Action-angle coordinates of spherical pendulums with symmetric quadratic potentials

Abstract

We study the spherical pendulum system with an arbitrary potential function $V = V(z)$, which is an integrable system with a first integral whose Hamiltonian flow is periodic. We give explicit solutions to these integrable systems. In the special case when the potential function is symmetric quadratic like $V = z^2$, we compute its action-angle coordinates in terms of elliptic integrals.

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