Hamiltonian mechanics

Hamiltonian mechanics emerged in 1833 as a reformulation of

Lagrangian mechanics. Introduced by Sir William Rowan
Hamilton,[1] Hamiltonian mechanics replaces (generalized)
velocities used in Lagrangian mechanics with (generalized)
momenta. Both theories provide interpretations of classical
mechanics and describe the same physical phenomena.

Hamiltonian mechanics has a close relationship with geometry

(notably, symplectic geometry and Poisson structures) and serves as
a link between classical and quantum mechanics.

Overview

Phase space coordinates (p,q) and Sir William Rowan Hamilton

Hamiltonian H

Let be a mechanical system with the configuration space and the smooth Lagrangian Select
a standard coordinate system on The quantities are called momenta.
(Also generalized momenta, conjugate momenta, and canonical momenta). For a time instant the
Legendre transformation of is defined as the map which is assumed to have a smooth
inverse For a system with degrees of freedom, the Lagrangian mechanics defines the
energy function

The Legendre transform of turns into a function known as the Hamiltonian. The
Hamiltonian satisfies

which implies that

where the velocities are found from the ( -dimensional) equation which,
by assumption, is uniquely solvable for The ( -dimensional) pair is called phase space
coordinates. (Also canonical coordinates).

From Euler-Lagrange equation to Hamilton's equations

In phase space coordinates the ( -dimensional) Euler-Lagrange equation

becomes Hamilton's equations in dimensions

From stationary action principle to Hamilton's equations

Let be the set of smooth paths for which and

The action functional is defined via

where and (see above). A path is a stationary point of (and

hence is an equation of motion) if and only if the path in phase space coordinates obeys the
Hamilton's equations.

Basic physical interpretation

A simple interpretation of Hamiltonian mechanics comes from its application on a one-dimensional system
consisting of one nonrelativistic particle of mass m. The value of the Hamiltonian is the total
energy of the system, in this case the sum of kinetic and potential energy, traditionally denoted T and V,
respectively. Here p is the momentum mv and q is the space coordinate. Then

T is a function of p alone, while V is a function of q alone (i.e., T and V are scleronomic).

In this example, the time derivative of q is the velocity, and so the first Hamilton equation means that the
particle's velocity equals the derivative of its kinetic energy with respect to its momentum. The time
derivative of the momentum p equals the Newtonian force, and so the second Hamilton equation means
that the force equals the negative gradient of potential energy.

Example
A spherical pendulum consists of a mass m moving without friction on the surface of a sphere. The only
forces acting on the mass are the reaction from the sphere and gravity. Spherical coordinates are used to
describe the position of the mass in terms of (r, θ, φ), where r is fixed, r = l.

The Lagrangian for this system is[2]

Thus the Hamiltonian is

where

Spherical pendulum: angles and velocities.

and

In terms of coordinates and momenta, the Hamiltonian reads

Hamilton's equations give the time evolution of coordinates and conjugate momenta in four first-order
differential equations,

Momentum , which corresponds to the vertical component of angular momentum

, is a constant of motion. That is a consequence of the rotational symmetry of the
system around the vertical axis. Being absent from the Hamiltonian, azimuth is a cyclic coordinate,
which implies conservation of its conjugate momentum.

Deriving Hamilton's equations

Hamilton's equations can be derived by a calculation with the Lagrangian , generalized positions q i, and
generalized velocities q̇ i, where .[3] Here we work off-shell, meaning are
independent coordinates in phase space, not constrained to follow any equations of motion (in particular,
is not a derivative of ). The total differential of the Lagrangian is:

The generalized momentum coordinates were defined as , so we may rewrite the equation
as:

After rearranging, one obtains:

The term in parentheses on the left-hand side is just the Hamiltonian defined previously,
therefore:

One may also calculate the total differential of the Hamiltonian with respect to coordinates
instead of , yielding:
One may now equate these two expressions for , one in terms of , the other in terms of :

Since these calculations are off-shell, one can equate the respective coefficients of on the two
sides:

On-shell, one substitutes parametric functions which define a trajectory in phase space with
velocities , obeying Lagrange's equations:

Rearranging and writing in terms of the on-shell gives:

Thus Lagrange's equations are equivalent to Hamilton's equations:

In the case of time-independent and , i.e. , Hamilton's equations consist of

2n first-order differential equations, while Lagrange's equations consist of n second-order equations.
Hamilton's equations usually do not reduce the difficulty of finding explicit solutions, but important
theoretical results can be derived from them, because coordinates and momenta are independent variables
with nearly symmetric roles.
Hamilton's equations have another advantage over Lagrange's equations: if a system has a symmetry, so
that some coordinate does not occur in the Hamiltonian (i.e. a cyclic coordinate), the corresponding
momentum coordinate is conserved along each trajectory, and that coordinate can be reduced to a
constant in the other equations of the set. This effectively reduces the problem from n coordinates to
(n − 1) coordinates: this is the basis of symplectic reduction in geometry. In the Lagrangian framework,
the conservation of momentum also follows immediately, however all the generalized velocities still
occur in the Lagrangian, and a system of equations in n coordinates still has to be solved. [4]

The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian approaches provide the groundwork for deeper results in classical
mechanics, and suggest analogous formulations in quantum mechanics: the path integral formulation and
the Schrödinger equation.

Properties of the Hamiltonian

The value of the Hamiltonian is the total energy of the system if and only if the energy
function has the same property. (See definition of

when form a solution of Hamilton's equations.

Indeed, and everything but the final term cancels out.

does not change under point transformations, i.e. smooth changes of space
coordinates. (Follows from the invariance of the energy function under point
transformations. The invariance of can be established directly).

(See Deriving Hamilton's equations).

(Compare Hamilton's and Euler-Lagrange equations or see Deriving

Hamilton's equations).

if and only if

A coordinate for which the last equation holds is called cyclic (or ignorable). Every cyclic
coordinate reduces the number of degrees of freedom by causes the corresponding
momentum to be conserved, and makes Hamilton's equations easier to solve.

Hamiltonian of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field

A sufficient illustration of Hamiltonian mechanics is given by the Hamiltonian of a charged particle in an
electromagnetic field. In Cartesian coordinates the Lagrangian of a non-relativistic classical particle in an
electromagnetic field is (in SI Units):

where q is the electric charge of the particle, φ is the electric scalar potential, and the Ai are the
components of the magnetic vector potential that may all explicitly depend on and .

This Lagrangian, combined with Euler–Lagrange equation, produces the Lorentz force law
and is called minimal coupling.

The canonical momenta are given by:

The Hamiltonian, as the Legendre transformation of the Lagrangian, is therefore:

This equation is used frequently in quantum mechanics.

Under gauge transformation:

where f(r, t) is any scalar function of space and time, the aforementioned Lagrangian, canonical momenta,
and Hamiltonian transform like:

which still produces the same Hamilton's equation:

In quantum mechanics, the wave function will also undergo a local U(1) group transformation[5] during the
Gauge Transformation, which implies that all physical results must be invariant under local U(1)
transformations.

Relativistic charged particle in an electromagnetic field

The relativistic Lagrangian for a particle (rest mass and charge ) is given by:
Thus the particle's canonical momentum is

that is, the sum of the kinetic momentum and the potential momentum.

Solving for the velocity, we get

So the Hamiltonian is

This results in the force equation (equivalent to the Euler–Lagrange equation)

from which one can derive

The above derivation makes use of the vector calculus identity:

An equivalent expression for the Hamiltonian as function of the relativistic (kinetic) momentum,
, is

This has the advantage that kinetic momentum can be measured experimentally whereas canonical
momentum cannot. Notice that the Hamiltonian (total energy) can be viewed as the sum of the relativistic
energy (kinetic+rest), , plus the potential energy, .

From symplectic geometry to Hamilton's equations

Geometry of Hamiltonian systems

The Hamiltonian can induce a symplectic structure on a smooth even-dimensional manifold M2n in several
equivalent ways, the best known being the following:[6]

As a closed nondegenerate symplectic 2-form ω. According to the Darboux's theorem, in a small

neighbourhood around any point on M there exist suitable local coordinates
(canonical or symplectic coordinates) in which the symplectic form becomes:

The form induces a natural isomorphism of the tangent space with the cotangent space:
This is done by mapping a vector to the 1-form where for all
Due to the bilinearity and non-degeneracy of and the fact that the
mapping is indeed a linear isomorphism. This isomorphism is natural in that it does not change
with change of coordinates on Repeating over all we end up with an isomorphism
between the infinite-dimensional space of smooth vector fields and that of
smooth 1-forms. For every and

(In algebraic terms, one would say that the -modules and are isomorphic).
If then, for every fixed and
is known as a Hamiltonian vector field. The respective differential equation on

is called Hamilton's equation. Here and is the (time-dependent) value of the

vector field at
A Hamiltonian system may be understood as a fiber bundle E over time R, with the fiber Et being the
position space at time t ∈ R. The Lagrangian is thus a function on the jet bundle J over E; taking the
fiberwise Legendre transform of the Lagrangian produces a function on the dual bundle over time whose
fiber at t is the cotangent space T ∗Et, which comes equipped with a natural symplectic form, and this
latter function is the Hamiltonian. The correspondence between Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics is
achieved with the tautological one-form.

Any smooth real-valued function H on a symplectic manifold can be used to define a Hamiltonian system.
The function H is known as "the Hamiltonian" or "the energy function." The symplectic manifold is then
called the phase space. The Hamiltonian induces a special vector field on the symplectic manifold, known
as the Hamiltonian vector field.

The Hamiltonian vector field induces a Hamiltonian flow on the manifold. This is a one-parameter family
of transformations of the manifold (the parameter of the curves is commonly called "the time"); in other
words, an isotopy of symplectomorphisms, starting with the identity. By Liouville's theorem, each
symplectomorphism preserves the volume form on the phase space. The collection of symplectomorphisms
induced by the Hamiltonian flow is commonly called "the Hamiltonian mechanics" of the Hamiltonian
system.

The symplectic structure induces a Poisson bracket. The Poisson bracket gives the space of functions on the
manifold the structure of a Lie algebra.

If F and G are smooth functions on M then the smooth function ω 2(IdG, IdF) is properly defined; it is
called a Poisson bracket of functions F and G and is denoted {F, G}. The Poisson bracket has the
following properties:

1. bilinearity
2. antisymmetry
3. Leibniz rule:
4. Jacobi identity:
5. non-degeneracy: if the point x on M is not critical for F then a smooth function G exists such
that .

Given a function f

if there is a probability distribution ρ, then (since the phase space velocity has zero divergence and
probability is conserved) its convective derivative can be shown to be zero and so

This is called Liouville's theorem. Every smooth function G over the symplectic manifold generates a one-
parameter family of symplectomorphisms and if {G, H} = 0 , then G is conserved and the
symplectomorphisms are symmetry transformations.
A Hamiltonian may have multiple conserved quantities Gi. If the symplectic manifold has dimension 2n
and there are n functionally independent conserved quantities Gi which are in involution (i.e.,
{Gi, Gj} = 0 ), then the Hamiltonian is Liouville integrable. The Liouville–Arnold theorem says that,
locally, any Liouville integrable Hamiltonian can be transformed via a symplectomorphism into a new
Hamiltonian with the conserved quantities Gi as coordinates; the new coordinates are called action-angle
coordinates. The transformed Hamiltonian depends only on the Gi, and hence the equations of motion
have the simple form

for some function F.[7] There is an entire field focusing on small deviations from integrable systems
governed by the KAM theorem.

The integrability of Hamiltonian vector fields is an open question. In general, Hamiltonian systems are
chaotic; concepts of measure, completeness, integrability and stability are poorly defined.

Riemannian manifolds

An important special case consists of those Hamiltonians that are quadratic forms, that is, Hamiltonians that
can be written as

∗
where ⟨ , ⟩q is a smoothly varying inner product on the fibers T q Q, the cotangent space to the point q in
the configuration space, sometimes called a cometric. This Hamiltonian consists entirely of the kinetic term.

If one considers a Riemannian manifold or a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, the Riemannian metric induces
a linear isomorphism between the tangent and cotangent bundles. (See Musical isomorphism). Using this
isomorphism, one can define a cometric. (In coordinates, the matrix defining the cometric is the inverse of
the matrix defining the metric.) The solutions to the Hamilton–Jacobi equations for this Hamiltonian are
then the same as the geodesics on the manifold. In particular, the Hamiltonian flow in this case is the same
thing as the geodesic flow. The existence of such solutions, and the completeness of the set of solutions, are
discussed in detail in the article on geodesics. See also Geodesics as Hamiltonian flows.

Sub-Riemannian manifolds

When the cometric is degenerate, then it is not invertible. In this case, one does not have a Riemannian
manifold, as one does not have a metric. However, the Hamiltonian still exists. In the case where the
cometric is degenerate at every point q of the configuration space manifold Q, so that the rank of the
cometric is less than the dimension of the manifold Q, one has a sub-Riemannian manifold.

The Hamiltonian in this case is known as a sub-Riemannian Hamiltonian. Every such Hamiltonian
uniquely determines the cometric, and vice versa. This implies that every sub-Riemannian manifold is
uniquely determined by its sub-Riemannian Hamiltonian, and that the converse is true: every sub-
Riemannian manifold has a unique sub-Riemannian Hamiltonian. The existence of sub-Riemannian
geodesics is given by the Chow–Rashevskii theorem.
The continuous, real-valued Heisenberg group provides a simple example of a sub-Riemannian manifold.
For the Heisenberg group, the Hamiltonian is given by

pz is not involved in the Hamiltonian.

Poisson algebras

Hamiltonian systems can be generalized in various ways. Instead of simply looking at the algebra of
smooth functions over a symplectic manifold, Hamiltonian mechanics can be formulated on general
commutative unital real Poisson algebras. A state is a continuous linear functional on the Poisson algebra
(equipped with some suitable topology) such that for any element A of the algebra, A2 maps to a
nonnegative real number.

A further generalization is given by Nambu dynamics.

Generalization to quantum mechanics through Poisson bracket

Hamilton's equations above work well for classical mechanics, but not for quantum mechanics, since the
differential equations discussed assume that one can specify the exact position and momentum of the
particle simultaneously at any point in time. However, the equations can be further generalized to then be
extended to apply to quantum mechanics as well as to classical mechanics, through the deformation of the
Poisson algebra over p and q to the algebra of Moyal brackets.

Specifically, the more general form of the Hamilton's equation reads

where f is some function of p and q , and H is the Hamiltonian. To find out the rules for evaluating a
Poisson bracket without resorting to differential equations, see Lie algebra; a Poisson bracket is the name
for the Lie bracket in a Poisson algebra. These Poisson brackets can then be extended to Moyal brackets
comporting to an inequivalent Lie algebra, as proven by Hilbrand J. Groenewold, and thereby describe
quantum mechanical diffusion in phase space (See the phase space formulation and the Wigner–Weyl
transform). This more algebraic approach not only permits ultimately extending probability distributions in
phase space to Wigner quasi-probability distributions, but, at the mere Poisson bracket classical setting, also
provides more power in helping analyze the relevant conserved quantities in a system.

See also
Canonical transformation Hamilton–Jacobi equation
Classical field theory Hamilton–Jacobi–Einstein equation
Hamiltonian field theory Lagrangian mechanics
Covariant Hamiltonian field theory Maxwell's equations
Classical mechanics Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics)
Dynamical systems theory Quantum Hamilton's equations
Hamiltonian system Quantum field theory
 Hamiltonian optics Nambu mechanics
De Donder–Weyl theory Hamiltonian fluid mechanics
Geometric mechanics Hamiltonian vector field
Routhian mechanics

References
1. Hamilton, William Rowan, Sir (1833). On a general method of expressing the paths of light,
& of the planets, by the coefficients of a characteristic function (http://worldcat.org/oclc/68159
539). Printed by P.D. Hardy. OCLC 68159539 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/68159539).
2. Landau & Lifshitz 1976, pp. 33–34
3. This derivation is along the lines as given in Arnol'd 1989, pp. 65–66
4. Goldstein, Poole & Safko 2002, pp. 347–349
5. Zinn-Justin, Jean; Guida, Riccardo (2008-12-04). "Gauge invariance" (https://doi.org/10.424
9%2Fscholarpedia.8287). Scholarpedia. 3 (12): 8287. Bibcode:2008SchpJ...3.8287Z (http
s://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008SchpJ...3.8287Z). doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.8287 (http
s://doi.org/10.4249%2Fscholarpedia.8287). ISSN 1941-6016 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/
1941-6016).
6. Arnol'd, Kozlov & Neĩshtadt 1988, §3. Hamiltonian mechanics.
7. Arnol'd, Kozlov & Neĩshtadt 1988

Further reading
Landau, Lev Davidovich; Lifshitz, Evgenii Mikhailovich (1976). Mechanics (https://www.worl
dcat.org/oclc/2591126). Course of Theoretical Physics. Vol. 1. Sykes, J. B. (John Bradbury),
Bell, J. S. (3rd ed.). Oxford. ISBN 0-08-021022-8. OCLC 2591126 (https://www.worldcat.org/
oclc/2591126).
Abraham, R.; Marsden, J.E. (1978). Foundations of mechanics (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/3516353) (2d ed., rev., enl., and reset ed.). Reading, Mass.: Benjamin/Cummings Pub. Co.
ISBN 0-8053-0102-X. OCLC 3516353 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3516353).
Arnol'd, V. I.; Kozlov, V. V.; Neĩshtadt, A. I. (1988). "Mathematical aspects of classical and
celestial mechanics". Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences, Dynamical Systems III (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16404140). Vol. 3. Anosov, D. V. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-
387-17002-2. OCLC 16404140 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16404140).
Arnol'd, V. I. (1989). Mathematical methods of classical mechanics (https://www.worldcat.org/
oclc/18681352) (2nd ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-96890-3.
OCLC 18681352 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18681352).
Goldstein, Herbert; Poole, Charles P. Jr.; Safko, John L. (2002). Classical mechanics
(3rd ed.). San Francisco: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-31611-0. OCLC 47056311 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/oclc/47056311).
Vinogradov, A. M.; Kupershmidt, B A (1977-08-31). "The structure of Hamiltonian mechanics"
(http://stacks.iop.org/0036-0279/32/i=4/a=R04?key=crossref.1fa21a54a18c4512470aca768
94eb631). Russian Mathematical Surveys. 32 (4): 177–243. Bibcode:1977RuMaS..32..177V
(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977RuMaS..32..177V).
doi:10.1070/RM1977v032n04ABEH001642 (https://doi.org/10.1070%2FRM1977v032n04A
 BEH001642). ISSN 0036-0279 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0036-0279).
S2CID 250805957 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:250805957).

External links
Binney, James J., Classical Mechanics (lecture notes) (http://www-thphys.physics.ox.ac.uk/u
sers/JamesBinney/cmech.pdf) (PDF), University of Oxford, retrieved 27 October 2010
Tong, David, Classical Dynamics (Cambridge lecture notes) (http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/us
er/tong/dynamics.html), University of Cambridge, retrieved 27 October 2010
Hamilton, William Rowan, On a General Method in Dynamics (http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/H
istMath/People/Hamilton/Dynamics/), Trinity College Dublin

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