Tagged Questions

0
votes
1answer
75 views

Higher order covariant Lagrangian

I'm in search of examples of Lagrangian, which are at least second order in the derivatives and are covariant, preferable for field theories. Up to now I could only find first-order (such at ...
3
votes
0answers
53 views

Reference Request: Classical Mechanics with Symplectic Reduction [closed]

I am trying to find a supplement to appendix of Cushman & Bates' book on Global aspects of Classical Integrable Systems, that is less terse and explains mechanics with Lie groups (with dual of Lie ...
1
vote
3answers
174 views

Is a quantum system mandatory for generating true random sequence?

Is a quantum system necessary if we want to generate true random sequence? The mathematical framework used for classical mechanics doesn't involve any random value. But the mathematical framework of ...
3
votes
3answers
182 views

Is there a mathematical relationship here or am I looking for relations when there are none?

When I was taking classical mechanics, we dealt a lot with pendulums, and orbiting bodies problems. This lead me to think about the two situations depicted above. Left: Shows two balls of equal mass ...
1
vote
1answer
141 views

Problem in Hamiltonian

I need to elaborate the equation ,and need to know what is the physical significance and how matrices will manipulate in the equation $$ \hat{H} = (\hat{\tau_3}+i\hat{\tau_2})\frac{\hat{p}^2}{2m_0}+ ...
2
votes
1answer
163 views

A good example of a nonlinear symplectomorphism?

What is a good example of a simple, physically useful nonlinear symplectomorphism $\kappa: \mathbb{R}^{2n} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{2n}$? I'm not much of a physicist, and all the examples I've worked ...
3
votes
4answers
257 views

Complete set of observables in classical mechanics

I'm reading "Symplectic geometry and geometric quantization" by Matthias Blau and he introduces a complete set of observables for the classical case: The functions $q^k$ and $p_l$ form a complete ...
4
votes
1answer
153 views

Entropy, flow of informations and fundamental theories

In the hierarchy of theories, first comes hamiltonian theory, from which one deduces kinetics theory, and at last thermodynamics and fluid theories. From a kinetics point of view, entropy and ...
5
votes
4answers
727 views

Why can't any term which is added to the Lagrangian be written as a total derivative (or divergence)?

All right, I know there must be an elementary proof of this, but I am not sure why I never came across it before. Adding a total time derivative to the Lagrangian (or a 4D divergence of some 4 ...
6
votes
4answers
444 views

Connection between Poisson Brackets and Symplectic Form

Jose and Saletan say the matrix elements of the Poisson Brackets (PB) in the $ {q,p} $ basis are the same as those of the inverse of the symplectic matrix $ \Omega^{-1} $, whereas the matrix elements ...
2
votes
2answers
151 views

Movement of a nudged block on a high friction surface

If I apply a single force to an object ‘floating in free space’, then it will either translate (if the force is in line with the Cof G ) or more generally it‘ll rotate about the C of G due to the ...
6
votes
0answers
246 views

Classical mechanics: Generating function of lagrangian submanifold

I have a short question regarding the geometrical interpretation of the Hamilton-Jacobi-equation. One has the geometric version of $H \circ dS = E$ as an lagrangian submanifold $L=im(dS)$, which is ...
2
votes
2answers
462 views

Does the phase space (configuration and momentum space) of particles have a Euclidean norm? Does it have a useful meaning of “distance”?

Often in engineering physics, different vector spaces are used to visualize the trajectories (evolution) of systems. An example being the 6n dimensional phase space of n particles. It is not very ...
3
votes
2answers
446 views

Complete vs General Integral of first order PDE

The following is an excerpt from Landau's Course on Theoretical Physics Vol.1 Mechanics: ... we should recall the fact that every first-order partial differential equation has a solution depending ...
2
votes
2answers
68 views

In a gas of particles, how is the displacement vector related to the number density?

Suppose I have a gas of particles that is initially uniformly distributed so that the number density is $n_0$ (number of particles per unit volume), and then I displace the particles by the vector ...
2
votes
1answer
190 views

Church–Turing Thesis

Can the Church–Turing Thesis be proved assuming classical mechanics, how is the proof or disproof? Edited: I was looking for a proof of "everything computable by a device obeying CM is computable by ...
2
votes
2answers
308 views

How do you find conserved quantities for linear second order ODEs?

I have a differential equation of the form $ \frac{d^2 y}{dt^2} + f(t) \frac{dy}{dt} + g(t) y = 0 $ where $f$ and $g$ are known functions of time. Is there a systematic (or otherwise) way of ...
2
votes
2answers
267 views

a question on Lagrange's equation when the time derivative of the generalized co-ordinates is constant

Consider a system whose generalized co-ordinates are $q_i$ and is under the constraints $\dot{q_i} = K_i \forall i = 1,2,3,...$ where $K_i$ are constants. I have a problem in writing the Lagrange's ...
2
votes
1answer
206 views

significance of maxima and minima of time varying kinetic energy of a system

Consider a system of particles where the kinetic energy of the system is varying with time. I'd like to know the significance (or meaning) of the time derivative of the kinetic energy being zero at a ...
7
votes
3answers
453 views

Boundary layer theory in fluids learning resources

I'm trying to understand boundary layer theory in fluids. All I've found are dimensional arguments, order of magnitude arguments, etc... What I'm looking for is more mathematically sound arguments. ...
4
votes
2answers
655 views

Calculate stainless steel pole necking limit

Background Trying to determine how much weight a post can support without necking when a monitor is attached to an articulated arm: a cantilever problem. Problem There are three objects involved in ...
16
votes
7answers
2k views

Classical mechanics without coordinates book

I am a math grad student who would like to learn some classical mechanics. The caveat is I am not to interested in the standard coordinate approach. I can't help but think of the fields that arise in ...