Analytical mechanics

In theoretical physics and mathematical physics, analytical mechanics, or

theoretical mechanics is a collection of closely related alternative
formulations of classical mechanics. It was developed by many scientists
and mathematicians during the 18th century and onward, after Newtonian
mechanics. Since Newtonian mechanics considers vector quantities of
motion, particularly accelerations, momenta, forces, of the constituents of
the system, an alternative name for the mechanics governed by Newton's
laws and Euler's laws is vectorial mechanics.
By contrast, analytical mechanics uses scalar properties of motion
representing the system as a wholeusually its total kinetic energy and
its potential energynot Newton's vectorial forces of individual particles.
[1] A scalar is a quantity, whereas a vector is represented by quantity and
direction. The equations of motion are derived from the scalar quantity by
some underlying principle about the scalar's variation.
Analytical mechanics takes advantage of a system's constraints to solve
problems. The constraints limit the degrees of freedom the system can
have, and can be used to reduce the number of coordinates needed to
solve for the motion. The formalism is well suited to arbitrary choices of
coordinates, known in the context as generalized coordinates. The kinetic
and potential energies of the system are expressed using these
generalized coordinates or momenta, and the equations of motion can be
readily set up, thus analytical mechanics allows mechanical problems to
be solved with greater efficiency than fully vectorial methods.
Two dominant branches of analytical mechanics are Lagrangian mechanics
(using generalized coordinates and corresponding generalized velocities),
and Hamiltonian mechanics (using coordinates and corresponding
momenta in phase space). Both formulations are equivalent by a Legendre
transformation on the generalized coordinates, velocities, and momenta,
therefore both contain the same information for describing the dynamics
of a system. There are other formulations such as HamiltonJacobi theory,
Routhian mechanics, and Appell's equation of motion. All equations of
motion for particles and fields, in any formalism, can be derived from the
very general and deep result called the principle of least action. One result
is Noether's theorem, a statement which connects conservation laws to
their associated symmetries.
Analytical mechanics does not introduce new physics compared to
Newtonian mechanics. Rather it is a collection of equivalent formalisms
which are very general. In fact the generality is such that the same
principles and formalisms can be used in relativistic mechanics and
general relativity, and with some modification, quantum mechanics and
quantum field theory also.

Analytical mechanics is used widely, from fundamental physics to applied

mathematics, particularly chaos theory.
The methods of analytical mechanics apply to discrete particles, each with
a finite number of degrees of freedom. They can be modified to describe
continuous fields or fluids, which have infinite degrees of freedom. The Sir
Isaac Newton was a Master of the Mint. He also formulated three
celebrated laws of mechanics, which we can paraphrase as follows:
1. A particle not subject to any force moves on a straight line at constant
speed.
2. In the presence of a force, the position of a particle obeys the equations
of motion
m x i = F i ( x , x ) . ( 1 . 1 ) 3. The force exerted by a particle on another
is equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction, to the force exerted by the other particle on the first.
A particle is here thought of as an entity characterized by its mass m, its
location in space, and by nothing else.1 The aim of Newtons mechanics is
to predict the location at arbitrary times, given the position and velocity at
some initial time. This is done by means of a solution of the differential
equations above.definitions and equations have a close analogy with
those of mechanics.
Analytical Mechanics
Analytical Mechanics form the other branch of classical mechanics and
build upon Newtonian mechanics. It can be divided into three major steps:
Lagrangian Mechanics, Hamiltonian Mechanics and mechanics based on
the Hamilton-Jacobi equation.