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0 votes
0 answers
29 views

Centrifugal Governor Question [closed]

I've been working through Hand and Finch's Analytical Mechanics and have just attempted this question: My attempt at a solution is as follows: First, find the kinetic energy of the two masses $m$ by ...
Zachary Holloway's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
133 views

QFT introduction: From point mechanics to the continuum

In any introductory quantum field theory course, one gets introduced with the modification of the classical Lagrangian and the conjugate momentum to the field theory lagrangian (density) and conjugate ...
Xhorxho's user avatar
  • 189
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

In equation (3) from lecture 7 in Leonard Susskind’s ‘Classical Mechanics’, should the derivatives be partial?

Here are the equations. ($V$ represents a potential function and $p$ represents momentum.) $$V(q_1,q_2) = V(aq_1 - bq_2)$$ $$\dot{p}_1 = -aV'(aq_1 - bq_2)$$ $$\dot{p}_2 = +bV'(aq_1 - bq_2)$$ Should ...
Bradley Peacock's user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
73 views

Meaning of $d\mathcal{L}=-H$ in analytical mechanics?

In Lagrangian mechanics the momentum is defined as: $$p=\frac{\partial \mathcal{L}}{\partial \dot q}$$ Also we can define it as: $$p=\frac{\partial S}{\partial q}$$ where $S$ is Hamilton's principal ...
User198's user avatar
  • 443
0 votes
0 answers
21 views

Prerequisites for studying Lev Landau Mechanics vol. 1 [closed]

Lev Landau Mechanics vol. 1 dives directly into Lagrangians and Hamiltonians. What do you think are the prerequisites in order to study and grasp it?
1 vote
2 answers
105 views

Does Hamilton's principle allow a path to have both a process of time forward evolution and a process of time backward evolution?

This is from Analytical Mechanics by Louis Hand et al. The proof is about Maupertuis' principle. The author seems to say that Hamilton's principle allow a path to have both a process of time forward ...
Raffaella's user avatar
  • 353
0 votes
1 answer
84 views

Action-angle variables for three-dimensional harmonic oscillator using cylindrical coordinates

I am solving problem 19 of ch 10 of Goldstein mechanics. The problem is: A three-dimensional harmonic oscillator has the force constant k1 in the x- and y- directions and k3 in the z-direction. Using ...
SYD's user avatar
  • 13
1 vote
1 answer
60 views

Vanishing virtual work done by non-holonomic constraints

I was reading classical mechanics by NC Rana. I was reading a topic on vanishing virtual work done due to constraint forces. How do you prove that the virtual work done by non-holonomic constraint ...
Aaron Nelson's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
78 views

Generalized momentum

I am studying Hamiltonian Mechanics and I was questioning about some laws of conservation: in an isolate system, the Lagrangian $\mathcal{L}=\mathcal{L}(q,\dot q)$ is a function of the generalized ...
user1255055's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
52 views

Confusing Goldstein Statement about Magnitude of the Lagrangian

On page 345 of Goldstein's Classical Mechanics 3rd Ed., he writes: ...the Hamiltonian is dependent both in magnitude and in functional form upon the initial choice of generalized coordinates. For the ...
user1247's user avatar
  • 7,388
3 votes
1 answer
53 views

Understanding gauge in Lagrangian mechanics [duplicate]

I know given a Lagrangian $\mathcal{L}$ satisfying the Euler-Lagrange equations, then the Lagrangian $\mathcal{L}'=\mathcal{L}+\frac{d}{dt}f(q,t)$ is also a solution of said equations. Nonetheless, I ...
Lagrangiano's user avatar
  • 1,617
0 votes
2 answers
58 views

Extending the Lagrangian of a double pendulum to systems with more complex shapes

The total kinetic energy of a double pendulum can be calculated as follows: $$L = \frac{1}{2} (m_1 + m_2) {l_1}^2 \dot{\theta_1}^2 + \frac{1}{2} m_2 {l_2}^2 \dot{\theta_2}^2 + m_2 l_1 l_2 \dot{\...
Riccardo Zanardi 's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
65 views

How to describe the dynamics of a magnetic monopole charge in the external EM field using a Lagrangian in terms of the EM potentials?

The equation of motion of a magnetic charge in the fixed external electromagnetic field $\mathbf{E},\mathbf{B}$ is $$ \frac{d}{dt}(\gamma m \mathbf{v})=q_m(\mathbf{B}-\mathbf{v}\times\mathbf{E}), $$ ...
hao123's user avatar
  • 21
2 votes
1 answer
50 views

Trying to derive relativistic dispersion formula

If we define conserved quantities of motion as constants arising from continuous symmetries of the system (Lagrangian), why does the following argument not give the correct result? Let $\gamma: I \to ...
Integral fan's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
126 views

On Landaus&Lifshitz's derivation of the lagrangian of a free particle [duplicate]

I'm reading the first pages of Landaus&Lifshitz's Mechanics tome. I'm looking for some clarification on the derivation of the Lagrange function for the mechanical system composed of a single free ...
GeometriaDifferenziale's user avatar

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