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    1 Galilean Symmetry and Its Conserved Quantity: Classical Mechanics, Lecture 6

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    1. Galilean symmetry corresponds to the conserved quantity of the center of mass at time zero. This quantity is the position of the center of mass minus the product of time and a constant velocity vector. 2. Hamilton's equations describe classical mechanics in terms of positions and momenta as equal partners. The Hamiltonian is defined as the total energy as a function of position and momentum. Hamilton's equations relate the time derivatives of position and momentum to the partial derivatives of the Hamiltonian. 3. Poisson brackets provide a way to describe how observables evolve over time according to Hamilton's equations. The time derivative of an observable is equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian. Poisson brackets also relate other symmetries, like translations,

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    1 Galilean Symmetry and Its Conserved Quantity: Classical Mechanics, Lecture 6

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    bgiangre8372
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    1. Galilean symmetry corresponds to the conserved quantity of the center of mass at time zero. This quantity is the position of the center of mass minus the product of time and a constant velocity vector. 2. Hamilton's equations describe classical mechanics in terms of positions and momenta as equal partners. The Hamiltonian is defined as the total energy as a function of position and momentum. Hamilton's equations relate the time derivatives of position and momentum to the partial derivatives of the Hamiltonian. 3. Poisson brackets provide a way to describe how observables evolve over time according to Hamilton's equations. The time derivative of an observable is equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian. Poisson brackets also relate other symmetries, like translations,

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    1. Galilean symmetry corresponds to the conserved quantity of the center of mass at time zero. This quantity is the position of the center of mass minus the product of time and a constant velocity vector. 2. Hamilton's equations describe classical mechanics in terms of positions and momenta as equal partners. The Hamiltonian is defined as the total energy as a function of position and momentum. Hamilton's equations relate the time derivatives of position and momentum to the partial derivatives of the Hamiltonian. 3. Poisson brackets provide a way to describe how observables evolve over time according to Hamilton's equations. The time derivative of an observable is equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian. Poisson brackets also relate other symmetries, like translations,

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    39 views3 pages

    1 Galilean Symmetry and Its Conserved Quantity: Classical Mechanics, Lecture 6

    Uploaded by

    bgiangre8372
    1. Galilean symmetry corresponds to the conserved quantity of the center of mass at time zero. This quantity is the position of the center of mass minus the product of time and a constant velocity vector. 2. Hamilton's equations describe classical mechanics in terms of positions and momenta as equal partners. The Hamiltonian is defined as the total energy as a function of position and momentum. Hamilton's equations relate the time derivatives of position and momentum to the partial derivatives of the Hamiltonian. 3. Poisson brackets provide a way to describe how observables evolve over time according to Hamilton's equations. The time derivative of an observable is equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian. Poisson brackets also relate other symmetries, like translations,

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    Classical Mechanics, Lecture 6

    January 29, 2008


    lecture by John Baez
    notes by Alex Hoffnung

    1 Galilean Symmetry and its Conserved Quantity


    Last time we discovered there was a symmetry called Galilean symmetry, but we did not know a
    corresponding conserved quantity. Given n particles in R3 interacting via central forces, if qi : R R3
    is a solution of Newtons 2nd law, we get a new solution

    qi (t) = qi (t) + tv

    where v R3 . This is called Galilean symmetry; Galilean symmetries form a group, R3 . What
    are the conserved quantities?
    Our system of particles has a total mass:
    n
    X
    m = mi
    i=1

    and a center of mass P


    mi qi (t)
    q(t) = .
    m
    We have also discussed the total momentum
    n
    X
    p(t) = pi (t)
    i=1

    which is also conserved. Note:


    p(t) = mq(t)

    so the center of mass moves at a constant velocity, so:

    q(t) + q(0) + tv

    for some v R3 . So
    q(t) tv R3
    is a conserved quantity! This is center of mass at time zero - this is the conserved quantity
    corresponding to Galilean symmetry.
    P P
    mi qi (t) t mi qi (t)
    q(t) tv = .
    m m
    Compare this to total momentum: X
    p(t) = mi qi (t).
    Note: the center of mass at time zero has explicit time dependence - not just a function of qi (t)
    and qi (t).

    1
    2 Hamiltons Equations
    Lets just consider a single particle in Rn , with position

    q: R Rn

    satisfying newtons 2nd law:


    V
    mqi (t) = (q(t))
    qi
    for some potential V : Rn R. This equation is 2nd -order, so you an rewrite it as a pair of 1st -order
    equations:
    1
    qi (t) = pi (t) ()
    m
    V
    pi (t) = (q(t))
    qi
    describing the rate of position and momentum - these are equal partners in the Hamiltonian
    approach. The right-hand side is related to energy
    1 2
    E = mq + V (q)
    2
    p2
    = + V (q)
    2m

    The Hamiltonian H: Rn Rn R is the energy as a function of p Rn , q Rn :

    p2
    H(q, p) = + V (q)
    2m
    Note:
    H pi
    (q, p) =
    pi m
    H V
    (q, p) =
    qi qi
    So, (**) are equivalent to Hamiltons equations:

    d H
    qi (t) = (q(t), p(t))
    dt pi
    d H
    pi (t) = (q(t), p(t))
    dt qi
    This pattern reminds of us rotating by 90 degrees in the plane or multiplying by i. This is the secret
    expanation of what is going on!

    3 Poisson Brackets
    We call Rn the phase space of a particle in n-dimensions - a point in it specifies the particles
    position and momentum
    (q, p) Rn Rn .

    2
    We call any smooth function F : Rn Rn R an observable. We can ask how an observable
    evolves in time to give a new observable Ft , (t R) - F measured after you wait a certain amount
    of time. Mathematically, Ft : Rn Rn R is the observable:
    Ft (qp) = F (q(t), p(t))
    where q(t), p(t) are the solution of Hamiltons equations with q(0) = q, p(0) = p.
    How does Ft change as time passes:
    d
    Ft = ?
    dt
    Calculate

    d d
    Ft (q, p) = F (q(t), p(t))
    dt dt
    X F dqi F dpi
    = +
    i
    q i dt p i dt
    X F H F H
    =
    i
    q i p i p i qi

    For this reason we invent Poisson brackets: given any pair of observables F, G: R2n R, we let
    Xn
    F G F G
    {F, G} =
    i=1
    p i qi qi pi

    In this notation Hamiltons equations say:


    d
    Ft (q, p) = {H, F }(q(t), p(t))
    dt
    = {H, F }t (q, p)

    or:
    d
    Ft = {H, F }t .
    dt
    Well say the Hamiltonian generates time evolution. In fact, other interesting observables gen-
    erate other interesting symmetries.
    Consider spatial translation:
    q 7 q + sk, k Rn
    p 7 p, sR
    We could look at how an observable changes under spatial translation, define:
    Fs (q, p) = F (q + sk, p)
    and compute
    dFs d
    (q, p) = F (q + sk, p)
    ds ds
    X F
    = ki
    i
    qi
    = {p k, F }

    where p k is momentum in the k direction. So: translations in the k direction are generated by
    momentum in the k direction.

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