Hamiltonian Mechanics

Vrutang Shah
29/4/2014

Overview of Classical
Physics
Three alternative approach for
classical mechanics:
1. Newtonian mechanics
2. Lagrangian mechanics
3. Hamiltonian mechanics

Newtonian Mechanics
In
Newtonian
mechanics,
the
dynamics of the system are dened
by the force F, which in general is a
function of position x, velocity x and
time t.

Lagrangian Mechanics
Given
a function L(q, q, t) (called the

Lagrangian), the equations of motion

for a dynamical system are given by:

Where, L=T-V
T: Kinetic Energy
V: Potential Energy
qi: Generalized Coordinates

Why use Lagrangian

Mechanics?
Advantage:
Constraint forces can be easily taken care
Can be generalized to relativistic mechanics
Can be extended to continuous degrees of
freedom
(Maxwell equation of motion are from
Lagrangian Equation of motion)

Disadvantage:
Not easy to quantized

Hamiltonian Mechanics
Derivation from Lagrangian
Mechanics:
Now to explicitly make 1st order
equation, we can take new variable in
Lagrangian equation.
Hence, we want to make H(q, p, t) from
L(q, q, t). This can be done by using
Legendre transform (change of variable)

Hamiltonian Mechanics

(1)
Now, H (q, p, t)

(2)
Equating (1) and (2)..

Hamiltonian Mechanics
Given
a function H(q, p, t) (called the

Hamiltonian), the equations of motion for a

dynamical system are given by Hamiltons
equations:

Where, H= T + V;
T : Kinetic Energy
V: Potential Energy
: Conjugate Momentum

Why use Hamiltonian

Mechanics?
Advantage:
Explicitly give 1st order differential
equation
Can be used in Quantum mechanics

Unied Principle of Least Action

Consider

the path traced by a

dynamical system on a plot of vs q. We
can dened an Action S as,

Then system chose the path for which the

action S is a minimum.
This lead to a formalization of Lagrangian
equation of motion.