All Questions
232
questions
-3
votes
2
answers
76
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 ...
- 443
0
votes
0
answers
26
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?
0
votes
1
answer
86
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 ...
- 13
1
vote
1
answer
53
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 ...
- 7,388
2
votes
0
answers
72
views
Why can't we treat the Lagrangian as a function of the generalized positions and momenta and vary that? [duplicate]
Some background: In Lagrangian mechanics, to obtain the EL equations, one varies the action (I will be dropping the time dependence since I don't think it's relevant) $$S[q^i(t)] = \int dt \, L(q^i, \...
- 93
2
votes
1
answer
77
views
What is the benefit of Hamiltonian formalism to promote ($q,\dot{q},t$) from Lagrangian to ($q,p,t$) despite getting the same EOM finally? [duplicate]
Hamiltonian formalism follows
$$H(q,p,t)=\sum_i\dot{q_i}p_i-L(q_i,\dot{q}_i,t) $$ and $$\dot{p}=-\frac{\partial H}{\partial q}, \dot{q}=\frac{\partial H}{\partial p} $$
but finally these will get the ...
- 311
0
votes
1
answer
68
views
Changing variables from $\dot{q}$ to $p$ in Lagrangian instead of Legendre Transformation
This question is motivated by a perceived incompleteness in the responses to this question, which asks why we can't just substitute $\dot{q}(p)$ into $L(q,\dot{q})$ to convert it to $L(q,p)$, which ...
- 7,388
1
vote
1
answer
33
views
Regarding varying the coefficients of constraints in the pre-extended Hamiltonian in Dirac method
consider the following variational principle:
when we vary $p$ and $q$ independently to find the equations of motion, why aren't we explicitly varying the Coeff $u$ which are clearly functions of $p$ ...
1
vote
0
answers
48
views
Poincare-Cartan form of charged particle in electromagnetic field
In the paper by Littlejohn, 1983, the canonical Hamiltonian $h_c$ of a charged particle in electromagnetic field is given by,
$$
h_c (\vec{q}, \vec{p}, t) = \frac{1}{2m} \left[ \vec{p} - \frac{e}{c} \...
- 494
5
votes
1
answer
566
views
Does the Hamiltonian formalism yield more Noether charges than the Lagrangian formalism?
In Lagrangian formalism, we consider point transformations $Q_i=Q_i(q,t)$ because the Euler-Lagrange equation is covariant only under these transformations. Point transformations do not explicitly ...
- 145
0
votes
1
answer
80
views
Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics: Conjugate Momentum
I am a physics undergraduate student currently taking a classical mechanics course, and I am not able to understand what conjugate/canonical momentum is (physically). It is sometimes equal to the ...
2
votes
3
answers
148
views
Derivation of Hamiltonian by constraining $L(q, v, t)$ with $v = \dot{q}$
I am trying to reconstruct a derivation that I encountered a while ago somewhere on the internet, in order to build some intuition both for $H$ and $L$ in classical mechanics, and for the operation of ...
- 23
1
vote
1
answer
84
views
Hamiltonian analysis of relational $N$-Particle Dynamics
I am following "A Shape Dynamics Tutorial, Flavio Mercati" (https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.0105), and have problems understanding the hamiltonian formulation of $N$-particle dynamics as sketched ...
- 513
3
votes
3
answers
785
views
Confusion of variable vs path in Euler-Lagrange equation, Hamiltonian mechanics, and Lagrangian mechanics
In Lagrangian mechanics we have the Euler-Lagrange equations, which are defined as
$$\frac{d}{dt}\Bigg(\frac{\partial L}{\partial \dot{q}_j}\Bigg) - \frac{\partial L}{\partial q_j} = 0,\quad j = 1, \...
- 3,350
0
votes
1
answer
48
views
How to determine which coordinates to use for calculating the Hamiltonian? [closed]
In my classical mechanics course, I was tasked with finding the Hamiltonian of a pendulum of variable length $l$, where $\frac{dl}{dt} = -\alpha$ ($\alpha$ is a constant, so $l = c - \alpha t$.).
I ...
- 413