On the brachistochrone of a variable mass particle in general force fields

Abstract The problem of the brachistochronic motion of a variable mass particle is considered. The particle moves through a resistant medium in the field of arbitrary active forces. Beginning from these general assumptions, and applying Pontryagin’s minimum principle along with singular optimal control theory, a corresponding two-point boundary value problem is obtained and solved. The solution proposed involves an appropriate numerical procedure based upon the shooting method. In this numerical procedure, the evaluation of ranges for unknown values of costate variables is avoided by the choice of a corresponding Cartesian coordinate of the particle as an independent variable. A numerical example assuming the resistance force proportional to the square of the particle speed is presented. A review of existing results for related problems is provided, and it can be shown that these problems may be regarded as special cases of the brachistochrone problem formulated and solved in this paper under very general assumptions by means of optimal control theory.

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