One of the worlds foremost geometers, Alan Weinstein has made deep contributions to symplectic and differential geometry, Lie theory, mechanics, and related fields. Written in his honor, the invited papers in this volume reflect the active and vibrant research in these areas and are a tribute to Weinsteins ongoing influence. The well-recognized contributors to this text cover a broad range of topics: Induction and reduction for systems with symmetry, symplectic geometry and topology, geometric quantization, the Weinstein Conjecture, Poisson algebra and geometry, Dirac structures, deformations for Lie group actions, Kahler geometry of moduli spaces, theory and applications of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics and dynamics, symplectic and Poisson groupoids, and quantum representations.Intended for graduate students and working mathematicians in symplectic and Poisson geometry as well as mechanics, this text is a distillation of prominent research and an indication of the future trends and directions in geometry, mechanics, and mathematical physics.

* Winner of the Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize in 2000.

* Reviews the necessary prerequisites, beginning with an introduction to Lie symmetries on Poisson and symplectic manifolds.
* Currently in classroom use in Europe.

* Can serve as a resource for graduate courses and seminars in Hamiltonian mechanics and symmetry, symplectic and Poisson geometry, Lie theory, mathematical physics, and as a comprehensive reference resource for researchers.

Symmetry has always played an important role in mechanics, from fundamental formulations of basic principles to concrete applications. The theme of the book is to develop the basic theory and applications of mechanics with an emphasis on the role of symmetry. In recent times, the interest in mechanics, and in symmetry techniques in particular, has accelerated because of developments in dynamical systems, the use of geometric methods and new applications to integrable and chaotic systems, control systems, stability and bifurcation, and the study of specific rigid, fluid, plasma and elastic systems. Introduction to Mechanics and Symmetry lays the basic foundation for these topics and includes numerous specific applications, making it beneficial to physicists and engineers. This text has specific examples and applications showing how the theory works, and up-to-date techniques, all of which makes it accessible to a wide variety of readers, expecially senior undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics, physics and engineering. For this second edition, the text has been rewritten and updated for clarity throughout, with a major revamping and expansion of the exercises. Internet supplements containing additional material are also available on-line.

A development of the basic theory and applications of mechanics with an emphasis on the role of symmetry. The book includes numerous specific applications, making it beneficial to physicists and engineers. Specific examples and applications show how the theory works, backed by up-to-date techniques, all of which make the text accessible to a wide variety of readers, especially senior undergraduates and graduates in mathematics, physics and engineering. This second edition has been rewritten and updated for clarity throughout, with a major revamping and expansion of the exercises. Internet supplements containing additional material are also available.

In this volume readers will find for the first time a detailed account of the theory of symplectic reduction by stages, along with numerous illustrations of the theory. Special emphasis is given to group extensions, including a detailed discussion of the Euclidean group, the oscillator group, the Bott-Virasoro group and other groups of matrices. Ample background theory on symplectic reduction and cotangent bundle reduction in particular is provided. Novel features of the book are the inclusion of a systematic treatment of the cotangent bundle case, including the identification of cocycles with magnetic terms, as well as the general theory of singular reduction by stages.