Term End Exam 2015

1. Special relativity Consider a 2d space-time with time coordinate t and space coordinate
x. There are two inertial observers O, O′ with coordinate systems (t, x) and (t′ , x′ ). O′ is
moving at constant speed v in +x direction relative to O. If v is small, the two coordinate
systems are related by
t′ = t, x′ = x − vt.
Special relativity relates the two coordinates as follows (c is the speed of light)
( ′ ) ( )
ct ct
=K .
x′ x

(1) The matrix K has to satisfy KT ηK = η, where η = diag(1, −1). Why is this?
(2) Express the elements of K in terms of v, c. You can use K generally take the form
( )
cosh θ − sinh θ
K=
− sinh θ cosh θ

(3) Now, consider three inertial observers O, O′ , O′′ . The velocity of O′ relative to O is
v, and the velocity of O′′ relative to O′ is v ′ . Compute the velocity of O′′ relative to O.
(4) The 2-velocity uµ = (u0 , u1 ) of a particle is a vector with norm uµ uµ = c2 which is
tangent to its worldline. Compute uµ for a particle with velocity v, mass m.
(5) The energy-momentum vector of the particle is pµ = (E/c, p) = muµ . Write the
formula for E and p. Assuming v is small, expand E to the fourth order in v/c.

2. mass point dragged by a moving cart Consider a cart

moving at a constant speed v in the x direction, with a point
mass m attached by a spring of force constant k.
There are two natural coordinate frames: one is the rest frame (with coordinate x), the
other is the frame moving together with the cart (coordinate x̃). The two are related by
x̃ = x − vt.
(1) Define the Lagrangian by L = T − V , where T and V are the kinetic and potential
energies measured in the rest frame. Express L in two ways using x and x̃.
(2) Find the Hamiltonians H(x, p, t), H̃(x̃, p̃, t) for the two sets of canonical variables
(x, p) and (x̃, p̃).
(3) The two descriptions are related by a canonical transformation. Let F (x, p̃, t) be the
generating function. What is the condition F has to satisfy?
(4) Find the generating function F .
3. Hamilton-Jacobi theory for Kepler problem
(1) Write down the Lagrangian for a particle of mass m moving in the 2D plane with the
attractive central force potential −k/r, using polar coordinates (r, θ).
(2) Introduce the momenta (pr , pθ ) and write Hamiltonian.
(3) The Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the principal function S for general mechanical
system with Hamiltonian H(q, p, t) is

∂S ∂S
+ H(q, , t) = 0
∂t ∂q

Write down the solution for S(r, θ, E, ℓ, t) in the form of an indefinite integral, where
E, ℓ are the conserved energy and angular momentum.
(4) Define T ≡ −∂S/∂E, β ≡ ∂S/∂ℓ. What equations of motion do they satisfy?
(5) Explain the physical meaning of the variables T, β.

4. Classical field theory Consider the field theory of a real scalar field ϕ(xµ ) on 2D
space-time with coordinates x0 = t, x1 = x. The Lagrangian density is
1 1 1
L = (∂t ϕ)2 − (∂x ϕ)2 = η µν ∂µ ϕ∂ν ϕ .
2 2 2

(1) Derive the field equation.

(2) Find the stress-energy tensor Tµν .
(3) Show ∂ν Tµν = 0 under the assumption of equation of motion.
(4) Now assume x is periodic, x ∼ x + 2πR. Substitute into L the following
∑
qn (t)e R , qn∗ (t) = q−n (t)
inx
ϕ(t, x) =
n∈Z

and integrate over x. What mechanical system does the field theory reduce to?
(Hint) you can use {
∫ 2π
inx 2π (n = 0)
dxe = 2πδn,0 =
0 ̸ 0)
0 (n =

5. Any comments or suggestions? Please write any comments or suggestions about the
class.