bradley j. nartowt Saturday, July 06, 2013, 12:22:10 PHYS 6246 classical mechanics Dr.

Whiting
Show that if and
*
are taken as two independent field variables, the following Lagrangian density leads to the
Schrdinger equation and its complex conjugate,

( )
2 2
??????
* * * * 2
2 2

8 4 8 2
h h h h d
V V
m m dt

t t t t
= V - V + + V + =
i
i
L [I.1]

EL-equation is
,
( )
d
dx
v
v
q q
c = c L L . Rho index is *,** = (complex conjugate and no complex conjugate). So, Euler-
Lagrange equation both with and without expanding out the comma notation is,

* * *
* * * * *
, ,
( ) ( ) ( )
i
d d d
t i
dx dy dz
d d d d d d d
dx dt dx dy dz dt dx
v

v

| |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | c c c c c c c c
= = + + + = + |
| | | |
| |
|
c c c c c
c c c
\ . \ .
\ . \ . \ . \ .
\ .
L L L L L L L L
[I.2]

Putting the lagranginan density [I.1] into [I.2], and computing each of the three ingredients separately,

( )
* 2
2
* 2 * 2 * *
,
( )
(1)
8 ( ) 8 4 4
i i i
i
d h d d h d h d h
V
dx m dx dx m dt dt


t t t t
| | | | | | | | c c V c c
= = V = = +
| | | |
c c V c c
\ . \ . \ . \ .
i i
L L L
[I.3]

Putting these three ingredients [I.3] into [I.2], which is
* * *
,
( ) ( )
i
i
d d
dt
dx
c = c + c L L L , and we get,

2 2
2 2
2 2

4 4 8 8 2
h h h h h d
V V
m m dt

t t t t t

+ = + V V + =
i
i i
[I.4]

Just for fun, lets try varying wrt ; in this case, [I.3] appears as,

( )
2 *
* 2 * * *
2 2
,
( )
(1)
8 ( ) 8 4 4
i i i
i
d h d d h d h d h
V
dx m dx dx m dt dt


t t t t
| | | | | | | | c c V c c
= = V = =
| | | |
c c V c c
\ . \ . \ . \ .
i i
L L L
[I.5]

Putting these three ingredients [I.5] into [I.2], which is
,
( ) ( )
i
i
d d
dt
dx

c = c + c L L L , and we get,

2
2 * * *
2
8 2
h h
V
m

t t

V + = i [I.6]

So: the lagrangian density [I.1] knows what complex conjugation is.

What are the canonical momenta?

( ) ( ) ( ) * *
*
, , ,
4
h


t t
t
= c c =
i
L [I.7]

Obtain the Hamiltonian density corresponding to this lagrangian density [I.1]. we start with legendre transform and wind
up with,

( ) ( ) ( )
* * 2
* * * * * *
2
2 2
2 2
* *
2 2
1
( )
, ,
4 4 8 4
8 8
i i
h h h h
V
m
h h
V V e
m m
t

t q
t t t t

t t

= = - = V - V
| |
= V - V = V +
|
\ .
i
i i i
H L L
[I.8]