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1000 Solved Problems in Classical Physics PDF
1000 Solved Problems in Classical Physics PDF
LAGRANGIAN MECHANICS
Beauty, at least in theoretical physics, is perceived in the simplicity and
compactness of the equations that describe the phenomena we observe about us. Dirac
has emphasized this point and said “It is more important to have beauty in one’s
equations than to have them fit experiment…. It seems that if one is working from the
point of view of getting beauty in one’s equations, and if one has really a sound insight,
one is on a sure line of progress.” In this sense the beauty of classical physics lies in the
fact that it can all be derived from the postulates of relativity together with just one
hypothesis, which we call Hamilton’s principle. This includes all of classical mechanics
and all of electricity and magnetism. In fact, if we postulate other interactions, such as
the Yukawa potential, the mathematical form of these interactions is very restricted. The
flexibility in the choice of natural laws is very limited.
In the future, as so-called “grand unified theories” are developed, it is expected
that even this limited flexibility will be removed. One of the remarkable developments of
modern physics has been the growing perception that the laws of physics are inevitable.
Hawking may have gone beyond the realm of pure physics when he asked the question
“Did God have any choice?” in the way She wrote the laws of physics. However, it
seems that if the universe consists of three spatial dimensions and time, and we require
causality, then there is little choice in the laws of physics.
an extremum, generally a minimum, subject to the constraint that the endpoints a and b
(including both the coordinates and the times) are fixed. That is, in the notation of the
calculus of variations,
b
δ S = δ ∫ Ldt = 0 (4)
a
for variations δ r of the trajectory that vanish at the endpoints, as shown in Figure 2. The
quantity L is called the Lagrangian for the system, and its form depends on the nature of
the system under consideration. The task in classical mechanics and classical field theory
therefore consists of two parts. First we must determine the Lagrangian L for the
system, and second we must find the equations of motion that minimize the action S . As
we shall see, the form of the Lagrangian follows from the postulates of relativity. Only
the few parameters that appear in the equations must be determined from experiment.
But the Lagrangian cannot depend on the direction of v , since space is isotropic, so it can
depend only on the magnitude v 2 = v ⋅ v and have the form
L = T ( v ⋅ v) (7)
For this to be true, it is necessary that T ⎡⎣( v '+ V ) ⋅ ( v '+ V ) ⎤⎦ and T ( v '⋅ v ' ) differ by at
most the time derivative of a function of the coordinates and the time,
d Λ ( r ', t ')
T ⎡⎣( v '+ V ) ⋅ ( v '+ V ) ⎤⎦ - T ( v '⋅ v ' ) = (13)
dt '
for in this case
b b
d Λ ( r ', t ')
δ ∫ {T ⎡⎣( v '+ V ) ⋅ ( v '+ V ) ⎤⎦ - T ( v '⋅ v ')} dt ' = δ ∫ dt ' = δΛ ( r ', t ' ) a = 0
b
(14)
a a
dt '
since the variation of the coordinates vanishes at the endpoints. But
d Λ ( r ', t ') ∂Λ
= ∇ ' Λ ⋅ v '+ (15)
dt ' ∂t '
so
∂Λ
T ⎡⎣( v '+ V ) ⋅ ( v '+ V ) ⎤⎦ - T ( v '⋅ v ') = ∇ ' Λ ⋅ v '+ (16)
∂t '
But T is independent of the coordinates and time, so ∇ ' Λ and ∂Λ / ∂t ' , which depend
only on the coordinates and time, must be constants, and we get
T [ v '⋅ v '+ 2V ⋅ v '+ V ⋅ V ] - T ( v '⋅ v ') = K1 ⋅ v '+ K 2 (17)
It is easily shown (by expanding in a power series, for example), that this can be true only
if the Lagrangian is
1 2
L (v) = T ( v ⋅ v) = mv + K (18)
2
for some constants m and K . Since it disappears from the equations of motion when the
variation is taken, we set K = 0 . We must determine the constant m by comparison with
experiment.
where the first term is just the Lagrangian of a free particle. The variation of the action is
therefore
dδ r
b b
δ S = m∫ v ⋅ dt − ∫ δ Udt , (20)
a
dt a
We return to (21) for a moment, which we may now write in the form
⎛ ⎞
b
dv
δ S = mv ⋅ δ r a − ∫ ⎜ m + ∇U ⎟ ⋅ δ rdt = 0
b
(23)
a⎝ ⎠
dt
and consider the case of a translation of the entire trajectory by the constant amount
δ r = ε = constant (24)
as illustrated in Figure 3. Provided that the potential U is invariant under the translation
δ r = ε , the Lagrangian is unchanged. Therefore, the action is unchanged by the
translation and δ S = 0 for this variation of the trajectory. But the result of the translation
remains a valid trajectory, so the integral in (23) still vanishes identically. However, the
variation δ r is no longer zero at the endpoints. Therefore, we see from the first term in
(23) that
mv a = mv ( b ) − mv ( a ) = 0
b
(25)
That is, the quantity mv is conserved along the trajectory. We call those quantities that
are conserved in a translationally invariant system the momenta, so the momentum must
be
p = mv (26)
For a system of particles that attract and repel one another through central
potentials, the Lagrangian has the form
1 1
L = ∑ mi vi2 − ∑ Uij ri − r j
i 2 2 i, j
( ) (27)
where the factor of ½ appears in the second term because we have counted the interaction
between each pair of particles twice. If the positions of all the particles are translated or
rotated together, the Lagrangian is unchanged. Therefore, the total momentum and
angular momentum of a system of particles interacting according to (27) are conserved.
We can also see this by looking at the equation of motion that we derive from (27), which
is
dp k ∂L dp k ∂U
− = + ∑ kj = 0 (28)
dt ∂rk dt j ∂ri
The factor of one half has disappeared because in the sum over i two terms survive for
k = i , these being U kj and U jk = U kj . Summing over all particles we obtain
dp k ∂U
∑k dt
+ ∑ kj = 0
kj ∂rk
(29)
But
∂U kj ∂U kj
=− (30)
∂rk ∂r j
That is, the forces of interaction on the two particles are equal and opposite. Therefore,
the sum vanishes by cancellation and the total canonical momentum of the interacting
particles is conserved:
dp k
∑k dt
=0 (31)
Note that this result depends on the fact that the interaction can be written in the form
(27), in which only the instantaneous positions appear in Uij . That is, the interaction is
felt instantaneously by both particles, so every action has an equal and opposite reaction,
as represented by (30) and stated by Newton. This is valid only in nonrelativistic theory.
In relativistic theory, the interaction propagates at the speed of light, and is not felt
instantaneously by another particle. Therefore, the total momentum of the particles is not
conserved. Instead, the total momentum of the particles and fields is conserved.
Just as translational invariance is associated with linear momentum, rotational
invariance is associated with angular momentum. For an infinitesimal rotation of the
position of a particle about the origin, the increment in the coordinates is linear in the
angle of rotation and in the coordinates of the particle. The variation of the trajectory is
therefore
δ r = δω × r (32)
where δω is the rotation vector.
Figure 4 Rotation of a trajectory.
When the trajectory is rotated as shown in Figure 4, the variation of the action is
given by (23), as before. Substituting (32) for δ r , we now get
⎛ ⎞
b
dv
δ S = mv ⋅ (δω × r ) a − ∫ ⎜ m
b
+ ∇U ⎟ ⋅ δ rdt (33)
a⎝ ⎠
dt
For a system which is rotationally invariant, the action is unaffected by this
transformation, so δ S = 0 . But the trajectory remains valid, so the integral on the right
still vanishes. Therefore, upon rearranging the triple product, we find that
m v ⋅ (δω × r ) a = 0 = δω ⋅ ( r × p ) a
b b
(34)
That is, l = r × p is a constant of the motion. When the Lagrangian is invariant under a
rotation in space, the angular momentum l is conserved. For a set of particles that
interact through central potentials, as described by (27), the Lagrangian is invariant under
a rotation of the positions of all the particles. Therefore, we can repeat the arguments
used for linear momentum to show that the total angular momentum of all the particles is
conserved.
2. HAMILTONIAN MECHANICS
⎛ ∂L ∂L ⎞
b
δ S = ∫⎜ ⋅δ r + ⋅ δ v ⎟ dt (36)
a⎝
∂r ∂v ⎠
But the variation of the velocity is
dδ r
δv = (37)
dt
Substituting this into (36) and integrating once, by parts, in the usual fashion, we find that
∂L ⎛ d ∂L ∂L ⎞
b
δS = ⋅δ r a − ∫ ⎜ − ⎟ ⋅ δ rdt = 0
b
(38)
∂v a⎝
dt ∂v ∂r ⎠
by Hamilton’s principle. But the variation δ r vanishes at the endpoints, and is arbitrary
in between. Therefore, the first term vanishes, and from the second term we obtain the
equations of motion
d ∂L ∂L
− =0 (39)
dt ∂v ∂r
These are known as the Euler-Lagrange equations, and they may be used to find the
equations of motion for any Lagrangian L ( r, v,t ) .
Since the endpoints are fixed, we can take the variation inside the integral and get
dδ r
b b b
dr
δ S = ∫δ P ⋅ dt + ∫ P ⋅ dt − ∫ δ Hdt = 0 (48)
a
dt a
dt a
Now, in the Hamiltonian formulation the coordinates r and P of phase space are given
equal standing, so the variations δ P and δ r are individually arbitrary. Therefore, the
quantities in parentheses must individually vanish, and we arrive at the canonical
equations of motion
dr ∂H
= (51)
dt ∂P
dP ∂H
=− (52)
dt ∂r
We also see that the total time derivative of the Hamiltonian is
d H ∂H dr ∂H dP ∂H ∂H
= ⋅ + ⋅ + = (53)
dt ∂r dt ∂P dt ∂t ∂t
Therefore, unless the Hamiltonian is explicitly time dependent, it is a constant of the
motion. Since it is conserved in a time-invariant system, the Hamiltonian must be the
total energy, or something proportional to it. For a particle in a field we compute
⎛1 ⎞ 1
H = P ⋅ v − L = mv ⋅ v − ⎜ mv 2 − U ⎟ = mv 2 + U (54)
⎝2 ⎠ 2
Note carefully, however, that when using the canonical equations of motion it is
important that the Hamiltonian be expressed in terms of the coordinates and the canonical
momenta, not in terms of the velocities or, when they are different, the ordinary
momenta. For example,
p2
H= +U (55)
2m
is the proper form of the Hamiltonian for a particle in a field.
where n̂ is a unit vector normal to the surface S . But by the divergence theorem,
dV
dt v∫S
= v phase ⋅ nˆ dS = ∫ ∇ phase ⋅ v phase dV (57)
V
The usefulness of the phase-space picture is shown in Figure 9. As the beam passes
through the focus, the area in phase space occupied by the beam shears in the horizontal
direction as the trajectories take the particles to new values of y , keeping p y constant.
From Liouville’s theorem we know that the area of the distribution remains constant
during this evolution. At the focus, the ellipse circumscribing the particles is erect, and
the width in the y -direction is a minimum. In fact, if we pass the beam through a
focusing magnetic field, we shear the beam vertically (the momenta p y change but, at
least for a thin lens, the vertical positions y are almost unchanged), but the area remains
constant. As the beam drifts toward the focus, the distribution shears in the horizontal
direction (the positions change, but the momenta are constant). When the beam reaches a
focus, the ellipse is again erect, and the width in the y -direction is a minimum. Since the
area is a constant, we can find the width in the y -direction by knowing the width in the
p y -direction. This is established by the lens, which determines the shear in the vertical
( p y ) direction in the phase plane. We can obtain a narrower focus by extending the
distribution in the vertical direction, or we can collimate the beam (narrow the
distribution in the p y -direction), but only by spreading out the beam in the y -direction
to keep the area constant.
∂A ∂A ∂A ∂A
v⋅ = v x x + v y y + vz z (66)
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x
If we substitute these into (64) and rearrange the terms, we get
dvx ⎡ ∂Φ ∂Ax ⎛ ∂A ∂A ⎞ ⎛ ∂Ax ∂Az ⎞ ⎤
m = q ⎢− − + vy ⎜ y − x ⎟ − vz ⎜ − ⎟⎥ (67)
dt ⎣ ∂x ∂t ⎝ ∂x ∂y ⎠ ⎝ ∂z ∂x ⎠ ⎦
( P − qA )
2
H= + qΦ (75)
2m
The canonical equations of motion are now
dr ∂H P − qA p
= = = =v (76)
dt ∂P 2m m
∂ ( P − qA )
2
dP ∂H
=− =− − q∇Φ (77)
dt ∂r ∂r 2m
Using the vector identity
∇ ( a ⋅ b ) = a × ( ∇ × b ) + b × ( ∇ × a ) + ( a ⋅∇ ) b + ( b ⋅∇ ) a (78)
and the definitions (68) and (69) of the electric and magnetic fields, the second equation
becomes
dp
= q (E + v × B) (79)
dt
as before. Ho hum.
Hamiltonian mechanics is useful for formal developments, such as Liouville’s
theorem, but the canonical momentum itself is frequently useful for solving problems.
For example, for a plane electromagnetic wave the field is necessarily perpendicular to
the direction of propagation (to satisfy Gauss’s law), and has the form
A = A ⊥ ( x, t ) (80)
where A ⊥ is independent of the coordinates in the y and z directions. We can ignore
the potential Φ . Since the Lagrangian (or the Hamiltonian, for that matter) is invariant in
the y and z directions, the transverse components of the canonical momentum are
conserved. Thus, the first integral of the motion is immediately
P⊥ = p ⊥ + qA ⊥ = constant (81)
and the transverse momentum is
p ⊥ = −qA ⊥ + constant (82)
where the constant is the momentum of the particle before the wave arrives.
consists of a central potential about the nucleus, plus the interaction of the electrons with
the nucleus and each other, represented by Φ , and the magnetic vector potential (83).
Since all the terms in (84) are invariant under rotations about the magnetic field, the total
canonical angular momentum about the direction of the magnetic field is conserved:
∑ r × P = ∑ r × (p
i
i i
i
i i − qA i ) = constant (85)
where the constant is the angular momentum of the atom in the absence of the magnetic
field. Thus, the field causes the atom to rotate about the direction of the magnetic field.
To see this, we change to a new coordinate system rotating at the frequency Ω about an
axis parallel to the field B . The velocity of the particles in the new frame of reference is
v 'i = v i − Ω × r 'i . (86)
If we substitute this into (84) we get
N
L = ∑ ⎡⎣ 12 mv 'i2 + m ( Ω × r 'i ) ⋅ v 'i + 12 q ( B × r 'i ) ⋅ v 'i ⎤⎦ − q ∑ Φ ( ri , t ) , (87)
i =1 i