Global Formulations of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics on Two-Spheres

This paper provides global formulations of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian variational dynamics evolving on the product of an arbitrary number of two-spheres. Four types of Euler-Lagrange equations and Hamilton's equations are developed in a coordinate-free fashion on two-spheres, without relying on local parameterizations that may lead to singularities and cumbersome equations of motion. The proposed intrinsic formulations of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics are novel in that they incorporate the geometry of two-spheres, resulting in equations of motion that are expressed compactly, and they are useful in analysis and computation of the global dynamics.