3.II.15C

Classical Dynamics | Part II, 2005

(i) A point mass mm with position qq and momentum pp undergoes one-dimensional periodic motion. Define the action variable II in terms of qq and pp. Prove that an orbit of energy EE has period

T=2πdIdE.T=2 \pi \frac{d I}{d E} .

(ii) Such a system has Hamiltonian

H(q,p)=p2+q2μ2q2H(q, p)=\frac{p^{2}+q^{2}}{\mu^{2}-q^{2}}

where μ\mu is a positive constant and q<μ|q|<\mu during the motion. Sketch the orbits in phase space both for energies E1E \gg 1 and E1E \ll 1. Show that the action variable II is given in terms of the energy EE by

I=μ22EE+1.I=\frac{\mu^{2}}{2} \frac{E}{\sqrt{E+1}} .

Hence show that for E1E \gg 1 the period of the orbit is T12πμ3/p0T \approx \frac{1}{2} \pi \mu^{3} / p_{0}, where p0p_{0} is the greatest value of the momentum during the orbit.

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