Paper 3 , Section I, D

Classical Dynamics | Part II, 2021

The Lagrangian of a particle of mass mm and charge qq in an electromagnetic field takes the form

L=12mr˙2+q(ϕ+r˙A)L=\frac{1}{2} m|\dot{\mathbf{r}}|^{2}+q(-\phi+\dot{\mathbf{r}} \cdot \mathbf{A})

Explain the meaning of ϕ\phi and A\mathbf{A}, and how they are related to the electric and magnetic fields.

Obtain the canonical momentum p\mathbf{p} and the Hamiltonian H(r,p,t)H(\mathbf{r}, \mathbf{p}, t).

Suppose that the electric and magnetic fields have Cartesian components (E,0,0)(E, 0,0) and (0,0,B)(0,0, B), respectively, where EE and BB are positive constants. Explain why the Hamiltonian of the particle can be taken to be

H=px22m+(pyqBx)22m+pz22mqExH=\frac{p_{x}^{2}}{2 m}+\frac{\left(p_{y}-q B x\right)^{2}}{2 m}+\frac{p_{z}^{2}}{2 m}-q E x

State three independent integrals of motion in this case.

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