Hamilton–Jacobi theory and integrability for autonomous and non-autonomous contact systems

Abstract

In this paper, we study the integrability of contact Hamiltonian systems, both time-dependent and independent. In order to do so, we construct a Hamilton–Jacobi theory for these systems following two approaches, obtaining two different Hamilton–Jacobi equations. Compared to conservative Hamiltonian systems, contact Hamiltonian systems depend of one additional parameter. The fact of obtaining two equations reflects whether we are looking for solutions depending on this additional parameter or not. In order to illustrate the theory developed in this paper, we study three examples: the free particle with a linear external force, the freely falling particle with linear dissipation and the damped and forced harmonic oscillator.