Course 241, Advanced Mechanics Problem Set 1 Problem 1.

Find equations of motion (eom) of a particle moving in a D-dimensional at space with the following Lagrangian 1 2 e r , L = mvi 2 r= x2 i , m , , are constants .

Here and in what follows the summation over the repeated indices is assumed. That means
D

ai b i
i=1

ai b i = a1 b 1 + a2 b 2 + + aD b D ,

a2 i ai ai

for any sets of objects a1 , . . . , aD and b1 , . . . , bD . Check that L is invariant under the SO(D) group of rotations of the coordinates xi : xi Oij xj , summation over j ! ,

where Oij is an orthogonal D by D matrix, that is for any indices i and j Oik Ojk = ij , summation over k !

and ij is the Kronecker delta: ij = 1 if i = j , and ij = 0 if i = j . Problem 2. Find eom of a D-dimensional harmonic oscillator, and solve them for D = 1. 1 1 L = mij vi vj kij xi xj , 2 2 summation over i and j ! .

Explain why without loss of generality for any i and j one can assume that mij = mji and kij = kji that is the matrices with the entries mij and kij are symmetric. Problem 3. Find eom of a free relativistic particle of rest mass m0 (c is the speed of light) L = m0 c2 1
2 vi , c2 2 vi vi . vi

Problem 4. Find the Lagrangian of a particle moving on the surface of a paraboloid z = k (x2 + y 2 ) in a uniform gravitational eld. Problem 5. Find the Lagrangian of a simple pendulum of mass m2 , with a mass m1 at the point of support which can move on a vertical curve dened parametrically by the equations x = f (s) , y = g (s). Assume that the motion takes place only in the vertical xy -plane. Specialize the formula to the case where the curve is an ellipse: x2 y 2 + 2 =1 a2 b
m2

m1