ to read or to submit
corrigenda.
KAMstory
December 1, 2013
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Introduction
KAMstory
December 1, 2013
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1.2
To show the reader that what I say above is not simply a way to generate
interest in the subjectthat KAM theory really does evoke a wide range of
reactions among mathematicians and physicistsI offer here some quotes
from (relatively) recent books, in chronological order.
First, from an edition of the book most often used in American universities over the last half-century to teach classical mechanics to graduate
students in physics, we have this (the only mention of KAM theory that
appears9 ):
8 Its difficult to write the words chaos or chaos theory without quotation marks, as
these terms are quite elastic and have never been given universally accepted meanings by
mathematicians. (But see the chaos entry in the glossary in Appendix F.) This ambiguity
also makes them very useful terms, and I wont shy away from them in the sequel.
9 However, the latest (2002) edition of this book [GoldPS02] (now with coauthors) contains a new chapter on classical chaos with a brief (2-page) section on KAM theory.
KAMstory
December 1, 2013
17:6
Introduction
KAMstory
December 1, 2013
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KAMstory
January 9, 2014
15:39
Introduction
KAMstory
out that in dynamical systems papers of the 1980s and 90s, it became so
common to see the term celebrated KAM theorem11 that you might think
the adjective celebrated had been permanently attached as part of the
theorems name.12
1.3
January 9, 2014
15:39
14 As Salomon Bochner puts it, [In history of science] more than in any other history,
the past discloses itself in the future. (See the interesting discussion from which this
fragment is quoted on p. 60 of [Boch66].)
15 Here American is used to mean the variety of English commonly spoken in the U.S.
KAMstory