Electric and Magnetic Forces in Lagrangian

and Hamiltonian Formalism

Benjamin Hornberger

10/26/01

Phy 505, Classical Electrodynamics, Prof. Goldhaber

Lecture notes from Oct. 26, 2001
(Lecture held by Prof. Weisberger)

1 Introduction
Conservative forces can be derived from a Potential V (q, t). Then, as we
know from classical mechanics, we can write the Lagrangian as

L(q, q,
t) = T V, (1)
where T is the kinetic energy of the system. The Euler-Lagrangian equa-
tions of motion are then given by
!
d L L
= 0. (2)
dt qi qi
In three dimensions with cartesian Coordinates, this can be written as
d ~ ~
~v L L = 0. (3)
dt
~ ~v means the gradient with respect to the velocity coordinates.
Here,
Now we generalize V (q, t) to U (q, q,
t) this is possible as long as L =
T U gives the correct equations of motion.

1
2 LORENTZ FORCE LAW 2

2 Lorentz Force Law

The Lorentz force in Gaussian Units is given by:
!
F~ = Q ~ + ~v B
E ~ , (4)
c
~ x, t) is the electric field and B(~
where Q is the electric charge, E(~ ~ x, t) is
the magnetic field. If the sources (charges or currents) are far away, E~ and
~ solve the homogeneous Maxwell equations. In Gaussian Units, they are
B
given by

~ B
~ =0 (5)

~
~ + 1 B = 0
~ E (6)
c t
~ can be derived from a vector potential A:
The magnetic field B ~

~ =
B ~ A
~ (7)
If we plug this into Eq. (6), we get

~
~ + 1 A = 0
~ E (8)
c t
So the expression in square brackets is a vector field with no curl and can
be written as the gradient of a scalar potential :

~
~ + 1 A =
E ~ (9)
c t
or

~
E~ = ~ 1 A (10)
c t
This we plug into Eq. (4) for the Lorentz force law and we get

~
~ 1 A ~v
F~ = Q ~ A
~ . (11)
c t
3 LAGRANGIAN FORMALISM 3

If we apply the general general vector relation

~a ~b ~c = ~b (~a ~c) ~a ~b ~c (12)
to the triple vector cross product in the square brackets, we get

~ A
~v ~ =
~ ~v A
~ ~v
~ A.
~ (13)
So the equation for the Lorentz force law is now

~
~ 1 A + ~v
F~ = Q ~ A ~
~ ~v A
~ . (14)
c t
~ x, t):
Now lets look at the total time derivative of A(~
d ~ ~ X ~
A (~x, t) = A (~x, t) + vj A (~x, t) (15)
dt t j xj
| {z }
=(~v
~ )A(~
~ x,t)

The right side of the equation corresponds to the first two terms in the
square brackets of Eq. (14), and we can write

~
~ 1 dA + 1
F~ = Q ~ ~v A
~ (16)
c dt c

3 Lagrangian Formalism
3.1 The Lorentz Force Law in the Lagrangian Formal-
ism
~ to the La-
Lets try to add a vector potential term UA~ (~x, ~v , t) = Qc ~v A
grangian:
1 Q ~
L = mv 2 Q (~x, t) + ~v A (17)
2
| {z c
} | {z }
I II

If we apply the Euler-Lagrangian equation of motion (Eq. (3)) on part I

of Eq. (17), we get
3 LAGRANGIAN FORMALISM 4

d~v ~ = 0,
m + Q (18)
dt
and applying it to part II gives

d ~ ~
~ ~ = Q dA Q
~v UA~ U ~ ~v A
~ =0 (19)
A
dt c dt c
Altogether, the Euler-Lagrangian equation of motion, applied on the La-
grangian of Eq. (17), gives

d~v ~
m + Q ~ + Q dA Q ~ ~v A
~ =0 (20)
dt c dt c
If we identify m d~
v
dt
with the force F~ , given by Newtons Law, we can solve
Eq. (20) for F~ :

~
~ 1 dA + 1
F~ = Q ~ ~v A
~ (21)
c dt c
which is just the correct expression for the Lorentz Force Law, given by
Eq. (16).

3.2 How does a gauge transformation affect this La-

grangian?
~ and B
As we know, E ~ fields are invariant under gauge transformations

~ (~x, t) A
A ~0 = A
~ +
~ (~x, t) (22)

1
(~x, t) 0 = (~x, t) , (23)
c
where (~x, t) is an arbitrary scalar function. If we plug these new scalar
and vector potentials into the Lagrangian (Eq. (17)), it changes to
Q ~ (~x, t)

L L0 = L + (~x, t)) + ~v (24)
c
The expression in brackets is just the total time derivative of (~x, t), so
we get
4 HAMILTONIAN FORMALISM 5

Q d
L0 = L + (~x, t) (25)
c dt
.
But as we know, adding to the Lagrangian a total time derivative of a
function of ~x and t does not change the equations of motion.

So, the Lagrangian for a particle in an electromagnetic field is given by

1 Q ~
L = mv 2 Q + ~v A (26)
2 c

4 Hamiltonian Formalism
4.1 The Hamiltonian for the EM-Field
We know the canonical momentum from classical mechanics:
L
pi = (27)
x i
Using the Lagrangian from Eq. (26), we get
Q
pi = mvi + Ai (28)
c
The Hamiltonian is then given by
X 1
H= pi x i L = mv 2 + Q , (29)
i 2
where v resp. x must be replaced by p: Solving Eq. (28) for vi and
plugging into Eq. (29) gives

1 Q ~ 2
H= p
~ A +Q (30)
2m c
So the kinetic momentum in is in this case given by
Q ~
P~ = m~v = p~ A (31)
c
4 HAMILTONIAN FORMALISM 6

Example: Uniform constant magnetic field

~ in z-direction:
We assume B

0
~
B = B z = 0
(32)
B

The vector potential can then be written as

~=1 B
A ~ ~r (33)
2
This is an arbitrary choice, but it is easy to prove that it gives the correct
~ Now suppose the particle is bound in a strong central potential
result for B.
~
and B is relatively weak. If we plug the vector potential (Eq. (33)) into the
Hamiltonian (Eq. (30)), we get

|~p|2 Q ~ ~r + Q
2
~ ~r B ~ ~r

H= +Q p~ B B (34)
2m 2mc 8m2 c2 | {z }
~ 2~
B ~ r)2
r2 (B~

The last term in this equation can be neglected for a bound particle in a
weak field. For the mixed scalar / cross product in the second term, we can
write

~ ~r = ~r p~ B
p~ B ~ =L
~ B,
~ (35)
~ is the angular momentum. So the Hamiltonian is
where L

|~p|2 Q ~ ~
H' +Q LB (36)
2m 2mc
The last term is this Hamiltonian causes the ordinary Zeeman Effect.

4.2 Hamiltonian Equations of Motion

The Hamiltonian equations of motion are given by
H H
x i = and pi = . (37)
pi xi
4 HAMILTONIAN FORMALISM 7

If we apply these equations on the Hamiltonian (Eq. (30)), we get

1 Q
x i = pi Ai (38)
m c

X
1 Q Q Aj
pi = pj Aj Q (39)
m j c c xi xi

Example: Uniform constant magnetic field

Again we look at a constant magnetic field in z-direction (no other potential):

0
~ = B z =
B
0 (40)
B
For the vector potential, we choose

0
~
A = x B y = x B (41)
0
~ We
This is again an arbitrary choice which gives the correct result for B.
put this vector potential into the Hamiltonian and get
" 2 #
1 QB
H= p2z + p2x + py x = Hz + H . (42)
2m c
The second part H of the Hamiltonian can be written as
" #2
p2 m QB 2 c
H = x + x py (43)
2m 2 | mc
{z } | QB
{z }
2 :=L :=q12

where we define the Larmor Frequency L := QB mc

and introduce a new
c
coordinate q1 := (x QB py ). Furthermore, we set px = p1 , py = p2 and
pz = p3 .

p21 1
H = + m L2 q12 (44)
2m 2
4 HAMILTONIAN FORMALISM 8

This is just the Hamiltonian for a harmonic oscillator. In Quantum Me-

chanics, we can use the commutator

[q1 , p1 ] = ih, (45)

and for the harmonic oscillator, the energy eigenvalues are

1
En = n + h
L (46)
2