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Lecture17 PDF

This lecture discusses relativistic Lagrangian formulations, including both practical and truly relativistic approaches. The practical approach builds a Lagrangian that reproduces the 3-force in one frame but may not be correct in other frames. An example of a particle accelerating under a constant force is worked out using the practical Lagrangian. Limitations of the practical approach are that it is ad-hoc and not Lorentz covariant. A truly relativistic theory should respect relativity from the start.

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32 views20 pages

Lecture17 PDF

This lecture discusses relativistic Lagrangian formulations, including both practical and truly relativistic approaches. The practical approach builds a Lagrangian that reproduces the 3-force in one frame but may not be correct in other frames. An example of a particle accelerating under a constant force is worked out using the practical Lagrangian. Limitations of the practical approach are that it is ad-hoc and not Lorentz covariant. A truly relativistic theory should respect relativity from the start.

Uploaded by

PANKOPANK
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mechanics

Physics 151

Lecture 17
Special Relativity
(Chapter 7)
What We Did Last Time
„ Worked on relativistic kinematics
„ Essential tool for experimental physics
„ Basic techniques are easy:
„ Define all 4 vectors

„ Calculate c-o-m energy and boost

„ Go about with business

„ Examples:
„ Particle creation

„ Elastic scattering

„ Particle decays
Today’s Goals
„ Relativistic Lagrangian formulation
„ Two different approaches: practical and truly relativistic
„ Neither is perfect – Will cover both
„ Will do a few easy examples in the process
Lagrangian Formulation
„ Proper Approach
„ Set up a covariant form of Hamilton’s principle
„ Keep everything in clean tensor forms
„ Practical Approach
„ Build a Lagrangian that reproduces 3-force in a frame
„ May or may not be correct in other frames
„ Works OK pretty often, but no guarantee
Practical Formalism
„ For a single particle of mass m
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V (x) β = reduced velocity

„ Let’s check if this works


∂L ∂ 1− β 2 mc β i Space component
= − mc = = p i
good. But no time
∂vi ∂β i 1− β 2 component

d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ ∂L ∂V
3-d equation
⎜ i⎟ − = 
p i
+ = 
p i
− F i
=0
of motion dt ⎝ ∂v ⎠ ∂x i
∂x i

„ Looks OK for the 3-d part… Try to push this path


Generalized Potential
„ Expand the definition to allow v-dependent potential
„ Consider the EM force
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − U (x, v) = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − qφ + qA ⋅ v
„ We know that U gives us
Did this before
∂U d ⎛ ∂U ⎞
− i + ⎜ i ⎟ = qE i + q( v × B)i
∂x dt ⎝ ∂v ⎠ Still works fine

„ Only difference is the definition of the momentum


∂L Same thing happened
Pi = = p i
+ qAi
without relativity
∂vi
Canonical momentum Classical 3-momentum
No big deal
Energy Function L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V (x)

„ Energy function h is defined by conservative

∂L mc β i vi mc 2
h = x i − L =
i
+ mc 1 − β + V =
2 2
+V
∂x 1− β 2
1− β 2

„ This is total energy


„ It’s conserved if V is time-independent
„ Proved this before – No changes by going relativistic
Simple Example
„ Particle accelerating under constant force
„ Electron in an electric field E
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 + eEx φ =0 −e β φ =V
„ Lagrange’s equation x
d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ ∂L d ⎛ mc β ⎞ d⎛ β ⎞ eE
⎜ ⎟− = ⎜ ⎟ − eE = 0 ⎜ ⎟=
dt ⎝ ∂v ⎠ ∂x dt ⎜⎝ 1 − β 2 ⎟⎠ dt ⎜⎝ 1 − β 2 ⎟ mc
⎠
„ Integrate twice, assuming x = 0, v = 0 at t = 0
mc 2
( )
eE
t
β= mc
x= 1 + ( mc
eE
t )2 − 1
1+ ( t) eE
mc
2
eE
Simple Example

x=
mc 2
eE
( 1 + ( mc
eE
)
t )2 − 1

x „ Relativistic solution is a
hyperbola
non- „ Approaches v = c
relativistic
„ Non-relativistic solution
mc 2 (parabola) accelerates faster
x = ct −
eE

t
Simple Example
mc 2
( )
eE
t
β= mc
x= 1 + ( mc
eE
t )2 − 1
1+ ( t) eE
mc
2
eE

eE eE 2
„ Low-velocity limit Æ v = t x= t
m 2m
„ t Æ ∞ limit Æ β → 1 x → ct
All as expected
„ Look at it in terms of energy
mc 2
x= (γ − 1) eEx = mc 2 (γ − 1)
eE
Energy
LHS = −V ( x) RHS = p 0 c − mc 2 = T
conservation
Relativistic Oscillator
„ Consider a 1-dim. harmonic oscillator
m
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V V = 12 kx 2
x
„ Let’s use energy conservation this time
mc 2 m 2 4
c
E= + V = const β 2 = 1− >0
1− β 2
(E − V ) 2

„ Solution exists only when


E − V > mc 2 V ( x)
„ Oscillation between two E
points expected E − mc 2
What’s the x
frequency? −b b
Semi-Relativistic Oscillator
„ Integrate β for ¼ of the cycle Oscillation period

1 dx m2c 4 τ b 1
β= = 1− =∫ dx
c dt ( E − V )2 4 0
c 1 − ( Em−Vc )2
2 4

„ b is given by E = mc 2 + 12 kb 2 Nasty
E −V k integral
2
= 1 + 2
(b 2
− x 2
) ≡ 1 + κ (b 2
− x 2
)
mc 2mc
„ Approximate for V << mc2
E −V 1 1 1 + 34 ε
= 1+ ε ≈ ≈
1 − (1 + ε ) 2ε − 3ε 2ε
2 −2
mc 2
Semi-Relativistic Oscillator
4 b 1 + 34 κ (b 2 − x 2 ) 2π ⎛ 3 2⎞ m⎛ 3kb 2 ⎞
τ= ∫ dx = ⎜1 + κ b ⎟ = 2π ⎜1 + 2 ⎟
c 0
2κ (b − x )
2 2
c 2κ ⎝ 8 ⎠ k ⎝ 16mc ⎠

„ Period is longer than non-relativistic oscillator


∆τ 3kb 2 3 Vmax
= = Wrong sign in textbook /
τ 0 16mc 8 mc 2
2

„ Relativistic solution slower than the non-relativistic one


„ Difference depends on the amplitude of oscillation
Limitations of Practical Approach
„ L = − mc 2
1 − β 2
− V (x) gives correct relativistic answers
for many practical problems
„ It is an ad-hoc technique
„ Not Lorentz covariant by construction
„ Time is treated separately from space

„ Lorentz transformation of Lagrangian is not given


„ Must redefine L in each inertial frame

„ Truly relativistic theory should respect relativity from


the principle all the way up
„ Let’s see how well it works…
Lagrangian Formulation
„ Practical Approach
„ Build a Lagrangian that reproduces 3-force in a frame
„ May or may not be correct in other frames
„ Works OK pretty often, but no guarantee
„ Proper Approach
„ Set up a covariant form of Hamilton’s principle
„ Keep everything in clean tensor forms
… but it quickly runs into difficulties … even for a single particle. For a system
of more than one particle, it breaks down almost from the start. No satisfactory
formulation for an interacting multiparticle system exists in classical relativistic
mechanics except for some few special cases
Goldstein, p. 313
Truly Relativistic Formalism
„ Hamilton’s principle δ I = δ ∫ Ldt = 0
„ We want the action integral to be Lorentz scalar
„ Integration should not be by t, but by a Lorentz-invariant
variable Æ Proper time τ could be a good choice?
„ Lagrangian L must then be a Lorentz scalar
„ Lagrange’s equation should look like
∂L d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ Symmetric for time and
− ⎜ µ ⎟=0
∂x µ
dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠ space components

„ Solution is not unique. None of them perfect


„ Let’s look at one – Goldstein Section 7.10 for more
Free Lagrangian
„ We try a force-free Lagrangian Λ = 12 muν uν
„Looks like the non-relativistic kinetic energy
„ Lorentz scalar
d ⎛ ∂Λ ⎞ d (muµ )
„ Lagrange’s equation would be ⎜ µ ⎟= =0
dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠ dτ
„ Conservation of 4-momentum

„ Time component is conservation of energy

„ Energy function doesn’t give total energy, though


∂Λ
µ 1 µ 1 2 Conserved,
h=u µ
− Λ = mu uµ = mc
∂u 2 2 but not energy
EM Force
„ We know only one force in 4-vector form Æ EM
„ Potential was given by qu µ Aµ
„ Lagrangian can be Λ( x µ , u µ ) = 12 muµ u µ + qu µ Aµ
„ Lagrange’s equations
d ⎛ ∂Λ ⎞ ∂Λ d ∂Aµ
⎜ ν ⎟− ν = ( muν + qAν ) − qu ν = 0
µ

dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠ ∂x dτ ∂x

d (muν ) ⎛ µ ∂Aµ dA ⎞ ν 4-force found


= q⎜u − ⎟ = K
dτ ⎝ ∂xν dτ ⎠ last week

„ This looks promising


Limitations of Purist Approach
„ We don’t know 4-force for anything but EM
„ Most real-world problems cannot be solved this way
„ What to do with multi-particle system
∂L d ⎛ ∂L ⎞
δ I = δ ∫ Ldτ µ
− ⎜ µ ⎟=0
∂x dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠
Proper time of what?
„ Lagrangian formalism allows coordinate transformation
„ Each coordinate does not correspond to a single particle

„ Problem will be solved only when we give up the


particle picture
Summary
„ Constructed Lagrangian formulation
„ Practical approach provides useful tools
„ Relativistic solutions can be
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V (x)
found for many systems
„ Not really relativistic at heart

„ Purist approach can be built only for limited cases


„ E.g. single particle in EM field Λ = 12 muµ u µ + qu µ Aµ
„ Done with special relativity
„ Next: Hamiltonian formalism

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