Paper 4, Section II, 15D

Classical Dynamics | Part II, 2021

(a) Let (q,p)(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}) be a set of canonical phase-space variables for a Hamiltonian system with nn degrees of freedom. Define the Poisson bracket {f,g}\{f, g\} of two functions f(q,p)f(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}) and g(q,p)g(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}). Write down the canonical commutation relations that imply that a second set (Q,P)(\mathbf{Q}, \mathbf{P}) of phase-space variables is also canonical.

(b) Consider the near-identity transformation

Q=q+δq,P=p+δp\mathbf{Q}=\mathbf{q}+\delta \mathbf{q}, \quad \mathbf{P}=\mathbf{p}+\delta \mathbf{p}

where δq(q,p)\delta \mathbf{q}(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}) and δp(q,p)\delta \mathbf{p}(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}) are small. Determine the approximate forms of the canonical commutation relations, accurate to first order in δq\delta \mathbf{q} and δp\delta \mathbf{p}. Show that these are satisfied when

δq=ϵFp,δp=ϵFq\delta \mathbf{q}=\epsilon \frac{\partial F}{\partial \mathbf{p}}, \quad \delta \mathbf{p}=-\epsilon \frac{\partial F}{\partial \mathbf{q}}

where ϵ\epsilon is a small parameter and F(q,p)F(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}) is some function of the phase-space variables.

(c) In the limit ϵ0\epsilon \rightarrow 0 this near-identity transformation is called the infinitesimal canonical transformation generated by FF. Let H(q,p)H(\mathbf{q}, \mathbf{p}) be an autonomous Hamiltonian. Show that the change in the Hamiltonian induced by the infinitesimal canonical transformation is

δH=ϵ{F,H}.\delta H=-\epsilon\{F, H\} .

Explain why FF is an integral of motion if and only if the Hamiltonian is invariant under the infinitesimal canonical transformation generated by FF.

(d) The Hamiltonian of the gravitational NN-body problem in three-dimensional space is

H=12i=1Npi22mii=1N1j=i+1NGmimjrirjH=\frac{1}{2} \sum_{i=1}^{N} \frac{\left|\mathbf{p}_{i}\right|^{2}}{2 m_{i}}-\sum_{i=1}^{N-1} \sum_{j=i+1}^{N} \frac{G m_{i} m_{j}}{\left|\mathbf{r}_{i}-\mathbf{r}_{j}\right|}

where mi,rim_{i}, \mathbf{r}_{i} and pi\mathbf{p}_{i} are the mass, position and momentum of body ii. Determine the form of FF and the infinitesimal canonical transformation that correspond to the translational symmetry of the system.

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