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Chapter 8
Problem 8.4
Problem 8.5
q22
L = q12 + + k1 q12 + k2 q1 q2 ,
a + bq12
where a, b, k1 and k2 are constants. Find the equations of motion in the Hamiltonian
formulation.
2 k2
1 q1
L = k1 q12 + q1 q2 k2 2
2 a+bq12 q2
1
Homer Reids Solutions to Goldstein Problems: Chapter 8 2
From this we can immediately identify the T matrix and its inverse:
2
2 k2 a + bq12 k2
1 a+bq 2
T= k2 a+bq2 T = 1
2
1
4 k22 (a + bq12 ) k2 2
a + bq12
H 2p1
q1 = = k 2 p2
p1 4 k22 (a + bq12 ) a + bq12
a + bq12
H
q2 = = {kp1 2p2 }
p2 4 k22 (a + bq12 )
H
p1 = = something ugly
q1
H
p2 = =0
q2
So in the Hamiltonian formulation there is one cylic variable, but I still think
this is much harder than the Lagrangian formulation for this problem.
Homer Reids Solutions to Goldstein Problems: Chapter 8 3
Problem 8.6
p2 ba kq 2
H= bqpet + q 2 et ( + bet ) + ,
2a 2 2
where a, b, , and k are constants. Note: I think there must be a misprint in the
book; the coefficient of p2 in the first term is printed there as 1/2, which doesnt
make sense dimensionally in light of the rest of the terms in the Hamiltonian. It
seems reasonable to assume that someone got their Greek and Roman letters mixed
up, as the units do work out correctly if we put 1/2a for the coefficient of that term.
(a) Find a Lagrangian corresponding to this Hamiltonian.
(b) Find an equivalent Lagrangian that is not explicitly dependent on time.
(c) What is the Hamiltonian corresponding to this second Lagrangian, and what
is the relationship between the two Hamiltonians?
H p
q = = bqet . (1)
p a
Then, using a reverse Legendre transformation,
L = pq H
p2
2
kq 2
p ba
= bqpet bqpet + q 2 et ( + bet ) +
a 2a 2 2
2 2
p ba kq
= q 2 et ( + bet ) . (2)
2a 2 2
We would now like to eliminate p from this equation in favor of q. From (1) we
have
p = aq + bqaet
p2 = a2 q 2 + 2bq qa2 et + b2 q 2 a2 e2t
so (2) becomes
aq 2 1 baq 2 t b2 aq 2 2t kq 2
L= + bq qaet + b2 q 2 ae2t e e
2 2 2 2 2
aq 2 kq 2
t 1
= + bqae q q . (3)
2 2 2
Homer Reids Solutions to Goldstein Problems: Chapter 8 4
(b) Since we can the total time derivative of any function f (q, q, t) to the La-
grangian without changing the resulting equations of motion, we consider
0 d ab 2 t
L =L q e .
dt 2
The derivative term just cancels the second term in (3), leaving
aq 2 kq 2
L0 = (4)
2 2
which is just the Lagrangian of a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator.
(c) From (4), the new canonical momentum is
L0
p= = aq
q
Then the Legendre transformation defining the Hamiltonian reads
aq 2 kq 2
H = pq L = +
2 2
p2 kq 2
= + .
2a 2
Problem 8.9
Well denote the coordinates of the suspension point as (x, z) = (x, ax2 ).
Then, if is the angle the pendulum makes with the vertical ( = 0 when the
mass point is precisely at 6:00, and grows in the positive direction as the mass
point moves counter-clockwise) then the coordinates of the mass point are
L=T L
mn o
= (1 + 4a2 x2 )x2 + L2 2 + 2Lx [cos + 2ax sin ] mgax2 + mgL cos .
2
For convenience in converting to the Hamiltonian, we may write this in the
language of Goldsteins (8-16):
m (1 + 4a2 x2 ) L[cos + 2ax sin ] x
L = L0 (x, ) + x
2 L[cos + 2ax sin ] L2
(7)
where L0 (x, ) = mgax2 + mgL cos . Then from Goldsteins (??) we can
write
1 1
H=
2m L2 (sin 2ax cos )2
L2 L[cos + 2ax sin ] px
(px p ) L0 (x, )
L[cos + 2ax sin ] (1 + 4a2 x2 ) p
1 1
=
2m L (sin 2ax cos )2
2
2 2 2 2 2
L px 2L[cos + 2ax sin ]px p + (1 + 4a x )p L0 (x, )