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Lagrange's Equation: 1 Calculus of Variations

This document summarizes Lagrange's equation, which is a reformulation of classical mechanics using the principle of least action. It defines the Lagrangian as the difference between kinetic and potential energy. The principle of least action states that the actual trajectory that makes the action integral stationary over time extremizes the action. Applying this principle and using calculus of variations derives the Euler-Lagrange equation, which is equivalent to Newton's second law of motion. This Lagrangian formulation makes mechanics easier to apply to constrained systems and non-rectangular coordinates compared to Newton's laws.

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Rock Francis
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91 views

Lagrange's Equation: 1 Calculus of Variations

This document summarizes Lagrange's equation, which is a reformulation of classical mechanics using the principle of least action. It defines the Lagrangian as the difference between kinetic and potential energy. The principle of least action states that the actual trajectory that makes the action integral stationary over time extremizes the action. Applying this principle and using calculus of variations derives the Euler-Lagrange equation, which is equivalent to Newton's second law of motion. This Lagrangian formulation makes mechanics easier to apply to constrained systems and non-rectangular coordinates compared to Newton's laws.

Uploaded by

Rock Francis
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lagranges Equation

Chris Clark March 30, 2006

Calculus of Variations
f [x(t) + (t)] f [x(t)]

The variation of a function f is f [x(t)] = lim (1)

where (t) is an arbitrary function subject to the constraint that it vanishes at the endpoints of the interval under consideration. First we notice that for f being the identity function we have x(t) = lim x(t) + (t) x(t) = lim (t) = (t), (2)

so we are able to write x and (t) interchangeably. Now, we can always write the rst term in the numerator of (1) as a power series in , so f [x(t)] = lim f [x(t)] + (t)f [x(t)] + O( 2 ) f [x(t)] = f [x(t)]x (3)

This is basically a form of chain rule for variations. We can also derive the following simple rules: (cf [x(t)]) = cf [x(t)] (f [x(t)] g [x(t)]) = f [x(t)] g [x(t)] (f [g [x(t)]]) = f [g [x(t)]] (g [x(t)]) dx(t) dt = d (x) dt (4) (5) (6) (7)

Principle of Least Action

The Lagrangian of a system, written L, is dened to be the dierence of the potential and kinetic energies of that system. It is a functional of the positions and velocities of the particles in the system. The action of the system in a time interval (t1 , t2 ) is dened to be the integral of the Lagrangian with respect to time over the interval. The Principle of Least Action says that the actual trajectories and velocities of the particles in the real world will make the action extremal. This principle is equivalent to Newtons laws of motion, but it will provide us with new problem solving methods. Theorem 2.1. (The Principle of Least Action)
t2 t1

L dt = 0.

Proof. We will only provide a proof for the special case of one particle in one dimension, but the general proof is a straightforward elaboration. We start with 2 dV x Newtons law F = m d dt2 and the denition of potential energy F = dx : d2 x dV =0 dt2 dx Now let x = (t) be an arbitrary function that vanishes at the endpoints of the interval (t1 , t2 ).1 Integrating any expression that is equal to zero always yields zero, so: t2 d2 x dV x dt = 0 m 2 dt dx t1 m d2 x dV x dt = 0 x 2 dt dx t1 Here we integrate by parts on the rst term and use the constraint that x vanishes at the endpoints so that the boundary term is zero. m m dx t2 x|t1 + dt
t2 t2 t2

m
t1

dV dx d (x) x dt dt dx

dt = 0

dx dx dV x dt = 0 dt dt dx t1 Finally, we use the chain rule of variations backwards to pull the variation symbol out front. m
t2

t1

m 2
t2

dx dt

V (x)

dt = 0

t1 t2

m 2 x V (x) 2

dt = 0

t1

L[x(t), x (t)] dt = 0

1 There is no loss of generality with this assumption because this is built into the denition of variations.

Euler-Lagrange Equation

The Euler-Lagrange Equation is a mathematical result that converts an equation of the form f dt = 0 into a dierential equation in terms of f . This result can then be directly applied to the principle of least action to yield the Lagrange equations of motion. Theorem 3.1. (Euler-Lagrange Equation) Proof.
t2

f [x(t), x (t)] dt = 0

df d df =0 dt dx dx

t1 t2

f [x(t), x (t)] dt = 0 f [x(t), x (t)] dt = 0


t1 t2


t1 t2

df df x + x dx dx df df d x + (x) dx dx dt
t2 t1

dt = 0 dt = 0 dt = 0

t1

df 2 x|t t1 + dx
t2

df d df x x dx dt dx x dt = 0

t1

d df df dx dt dx

Now for this to be true for an arbitrary function x, the other factor of the integrand must always be zero. df d df =0 dt dx dx

The hypothesis of this theorem is exactly what we have for the action integral, so we immediately obtain Lagranges equation of motion d dL dL =0 dt dx dx

Lets go back and take a look at how we got to this point. To obtain the least action principle, we basically used the calculus of variations backwards (zero valued expression integral with zero variation). Then we took that result and applied the calculus of variations in the normal forward direction (integral

with zero variation zero valued expression). So essentially we are back to where we started. If we plug the Lagrangian back in, d d dt dx m 2 d x (V ) = 0 2 dx d dV x + =0 dt dx

dV d2 x = 2 dt dx and we get Newtons equation back. Then what have we gained? Well, the Lagrangian is a scalar function, so it is independent of coordinate transformations. This makes it easier to solve problems in non-rectangular coordinate systems. Furthermore, the Lagrangian formalism makes it straightforward to apply constraints on the motion, which can be extremely complicated to apply in Newtons formalism. m

References

The Feynman Lectures on Physics Volume II by Feynman, Leighton, and Sands Chapter 19 Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems by Marion and Thornton Chapter 7

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