Problem 1.

“ It is not necessary for generalized force Qk to have the dimensions of

force but it is necessary that the product Qk 𝛿qk must have the dimension of work.”
Give your justification.

Problem 2. “Generalized momentum need not always have

dimension of linear momentum, but have dimension of angular
momentum.” Justify this statement.

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HAMILTONIAN FORMULATION

For discrete system

2
 Over view on features of Lagrangian Formulation

d  L  L
* Lagrange’s equation of motion :     0, L  L  q j , q j , t   T  V
dt  q j  q j
* 2nd order differential equation, must have 3N two sets of constant of
integration.
* Valid in both inertial and non inertial frame.
* Equation of motion are expressed in generalized coordinates, which are
independent of each other.
* Put emphasis on Lagrangian, which is energy scalar function. Therefore it is
invarient under coordinate transformation.
* Equation of motion are same for both conservative and non-conservative system.
* Motion of the system can be visualized in the configuration space, in the space only
points are transformed but path is unknown.
* In Lagrangian function, two variables q j and q j are not given equal status.
* Every symmetry(cyclic coordinate) in Lagrangian corresponds to a conservation
law.

3
Configuration space Phase space
(n- dimensional space) (2n- dimensional space)
Or Or
(3N- dimensional space) (6N- dimensional space)

independent
independent not independent

L  L qj , qj ,t  H  H qj , pj ,t 

not equal status equal status

 introduced new independent variable(pj ) in place of generalized velocity( qj ).

   
change of basis from q j , q j , t set to q j , p j , t set.
L
Pj is already defined as ( pj  q j
)in Lagrangian formulation.
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Configuration space Phase space

(n- dimensional space) (2n- dimensional space)

Or (qj) (qj , pj) Or
(3N- dimensional space) (6N- dimensional space)

The instantaneous configuration of The space of 6N dimensions, in which each

a system is described by the values particle contributes one dimension for
of n-generalized coordinates and each position coordinate and one for each
corresponds to a particular point momentum coordinate is called phase
in a cartesian hyperspace, this n- space.
dimensional space is known as
configuration space.  State of the system is defined completely.
 There is only one possible path—called
actual dynamical path of the system.
In fact, configuration space is a
verbal device introduced for
displaying the motion of the system
when employing Lagrangian
approach.
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Hamiltonian and its significance
Hamiltonian H is defined as
##
H  H (q j , p j , t )
  pjqj  L
* If the system is conservative and coordinate transformation equation
is independent of time,
1 @
T   a jk q j qk  mq j
2

2
 p j q j  2T
H  T  V  E  total energy
* If the system is conservative and coordinate transformation equation
is dependent of time,
T   a jk q j qk 
1 2
mq j &
2
p q j j  2T
dH
 0,  H  cons tan t
dt 6
 ## Homogeneity of time and conservation of energy

Homogeneity in time implies that the Lagrangian of a closed system does not depend explicitly
on time t. That is L  0 . The total time derivative of the Lagrangian L  L(qk , qk , t ) is
t
dL L dqk L dqk L
  
dt k qk dt k q k dt t
dL L L dqk d  L  L dqk
 qk      qk  
dt k qk k qk dt k dt  qk  k qk dt

dL d  L  d
  qk     pk qk 
dt k dt  qk  k dt
d  L  L

dt  k qk
qk  L 0

 k q qk  L  cons tan t  k pk qk  L  cons tan t
k
It is called the first integral of equation of motion ( Jacobi integral of the system). If all qk‘s
are substituted properly by the function of pk‘s , then the bracketed term which is the energy
scalar function is represented by H and is called Hamiltonian or Hamilton’s function. Thus
we can write
H   pk qk  L  H (qk , pk , t )
k
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 2@
1  r r   r r  1  r 
T   mi  i . i  q j qk   mi  i . i  qk   mi  i 
2 i j ,k  q j qk  i k  qk t  2 i  t 
1
T  mq 2j (For a particle, if j = k)
2
T
 j j  q j  j  2T
p q  q  mq 2

H   p j q j  L   p j q j  (T  V )  T  V

1  ri ri   ri ri  1 

 r
2 &
T   mi  .  q j qk   mi  .  qk   mi  i 

2 i j ,k  q j qk  i k  qk t  2 i  t 
1 2
T  mq j
2
 p j q j  2T
d dH
  p j q j  L   0   0   H  cons tan t
dt dt 8
 Derivation of HCEM :

In general, H  H (q j , p j , t )
H H H
The differential of H is : dH   dq j   dp j  dt (1)
q j p j t
Definition of H is : H   p j q j  L
The differential of H is :
dH   p j dq j   q j dp j  dL
 L L L 
  p j dq j   q j dp j    dq j   dq j  dt 
 q j q j t 
Since,L  L  q j , q j , t 

We have dL   L dq j   L dq j  L dt
q j q j t
L L L
Then dH   p j dq j   q j dp j   dq j   dq j  dt
q j q j t

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 L L **
Using the relations as  pj &  pj
q j q j
L
We get dH   p j dq j   q j dp j   p j dq j   p j dq j  t
dt

L
  q j dp j   p j dq j  dt (2)
t
By comparing the coefficients of dp j , dq j & dt from equation (1) and (2), we get
H
qj  ( A)
p j
are the Hamilton Canonical
H Equations of Motion (HCEM).
 pj  ( B)
q j
H L
 (C )
t t

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 **
Cyclic coordinate and Lagrange’s equation of motion

Cyclic coordinates : * ignorable coordinates

* particular coordinates that do not appear explicitly in the
lagrangian of the system
If qk is cyclic coordinate, it does not appear in lagrangian,
L
L  L  q1 , q2 ...qk 1 , qk 1 ,....qn , q1 , q2 ,.....qn , t  and obviously, we have 0
qk
Then lagrange’s equation reduces to
d  L
 L
   0   cons tan t  pk ( generalized momentum)
dt  qk
 qk
Again from lagrange’s equation of motion,
L d  L  This shows that the generalized
    pk Momentum conjugate to a cyclic
qk dt  qk 
coordinate is conserved during the
Thus we have,
L L motion.
 pk &  pk
qk qk 11