Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity,
now available at
Oxford University Press
(USA,
Europe).
Bones and floors are hard. Joints are quite flexible until they hit rigid
limits. In studying human locomotion, one often makes the approximation that
the motion of ones limbs is energy conserving except for abrupt impacts
(foot hits the ground, knee joint goes straight) at which point energy
is dissipated but momentum and angular momentum are conserved.
Most of these models tend to be simple to describe, but rather complex
to write down or program. Here we implement a remarkably simple model
of walking, which exhibits period doubling and chaos. We will learn
Last modified: August 24, 2006
Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity,
now available at
Oxford University Press
(USA,
Europe).