Paper 4, Section I, C

Classical Dynamics | Part II, 2011

(i) A dynamical system is described by the Hamiltonian H(qi,pi)H\left(q_{i}, p_{i}\right). Define the Poisson bracket {f,g}\{f, g\} of two functions f(qi,pi,t),g(qi,pi,t)f\left(q_{i}, p_{i}, t\right), g\left(q_{i}, p_{i}, t\right). Assuming the Hamiltonian equations of motion, find an expression for df/dtd f / d t in terms of the Poisson bracket.

(ii) A one-dimensional system has the Hamiltonian

H=p2+1q2H=p^{2}+\frac{1}{q^{2}}

Show that u=pq2Htu=p q-2 H t is a constant of the motion. Deduce the form of (q(t),p(t))(q(t), p(t)) along a classical path, in terms of the constants uu and HH.

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