Physlib.ClassicalMechanics.HamiltonsEquations
Hamilton's equations
In this module, given a Hamiltonian function `H : Time → X → X → ℝ`, we define the operator `hamiltonEqOp` which when equals zero implies hamilton's equations.
We show that the variational derivative of the action functional `∫ ⟪p, dq/dt⟫ - H(t, p, q) dt` is equal to the `hamiltonEqOp` applied to `(p, q)`.
References
- G. J. Sussman and J. Wisdom, "Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics", Section 3.1.2. <https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/sicm-html/book-Z-H-36.html#%_sec_3.1.2>
4 declarations
Hamilton equation operator
Given a Hamiltonian function , a momentum trajectory , and a position trajectory , the Hamilton equation operator is defined as the function mapping each time to the pair: In this expression, and denote the time derivatives of the trajectories, denotes the gradient of the Hamiltonian with respect to the momentum (the first argument), and denotes the gradient with respect to the position (the second argument). The vanishing of this operator is equivalent to the classical Hamilton's equations and .
Explicit formula for the Hamilton equation operator
Let be a Hamiltonian function, be a momentum trajectory, and be a position trajectory. The Hamilton equation operator is the function mapping each time to the pair: where and denote the time derivatives of the trajectories, and and denote the gradients of the Hamiltonian with respect to the momentum (the first argument) and the position (the second argument), respectively.
is equivalent to Hamilton's equations
Let be a Hamiltonian function, where the first argument corresponds to momentum and the second to position. For a momentum trajectory and a position trajectory , the Hamilton equation operator vanishes if and only if the trajectories satisfy Hamilton's canonical equations for all : where and denote the gradients of the Hamiltonian with respect to its momentum and position arguments, respectively.
The variational gradient of the action is the Hamilton equation operator
Let be a smooth Hamiltonian function, where the two arguments represent momentum and position respectively. Let be a smooth trajectory in phase space, denoted as . The variational gradient (functional derivative) of the action functional evaluated at the trajectory is equal to the Hamilton equation operator , which maps each time to the pair: where and are time derivatives, and and are the gradients of the Hamiltonian with respect to momentum and position respectively.
