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Hamiltons equations
Dr. M Ramegowda
Dept. of Physics
Govt. College (Autonomous), Mandya
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1. The Hamilton equations of motion
Lagrange formulation is in terms of generalized coordinates q
i
and generalized
velocities q
i
gives equations of motion, which are second order in time. In-
stead if we regard N generalized coordinates q
i
and N generalized momenta
p
i
as independent variables, and again q(t) and p(t) at every instant of time
t, we will get 2N rst order equations. Hence the 2N equations of motion
describe the behaviour of the system ina phase space whose coodinates are the
2N independent variables. These are called canonical coordinates and canon-
ical momenta. This new formulation is by the Hamiltonian and is known as
Hamiltonian formulation.
The Lagrange equations for a free particle can be written as
d
dt
L
q
i

L
q
i
= 0 (1)
where
L(q, q, t) = T V =
1
2

i
m
i
q
i
2
V
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L
q
i
= m
i
q
i
= p
i
(2)
p
i
are called generalized or conjugate momenta. Equation 2 in 1 gives,
dp
i
dt

L
q
i
= 0
p
i
=
L
q
i
(3)
The dierential of the Lagrangian can be written as
dL =

i
L
q
i
dq
i
+

i
L
q
i
d q
i
+
L
t
dt (4)
Equations 2 and 3 in 4,
dL =

i
p
i
dq
i
+

i
p
i
d q
i
+
L
t
dt (5)
If we dene the Hamiltonian H(q, p, t) as a function of generalized coordi-
nates q
i
and generalized momenta p
i
, the Legendre transformation generate the
Hamiltonian
H(q, p, t) =

i
q
i
p
i
L(q, q, t) (6)
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The dierential of the Hamiltonian is

i
H
q
i
dq
i
+

i
H
p
i
dp
i
+
H
t
dt =

i
q
i
dp
i
+

i
p
i
d q
i
dL (7)
Equation 5 in 7,

i
H
q
i
dq
i
+

i
H
p
i
dp
i
+
H
t
dt =

i
q
i
dp
i

i
p
i
dq
i

L
t
dt
q
i
=
H
p
i
(8)
p
i
=
H
q
i
(9)

L
t
=
H
t
(10)
Equations 8 and 9 are known as the canonical equations of Hamilton. They
constitute the desired set of 2N rst order equations of motion replacing the
N second order Lagrange equations.
If (x, y, z) are the Cartesian coordinates at time t of a free material point
of mass m moving in a potential eld V (x, y, z) = V (q
i
), we may take q
1
=
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x, q
2
= y, q
3
= z. The kinetic energy T is given by
T =
1
2
m( x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
) =
1
2
m

i
q
i
2
The Lagrangian for the particle is
T V = L =
1
2
m

i
q
i
2
V (q
i
)
L
q
i
= m q
i
p
i
= m q
i
On substituting for L and p
i
in the equation 6,
H =

i
q
i
p
i
L = m

i
q
i
2
(T V )
H = T + V (11)
Thus the Hamiltonian becomes the total energy of the system.
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1.1. Hamiltonian for a free particle in dierent coordinates
1. Using Cartesian coordinates: (x, y, z) are the Cartesian coordinates at
time t of a free material point of mass m moving in a potential eld
V (x, y, z). The kinetic energy T is given by T =
1
2
m( x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
).
Thus the Hamiltonian for the particle is
T + V = H =
1
2
m( x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
) + V (x, y, z)
H =
1
2m
(p
2
x
+ p
2
y
+ p
2
z
) + V (x, y, z) (12)
2. Using cylindrical polar coordinates: (r, , z) are the cylindrical coordi-
nates at time t of a free material point of mass m in the potential eld
V (r).
The kinetic energy T is
T =
1
2
m
_
r
2
+ (r

)
2
+ z
2
_
=
1
2m
_
(m r)
2
+
1
r
2
(mr
2

)
2
+ (m z)
2
_
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T =
1
2m
_
p
2
r
+
p
2

r
2
+ p
2
z
_
Then
H =
1
2m
_
p
2
r
+
p
2

r
2
+ p
2
z
_
+ V (r)
3. Using spherical polar coordinates: (r, , ) are the spherical polar coor-
dinates at time t of a free material point of mass m in the potential eld
V (r).
The kinetic energy T is
T =
1
2
m
_
r
2
+
_
r

_
2
+
_
rsin

_
2
_
=
1
2m
_
(m r)
2
+
1
r
2
_
r
2

_
2
+
1
r
2
sin
2

_
r
2
sin
2

_
2
_
T =
1
2m
_
p
2
r
+
p
2

r
2
+
p
2

r
2
sin
2

_
Then
H =
1
2m
_
p
2
r
+
p
2

r
2
+
p
2

r
2
sin
2

_
+ V (r)
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1.2. Hamiltonian for an electron in a Coulomb eld
When an electron revolving about the charge e,
v(r) =
e
2
r
The kinetic energy T of electron in spherical coordinate is
T =
1
2m
_
p
2
r
+
p
2

r
2
+
p
2

r
2
sin
2

_
Then
H =
1
2m
_
p
2
r
+
p
2

r
2
+
p
2

r
2
sin
2

e
2
r
1.3. Hamiltonian for the simple harmonic oscillator
The Lagrangian for a simple harmonic oscillator can be written as
L =
1
2
m

i
q
i
2

1
2
m
2

i
q
i
2
=

i
p
2
i
2m

1
2
m
2

i
q
i
2
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The cononical momentum is
p
i
=
L
q
= m q
i
q
i
=
p
i
m
Then
H =

i
p
i
q
i
L =

i
p
2
i
m

i
p
2
i
2m
+
1
2
m
2

i
q
i
2
H =

i
p
2
i
2m
+
1
2
m
2

i
q
i
2
1.4. Hamiltonian for an electron in electromagnetic eld
Consider a particle of mass m and charge e moving in an electromagnetic eld.
Lagrangian for the particle is
L = T U =
1
2
m

i
q
i
2
e
_


A.

i
q
i
_
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where e
_


A. q
i
_
is the velocity dependent potential.
L
q
i
= p
i
= m q
i
+ e

A
q
i
=
1
m
(p
i
e

A)
The Hamiltonian H is
H =

i
p
i
q
i
L
= m

i
q
i
2
+ e

A.

i
q
i

1
2
m

i
q
i
2
+ e
_


A.

i
q
i
_
=
1
2
m

i
q
i
2
+ e
=
1
2m
_

i
p
i
e

A
_
2
+ e
H =
1
2m
( p e

A)
2
+ e
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1.5. Cyclic coordinates
Consider a system of N degrees of freedom described by q
i
generalized coordi-
nates. The Lagranges equations for the system are
d
dt
_
L
q
i
_

L
q
i
= 0
If Lagrangian of the system does not contain a given coordinate q
i
even though
it may contain corresponding velocity q
i
, then the coordinate q
i
is said to be
cyclic or ignorable. Then
L
q
i
= 0
Therefore,
d
dt
_
L
q
i
_
= 0
dp
i
dt
= 0
p
i
= constant
The generalized momentum conjugate to a cyclic coordinate is conserved.
Example: In a planetory motion, the angular momentum p

is constant
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p

= mr
2

= constant. Here is cyclic.
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1.6. Hamiltons Equations from a Variational Principle
The motion of a conservative system from its conguration at time t
1
to
its conguration at time t
2
is such that the line integral between the time
t
1
and t
2
of the Lagrangian of the system has a stationary value for the
actual path of the motion.
I =
_
t
2
t
1
L(q, q, t)dt = constant (13)
L = TV is the Lagrangian. Since
_
Ldt has the dimensions of energytime
called action, the principle is sometimes referred to as the principle of least
action. The integral is called the action integral.
The variation of the action integral for xed time t
1
and t
2
must be zero.
I =
_
t
2
t
1
L(q, q, t) dt = 0 (14)
Byusing equation 6,

_
t
2
t
1
L(q, q, t) dt =
_
t
2
t
1
_

i
q
i
p
i
H
_
dt = 0
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=
_
t
2
t
1
_

i
q
i
p
i
+

i
p
i
q
i
H
_
dt = 0 (15)
Since,
H(q, p) =

i
H
q
i
q
i
+

i
H
p
i
p
i
(16)
Equation 16 in equation 15,

i
_
t
2
t
1
_
q
i

H
p
i
_
p
i
dt +
_
t
2
t
1
p
i
q
i
dt
_
t
2
t
1
H
q
i
q
i
dt = 0

i
_
t
2
t
1
_
q
i

H
p
i
_
p
i
dt + p
i
q
i
|
t
2
t
1

_
t
2
t
1
q
i
p
i
dt
_
t
2
t
1
H
q
i
q
i
dt = 0
Since the variation q
i
= 0 at the end point, the term p
i
dq
i
|
t
2
t
1
= 0.

i
_
t
2
t
1
_
q
i

H
p
i
_
p
i
dt
_
t
2
t
1
_
p
i
+
H
q
i
_
q
i
dt = 0

i
_
t
2
t
1
__
q
i

H
p
i
_
p
i

_
p
i
+
H
q
i
_
q
i
_
dt = 0
Since the system is holonomic and is described in the phase space, q
i
s and p
i
s
are all independent, and q
i
s and p
i
s are orbitrary at all points of the path.
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The above integrals can vanish, only if
q
i

H
p
i
= 0 = q
i
=
H
p
i
p
i
+
H
q
i
= 0 = p
i
=
H
q
i
which are Hamiltons eqiuations of motion.
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2. Canonical Transformations
Canonical transformations are transformations of the coordinates and momenta
(q, p) that preserve Hamiltons equations (though with a dierent Hamiltonian).
The transformations from one set of coordinates q
i
to a new set Q
i
, by trans-
formation equations of the form
Q
i
= Q
i
(q, t) (17)
are called point transformations. It can be shown that under a point trans-
formation, a system that obeys the Euler-Lagrange equations in the original
coordinates continues to obey them in the new coordinates.
In the Hamiltonian formulation the momenta are also independent variables on
the same level as the generalized coordinates. The concept of transformation of
coordinates must therefore be widened to include the simultaneous transforma-
tion of the independent coordinates and momenta, (q
i
, p
i
), to a new set Q
i
, P
i
,
with equations of transformation
Q
i
= Q
i
(q, p, t) (18)
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P
i
= P
i
(q, p, t) (19)
These transformations are called contact transformations. An arbitrary con-
tact transformation may not preserve Hamiltons equations. The transforma-
tions which preserve Hamiltons equations are known as canonical transfor-
mations.
Equations 17 dene a point transformation of conguration space and, equa-
tions 18 and 19 dene a point transformation of phase space.
H(Q, P, t) is the Hamiltonian in the cananical coordinates and the equations
of motion in the new cocodinates are in the Hamiltonian form

Q
i
=
H
P
i

P
i
=
H
Q
i
(20)
The Hamilton principle in both old coordinates (q
i
, p
i
) and canonical coordi-
nates (Q
i
, P
i
) are written as

_
t
2
t
1
_

i
q
i
p
i
H(q, p, t)
_
dt = 0 (21)
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_
t
2
t
1
_

Q
i
P
i
H(Q, P, t)
_
dt = 0 (22)
The simultaneous validity of equations 21 and 22 does not mean that the in-
tegrands in both expressions are equal. Since the general form of the modied
Hamiltons principle has zero variation at the end points, the equations 21 and
22 will be satised if the integrands are connected by a relation of the form
[ q
i
p
i
H(q, p, t)] =

Q
i
P
i
H(Q, P, t) +
dF
dt
(23)
Here F is any function of the phase space coordinates with continuous second
derivatives called generating function, and is a constant known as a scale
transformation. For canonical transformationc = 1 and the transformation
for which = 1 is called extended canonical transformation.
The term F/t in equation 23 contributes to the variation of the action integral
only at the end points and will therefore vanish if F is a function of (q, p, t)
or (Q, P, t) or any mixture of the phase space coordinates. F is useful for
specifying the exact form of the canonical transformation only when half of the
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variables are from the old set and half are from the new set.
If F = F
1
(q, Q, t), the equation 23 (with = 1) becomes
q
i
p
i
H(q, p, t) =

Q
i
P
i
H(Q, P, t) +
F
1
t
+
F
1
q
i
q
i
+
F
1
Q
i

Q
i
H(Q, P, t) = H(q, p, t) +
F
1
t
+
_
F
1
q
i
p
i
_
q
i
+
_
F
1
Q
i
+ P
i
_

Q
i
(24)
Since the old and the new coordinates, q
i
, and Q
i
, are separately independent,
equation 24 can hold identically only if the coecients of q
i
, and

Q
i
each vanish.
Thus
p
i
=
F
1
q
i
(25)
P
i
=
F
1
Q
i
(26)
Equations 25 and 26 in equation 24,
H(Q, P, t) = H(q, p, t) +
F
1
t
(27)
The function F(q, Q, t) is the generating function of the cananical transforma-
tion and it species the required equations of the transformation.
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If F = F
2
(q, P, t) Q
i
P
i
, the equation 23 (with = 1) becomes
q
i
p
i
H(q, p, t) =

Q
i
P
i
H(Q, P, t) +
F
2
t
+
F
2
q
i
q
i
+
F
2
P
i

P
i
Q
i

P
i

Q
i
P
i
H(Q, P, t) = H(q, p, t) +
F
2
t
+
_
F
2
q
i
p
i
_
q
i
+
_
F
2
P
i
Q
i
_

P
i
(28)
Since the old and the new coordinates, q
i
, and Q
i
, are separately independent,
equation 24 can hold identically only if the coecients of q
i
, and

Q
i
each vanish.
Thus
p
i
=
F
2
q
i
(29)
Q
i
=
F
2
P
i
(30)
Equations 29 and 30 in equation 28,
H(Q, P, t) = H(q, p, t) +
F
2
t
(31)
2.1. Other forms of the Generating Function
We made a particular choice to make F a function of q
i
and Q
i
. Given the
symmetry between coordinates and canonical momenta, it is likely that we could
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equally well write F as a function of (q
i
, P
i
), (p
i
, P
i
) or (p
i
, Q
i
). These dierent
generating functions are simply dierent ways to generate the same canonical
transformation (q
i
, p
i
) (Q
i
, P
i
). The four basic cananical transfornmations
are given in the table 2.1.
Generating function Generating function derivatives
F = F
1
(q, Q, t) p
i
=
F
1
q
i
P
i
=
F
1
Q
i
F = F
2
(q, P, t) Q
i
P
i
p
i
=
F
2
q
i
Q
i
=
F
2
P
i
F = F
3
(p, Q, t) + q
i
p
i
q
i
=
F
3
p
i
Q
i
=
F
3
P
i
F = F
4
(p, P, t) + q
i
p
i
Q
i
P
i
p
i
=
F
4
p
i
Q
i
=
F
4
P
i
Table 1: Dierent forms of the Generating Function and their derivatives
Consider old and new coordinates,
q
i
= q
i
(Q, P)
p
i
= p
i
(Q, P)
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P
i
= P
i
(q, p)
Q
i
= Q
i
(q, p)
dQ
i
dt
=
Q
i
q
j
q
j
t
+
Q
i
p
j
p
j
t
H
P
i
=

Q
i
=
Q
i
q
j
q
j
+
Q
i
p
j
p
j
Since,
H = H(Q, P)
H
P
i
=
H
p
j
p
j
P
i
+
H
q
j
q
j
P
i
= q
j
p
j
P
i
p
j
q
j
P
i
Therefore,
q
j
p
j
P
i
p
j
q
j
P
i
=
Q
i
q
j
q
j
+
Q
i
p
j
p
j
That is, the transformation is canonical only if,
_
p
j
P
i
_
Q,P
=
_
Q
i
q
j
_
q,p
,
_
q
i
P
i
_
Q,P
=
_
Q
i
p
j
_
q,p
(32)
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2.2. Examples of canonical transformation
2.2.1. Generating function of the second type
If F
2
= q
i
P
i
F
2
q
i
= P
i
F
2
P
i
= q
i
(33)
On comparing the values with the table 2.1.,
F
2
q
i
= P
i
= p
i
F
2
P
i
= q
i
= Q
i
(34)
Hence H(q, p, t) = H(Q, P, t) and F
2
generates the identity transformation.
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2.2.2. Generating function of the rst type
If F
1
= q
i
Q
i
F
1
q
i
= Q
i
F
1
Q
i
= q
i
(35)
On comparing the values with the table 2.1.,
F
1
q
i
= Q
i
= p
i
F
1
Q
i
= q
i
= P
i
(36)
Thus the transformation interchanges the momenta and the coordinates.
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2.2.3. Simple harmonic oscillator
The Hamiltonian for a simple harmonic oscillator can be written as
H(q
i
, p
i
) =
1
2m
_

i
p
2
i
+ m
2

i
q
2
i
_
(37)
This form of the Hamiltonian, as the sum of two squares, suggests a transfor-
mation in which H(q, p, t) is cyclic in the new coordinate. Then a canonical
transformation takes the form
p
i
= f(P) cos Q
i
(38)
q
i
=
f(P)
m
sinQ
i
(39)
Substituting for p
2
i
and q
2
i
by using equations 38 and 39 to equation 37,
H(Q
i
, P
i
) =
1
2m
_

i
f(P)
2
cos
2
Q
i
+ m
2

i
f(P)
2
m
2

2
sin
2
Q
i
_
H(Q
i
, P
i
) =
f(P)
2
2m
(40)
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If we use a generating function given by
F
1
=
mq
2
i
2
cot Q
i
(41)
Then
p
i
=
F
1
q
i
= mq
i
cot Q
i
P
i
=
F
1
Q
i
=
mq
2
i
2sin
2
Q
i
q
i
=
_
2P
i
m
sinQ
i
(42)
p
i
=
_
2P
i
m cos Q
i
(43)
On comparing equations 42 and 43 with equations 38 and 39,
f(P
i
) =
_
2P
i
m (44)
Equation 44 in equation 40 gives
H =

i
P
i
=

i
E
i
(45)

i
P
i
=

i
E
i

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where E
i
is the total energy of a oscillator. The equations of motion in the
cananical coordinates is

Q
i
=
H
P
i
= (46)
Q
i
= t + (47)
where is the constant of integration evaluated by the initial conditions.
From equations 42 and 43, the solutions for p and q are written as
q
i
=
_
2E
i
m
2
sin( t + ) (48)
p
i
=
_
2mE
i
cos ( t + ) (49)
From equation 42 and 43, it can see that we have transformed from simple
position q
i
and momentum p
i
to phase Q
i
and energy P
i
of the oscillatory
motion. Equation 48 shows that the energy depends only on the oscillator
amplitude. This kind of transformation is going to have obvious use when
dealing with mechanical or electromagnetic waves.
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3. Poisson brackets
Poisson brackets are a powerful and sophisticated tool in the Hamiltonian for-
malism of Classical Mechanics. They also happen to provide a direct link be-
tween classical and quantum mechanics. A classical system with N degrees of
freedom, say a set of N/3 particles in three dimensions, is described by 2N phase
space coordinates. These are the N generalized coordinates q
1
, q
2
, q
3
, ...., q
N
and N conjugate momenta p
1
, p
2
, p
3
, ..., p
N
. The Hamiltonian of the system
depends on these 2N variables and possibly on time t as well, and it can be
expressed as
H(q
1
, q
2
, q
3
, ...., q
N
, p
1
, p
2
, p
3
, ..., p
N
, t)H(q
i
, p
i
, t)
The Poisson bracket is an operation which takes two functions of phase
space and time, call them F(q
i
, p
i
, t) and G(q
i
, p
i
, t) and produces a new
function. With respect to cananical coordinates (q
i
, p
i
), it is dened as
[F, G] =
N

i
_
F
q
i
G
p
i

F
p
i
G
q
i
_
(50)
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In the case of a single degree of freedom, N = 1, phase space is 2-dimensional,
(q, p) and the Poisson bracket has only two terms
[F, G] =
_
F
q
G
p

F
p
G
q
_
(51)
Time derivative of the function F(q
i
, p
i
, t) is
dF
dt
=
N

i
_
F
q
i
q
i
t
+
F
p
i
p
i
t
_
+
F
t
dF
dt
=
N

i
_
F
q
i
q
i
+
F
p
i
p
i
_
+
F
t
(52)
By using the Hamiltonian equations of motion
q
i
=
H
p
i
p
i
=
H
q
i
equation 52 becomes,
dF
dt
=
N

i
_
F
q
i
H
p
i

F
p
i
H
q
i
_
+
F
t
(53)
dF
dt
= [F, H] +
F
t
(54)
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Equation 53 is the equation of motion of the function F expressed in terms of
Poisson bracket.
3.1. Properties of Poisson bracket
1. Consider
[F, G
1
+ G
2
] = [F, G
1
] + [F, G
2
]
[F, G
1
G
2
] = [F, G
1
]G
2
+ G
1
[F, G
2
]
2. The Poisson bracket is anti-symmetric in its two arguments
[G, F] = [F, G] (55)
An immediate consequence of this is that [F, F] = 0 for any function at
all.
[q
j
, q
k
] = 0 = [p
j
, p
k
]
[q
j
, p
k
] =
jk
= [p
j
, q
k
]
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3. The Poisson bracket is linear in either of its arguments
[F
1
+ F
2
, G] = [F
1
, G] + [F
2
, G]
[F, G
1
+ G
2
] = [F, G
1
] + [F, G
2
]
[F, G
1
G
2
] = [F, G
1
]G
2
+ G
1
[F, G
2
]
4. Invariance under canonical transformations:
[F, G]
(q,p)
=
N

i
_
F
q
i
G
p
i

F
p
i
G
q
i
_
=
_
F
q
1
G
p
1

F
p
1
G
q
1
_
+
_
F
q
2
G
p
2

F
p
2
G
q
2
_
+ ...............
+
_
F
q
n
G
p
n

F
p
n
G
q
n
_
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=
_
F
q
1
F
q
2
.......
F
q
n
F
p
1
F
p
2
......
F
p
n
_
_

_
0 0....... 1 0
0 0........ 0 1
.
.
.
1 0....... 0 0
0 1........ 0 0
_

_
_

_
G
q
1
G
q
2
.
.
G
q
n
G
p
1
G
p
2
.
.
G
p
n
_

_
[F, G]

_
F

_
J
_
G

_
where consists of 2n elements of (q
i
, p
i
) and J is the 2n 2n anti-
symmetric matrix.
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For i = 2, the above equation can be written as
[F, G]
(q,p)
=
_
F
q
1
F
q
2
F
p
1
F
p
2
_
_

_
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
_

_
_

_
G
q
1
G
q
2
G
p
1
G
p
2
_

_
are the old coordinates (q
i
, p
i
) and = () are the transformed coordi-
nates (Q
i
, P
i
), then
F

i
=
F

i
=
F

i
+
F

i
+ ...... +
F

i
=
_

1

i
......

i
_
_

_
F

1
F

2
.
.
F

n
_

_
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_
F

_
=

_ _
F

_
Similarly,
_
G

_
=

_ _
G

_
Therefore,
[F, G]

_ _
F

_
J

_ _
G

_
=

_
F

_ _

_
J

_ _
G

_
If the transformation is canonical,
_

_
J

_
= J
Therefore,
[F, G]

=
_

_
J
_
G

_
= [F, G]

[F, G]
(q,p)
= [F, G]
(Q,P)
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3.2. Constants of the Motion
A constant of the motion is some function of phase space, independent of time,
F(q
i
, p
i
), whose value is constant for any particle. In other words, F(q
i
, p
i
) is
a constant of the motion if
dF
dt
= 0.
Since we specied that F does not depend explicitly in time it follows that
F
t
= 0
Then from equation 54,
[F, H] = 0
Thus F is a constant of the motion if and only if [F, H] = 0 for all points in
phase space.
Energy: Due to the anti-symmetry of the Poisson bracket [H, H] = 0.
Using this in equation 54,
dH
dt
=
H
t
(56)
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If the Hamiltonian does not depend on time explicitly,
H
t
= 0
Then
dH
dt
= 0, H(q
i
, p
i
) = constant (57)
That is energy is conserved in cases where the Hamiltonian is time-
independent.
Linear Momentum: In a case where the Hamiltonian does not con-
tain a particular coordinate, q
i
, explicitly it is said to be cyclic in that
coordinate. Then
[p
i
, H] =
p
i
q
i
H
p
i

p
i
p
i
H
q
i
=
H
q
i
_
p
i
q
i
= 0
_
(58)
Since q
i
is cyclic, (H/q
i
) = 0, then [p
i
, H] = 0, so p
k
is a constant of the
motion. Thus the momentum is conserved if it is conjugate to a cyclic
coordinate.
Angular Momentum: Consider a particle in three dimension, (x, y, z),
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subject to a central force potential V (r) = V (x, y, z). The kinetic energy
of the system is
T =
1
2m
(p
2
x
+ p
2
y
+ p
2
z
)
T
p
x
=
p
x
m
,
T
p
y
=
p
y
m
,
T
p
z
=
p
z
m
(59)
The potential energy of the system is
V = V (r) = V
_
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
_
V
x
=
x
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
V

(r),
V
y
=
y
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
V

(r),
V
z
=
z
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
V

(r)
(60)
where V

(r) is the potential function. The Hamiltonian of the system is
H =
1
2m
(p
2
x
+ p
2
y
+ p
2
z
) + V (x, y, z) (61)
Angular momentum of the system is dened as

L = r p
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and the components of L can be written as
L
z
= xp
y
yp
x
L
y
= zp
x
xp
z
L
x
= yp
z
zp
x
Consider
[L
z
, H] = [L
z
, T + V ]
[L
z
, H] = [L
z
, T] + [L
z
, V ]
[L
z
, T] =
L
z
q
i
T
p
i

L
z
p
i
T
q
i
=
L
z
x
T
p
x

L
z
p
x
T
x
+
L
z
y
T
p
y

L
z
p
y
T
y
=
L
z
x
T
p
x
+
L
z
y
T
p
y
_
T
q
i
= 0
_
=

x
(xp
y
yp
x
)
T
p
x
+

y
(xp
y
yp
x
)
T
p
y
(62)
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By using equation 59,
[L
z
, T] = p
y
p
x
m
p
x
p
y
m
= 0 (63)
[L
z
, V ] =
L
z
q
i
V
p
i

L
z
p
i
V
q
i
=
L
z
x
V
p
x

L
z
p
x
V
x
+
L
z
y
V
p
y

L
z
p
y
V
y
=
L
z
p
x
V
x

L
z
p
y
V
y
_
V
p
i
= 0
_
=

p
x
(xp
y
yp
x
)
V
x


p
y
(xp
y
yp
x
)
V
y
[L
z
, V ] = y
V
x
x
V
y
By using equation 60,
[L
z
, V ] = y
x
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
V

(r) x
y
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
V

(r) = 0 (64)
Equations 63 and 63 gives
[L
z
, H] = [L
z
, T] + [L
z
, V ] = 0
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Similarly we can show that [L
x
, H] = 0, [L
y
, H] = 0. Therefore for a
particle moving in a central force potential all three components of
angular momentum are conserved.
3.3. Angular momentum and Poisson bracket relations
Angular momentum of the system is dened as

L = r p
The components of L in Cartesian coordinates are
L
z
= xp
y
yp
x
L
y
= zp
x
xp
z
L
x
= yp
z
zp
x
If F is a vector rotating about z axis, the equation of motion in terms of Poisson
bracket is
dF
d
= [F, L
z
] (65)
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Also we can write
d

F
d
=

k

F (66)
By using equations 65 and 66,
[F, L
z
] =

k

F (67)
If

F = r = (ix + jy + kz), then
[F, L
z
]
x
= [x, L
z
] =

k (ix)
[x, L
z
] = y
Similarly, [F, L
z
]
y
= [y, L
z
] = x
[F, L
z
]
z
= [z, L
z
] = 0
(68)
Then we can write general relation as
[q
i
, L
j
] =
ijk
q
k
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where
ijk
= 0 for i = j or j = k,
ijk
= 1 for ijk are distinct and in cyclic
order and
ijk
= 1 for ijk are distinct and not in cyclic order.
If

F =

P = (ip
x
+ jp
y
+ kp
z
), then
[F, L
z
]
x
= [p
x
, L
z
] =

k (ip
x
)
[p
x
, L
z
] = p
y
Similarly, [F, L
z
]
y
= [p
y
, L
z
] = p
x
[F, L
z
]
z
= [p
z
, L
z
] = 0
The general relation is
[p
i
, L
j
] =
ijk
p
k
If

F =

L = (iL
x
+ jL
y
+ kL
z
), then
[F, L
z
]
x
= [L
x
, L
z
] =

k (iL
x
)
[L
x
, L
z
] = L
y
Similarly, [F, L
z
]
y
= [L
y
, L
z
] = L
x
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[F, L
z
]
z
= [L
z
, L
z
] = 0
(69)
Again consider
[L
x
, L
y
] = [yp
z
zp
x
, L
y
]
= [yp
z
, L
y
] [zp
x
, L
y
]
= [yp
z
, zp
x
xp
z
] [zp
x
, zp
x
xp
z
]
= [yp
z
, zp
x
] [yp
z
, xp
z
] [zp
x
, zp
x
] + [zp
x
, xp
z
]
= [yp
z
, zp
x
] + [zp
y
, xp
z
] ([yp
z
, xp
z
] = 0, [zp
x
, zp
x
] = 0)
= xp
y
yp
x
[L
x
, L
y
] = L
z
, [L
y
, L
x
] = L
z
Similarly, [L
y
, L
z
] = L
x
, [L
z
, L
y
] = L
x
[L
z
, L
x
] = L
y
, [L
x
, L
z
] = L
y
Thus the general relation can be written as
[L
i
, L
j
] =
ijk
L
k
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where
ijk
= 0 for i = j or j = k,
ijk
= 1 for ijk are distinct and in cyclic
order and
ijk
= 1 for ijk are distinct and not in cyclic order.
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4. Hamilton-Jacobi equation
The Hamilton-Jacobi equation makes use of a special canonical transformation
to convert the standard Hamiltonian problem of 2N rst-order ordinary dif-
ferential equations in 2N variables into a single rst-order partial dierential
equation with N + 1 partial derivatives with respect to the q
i
and time.
If a canonical transformation from some arbitrary set of generalized coordinates
(q, p) to some new set (Q, P) such that all the Q and P are constant in time,
then

Q
i
=
H
P
i
= 0

P
i
=
H
Q
i
= 0 (70)
One way to guarantee the above conditions is to require that
H(Q, P) = 0
Equation for the transformation of the Hamiltonian under a canonical trans-
formation, (equation 31), becomes
H(q, p, t) +
F
t
= 0 (71)
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Since the new momenta will be constant, it is sensible to make F a function of
the type F
2
, F = S(q, P). Then
p
i
=
S
q
i
(72)
The equation 71 becomes,
H
_
q,
S
q
i
, t
_
+
S
t
= 0 (73)
Equation 73 is called Hamilton-Jacobi equation, constitutes a partial dierential
equation of N independent cocordinates q
1
, q
2
, q
3
, .........., q
N
and t. That is
there are N + 1 variables (N initial values of q and a constant energy). S is
known as Hamiltons principle function.
Since a solution S of the equation 73 will generate a transformation that makes
the N components of P constant, and since S is a function of the P, the P
can be taken to be the N constants. Independent of the above equation, we
know that there must be N additional constants to specify the full motion.
These are the Q. The existence of these extra constants is not implied by the
Hamilton-Jacobi equation, since it only needs N + 1 constants to nd a full
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solution S. The additional N constants exist because of Hamiltons equations,
which require 2N initial conditions for a full solution.
Since the P and Q are constants, it is conventional to refer to them with the
symbols
i
= P
i
and
i
= Q
i
. The full solution q(t), p(t) to the problem is
found by making use of the generating function S and the initial conditions
q(0) and p(0). Then the function S is
S = S(q, P, t) = S(q
1
, q
2
, ......, q
N
,
1
,
2
,
3
, ......
N+1
, t) = S(q, , t)
where quantities
1
,
2
,
3
, ......
N+1
are N +1 independent constants of inte-
gration. The generating function partial derivative relations are
p
i
=
S
q
i

i
=
S

i
= Q
i
(74)
The constants and are found by applying the above equations at t = 0.
The time derivative of S can be written as
dS
dt
=

i
S
q
i
dq
i
dt
+
S
t
(75)
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By using equations 72 and 73 in equation 75
dS
dt
=

i
p
i
q
i
H = L (76)
S =
_
L dt + constant (77)
This is an interesting result - that the action integral is the generator of the
canonical transformation that corresponds to time evolution.
When the Hamiltonian does not depend explicitly upon the time, Hamiltons
principle function S can be written in the form
S(q, , t) = W(q, ) t (78)
S
q
i
=
W
q
i
,
S
t
= = E (79)
where = E is the time independent value of H and W(q, ) is called Hamil-
tons characteristic function.
The time derivative of W(q, ) is
dW
dt
=
W
q
i
q
i
(80)
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By using equations 74 and 79 in equation 80,
dW
dt
= p
i
q
i
(81)
W =
_
p
i
q
i
dt =
_
p
i
dq
i
(82)
which is known as the abbreviated action.
4.1. Simple harmonic oscillator
The simple harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian is
H =
1
2m
_
p
2
+ m
2

2
q
2
_
= E (83)
where E is the time independent value of H. The Hamilton-Jacobi equation
for this Hamiltonian can be written by using equation 74 as
1
2m
_
_
S
q
_
2
+ m
2

2
q
2
_
+
S
t
= 0 (84)
Since H is conserved,
S
t
= constant = and by using equation 79
1
2m
_
_
W
q
_
2
+ m
2

2
q
2
_
=
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W
q
=
_
2m m
2

2
q
2
(85)
W =

2m
_
_
1
m
2
q
2
2
dq (86)
Since S = W t, then
S =

2m
_
_
1
m
2
q
2
2
dq t (87)
S

=
_
m
2
_
dq
_
1
m
2
q
2
2
t
=
1

_
_
m
2
2
_
1
m
2
q
2
2
dq t
+ t =
1

arc sin
_
m
2
2
q
q =
_
2
m
2
sin(t + )
q =
_
2
m
2
sin(t + ) (88)
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Again consider equation 85,
W
q
=

2m
_
1
m
2
q
2
2
_
p =
_
2m[1 sin
2
(t + )]
p =

2m cos(t + ) (89)
At time t = 0, the equations 88 and 89 becomes
q
o
=
_
2
m
2
sin (90)
p
o
=

2mcos (91)
On squaring and adding the above equations, we get
2m = p
2
o
m
2

2
q
2
o
(92)
Thus can be obtained in terms of p
o
and q
o
. Equations 90/91 gives
tan = m
q
o
p
o
(93)
When q
o
= 0, = 0 corresponds to starting the motion with the oscillator at
its equilibrium position q = 0.
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Thus Hamiltons principle function is the generator of a canonical transforma-
tion to a new coordinate that measures the phase angle of the oscillation and
to a new canonical momentum identied as the total energy.
By using equation 86, the Hamiltons principle function can be written as
S =

2m
_
_
1
m
2
q
2
2
dq t
On substituting for q and dq by using equation 88,
S = 2
_
cos
2
(t + )dt t
=
_
_
2 cos
2
(t + ) 1
_
dt
S =
_
_
cos
2
(t + ) sin
2
(t + )
_
dt (94)
from equations 88 and 89, we can get
S =
_ _
p
2
2m

m
2
q
2
_
dt (95)
S =
_
L dt (96)
i.e., S is the time integral of the Lagrangian.