Classical Mechanics (PHYS 505) HW 7 Due Thursday 5/24/18

(100 pts)

1. (20 pts) Verify the Jacobi identity for Poisson brackets:

{f, {g, h}} + {g, {h, f }} + {h, {f, g}} = 0

This identity can be proven by explicit calculation:

{f, {g, h}} = {f, ∂qi g∂pi h} − {f, ∂pi g∂qi h}
= ∂qj f ∂pj qi g∂pi h + ∂qj f ∂qi g∂pj pi h − ∂pj f ∂qj qi g∂pi h − ∂pj f ∂qi g∂qj pi h
− ∂qj f ∂pj pi g∂qi h − ∂qj f ∂pi g∂pj qi h + ∂pj f ∂qj pi g∂qi h + ∂pj f ∂pi g∂qj qi h

{g, {h, f }} = {g, ∂qi h∂pi f } − {g, ∂pi h∂qi f }

= ∂qj g∂pj qi h∂pi f + ∂qj g∂qi h∂pj pi f − ∂pj g∂qj qi h∂pi f − ∂pj g∂qi h∂qj pi f
− ∂qj g∂pj pi h∂qi f − ∂qj g∂pi h∂pj qi f + ∂pj g∂qj pi h∂qi f + ∂pj g∂pi h∂qj qi f

{h, {f, g}} = {h, ∂qi f ∂pi g} − {h, ∂pi f ∂qi g}

= ∂qj h∂pj qi f ∂pi g + ∂qj h∂qi f ∂pj pi g − ∂pj h∂qj qi f ∂pi g − ∂pj h∂qi f ∂qj pi g
− ∂qj h∂pj pi f ∂qi g − ∂qj h∂pi f ∂pj qi g + ∂pj h∂qj pi f ∂qi g + ∂pj h∂pi f ∂qj qi g
While the final answer contains 24 terms, it is now easy to see
that they cancel in pairs!
~
2. (20 pts) A particle of charge e moves in a background magnetic field B.

(a) Show that

{mṙa , mṙb } = eabc Bc , {mṙa , rb } = −δab .

Recall that in a background electromagnetic field the canon-

ical momentum is given by
pi = mṙi + eAi .
We can hence calculate
{mṙi , mṙj } = {pi − eAi , pj − eAj }
∂Ai ∂Aj
= −e δjk + δik e
∂rk ∂rk
∂Aj ∂Ai
= e −e = eijk Bk .
ri rj

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 and
{mṙi , rj } = {pi − eAi , rj } = −δij .

(b) A magnetic monopole is a particle which produces a radial magnetic

field of the form
~ = g r̂
B
r2
where r̂ is the unit vector in the ~r direction. Consider a charged
particle moving in the background of the magnetic monopole. Define
the generalised angular momentum
~j = m ~r × ~r˙ − egr̂.

Prove that J~ is conserved by calculating {H, J} ~

In the monopole background the generalized angular mo-
mentum is
ri
Ji = mijk rj ṙk − eg .
r
Also recall that we can write H in various forms:
(~p − eA) ~ 2 ~π 2 m
H= = = ṙl ṙl .
2m 2m 2
Given our results above for the Poisson bracket involving ṙi
it is this latter form that is the most useful:
ri
{H, Ji } = mṙl {ṙl , mijk rj r˙k } − egmṙl {ṙl , }
 r 
1 eg
= mṙl mijk {ṙl , rj }ṙk + mijk rj {ṙl , ṙk } − egri {ṙl , } − {ṙl , ri }
r r
h e rj eg i
= mṙl mijk (−δlj )ṙk + ijk rj lkm Bm − eg ṙi (−δlj ) 3 + δli
m r r
Note that the first term is proportional to ijk ṙj ṙk and so
vanishes by symmetry. Hence we can simplify
egri eg
{H, Ji } = eṙl rl Bi − eṙi rl Bl + − 3 ṙl rl ri .
r r
But now we recall that the particular magnetic field we are
working with is given by
ri
Bi = g 3 .
r
The terms cancel pairwise and we are indeed left with
{H, Ji } = 0.

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 (c) Show that the improvement term is just the standard angular mo-
mentum stored in crossed electric and magnetic fields.
Since the linear momentum density in electromagnetic fields
is given by the Poynting vector E ~ × B,
~ we can calculate
angular momentum stored in these fields as
Z
~ 1 ~ × B)
~
JEM = d3 r0 r~0 × (E
4π
Z
1 ~ r~0 · B)
~ − B(
~ r~0 · E)
~
= d3 r0 E(
4π
We can proceed by plugging in the magnetic field of the
monopole:
~0
B~ =g r .
(r0 )3
We hence find
" #
g
Z ~
E ~
r 0
g
Z
3 0 1 ~
h i
~
JEM = 3 0
dr ~
− 0 3 (E · ~r ) = 0 0 ~ 0
d r 0 E − r̂ (E · r̂ )
4π r0 (r ) 4π r
Z
g ~ ·∇~ 0 )r̂0 .
= d3 r 0 ( E
4π
In the last step we used that
rj 1
∇i r̂j = ∇i = (δij − r̂i r̂j ).
r r
This form is useful since it allows us to integrate by parts.
Both electric and magnetic field vanish at infinity as 1/r2 ,
so r times the Poynting vector vanishes as 1/r3 and we do
not pick up any boundary terms. We find
Z
~ 1 ~ 0 · E)
~ r̂0
JEM = − d3 r0 (∇
4π
The electric field of the point charge located at position ~r is
given by1
~0
E~ = e r − ~r
(r0 − r)3
This is rather cumbersome, but it’s divergence is easy:
~0 · E
∇ ~ = 4πeδ(r~0 − ~r).
1
We have been using units in which c = 1 = µ0 = 0 all along. In addition we have the 4π
in Maxwell’s equation, not in the field to keep the symmetry with how we introduced B ~ for
the monopole.

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 This allows us to do the integral
J~EM = −egr̂.
Note that the angular momentum is completely independent
of the separation of charge and monopole. It only depends
on the direction of ~r. And we see that this is indeed the
improvement term we had to add to the angular momentum
of the charged particle in the presence of the monopole.
(d) Since J~ is conserved, we can calculate it at an instant in time where
the charged particle is at rest and be assured that it remains the
same at all times. Show that if we assume in addition that angular
momentum in QM is quantized in units of ~/2 we get a quantization
condition on the charge of the monopole. This is know as the Dirac
quantization condition.
From our result above this now follows almost for free. The
r̂ component of the angular momentum is given by eg. For
this to be an integer multiple of ~/2 we need
2eg = n~
for integer n.

3. (20 pts) Prove that the following transformations are canonical:

The condition for a transformation to be canonical is
{Q, P } = 1.
For a 1d problem, the other two conditions
{Q, Q} = 0 = {P, P }
are trivially true for any transformation

(a) P = 12 (p2 + q 2 ) and Q = tan−1 (q/p).

{Q, P } = ∂q Q∂p P − ∂q P ∂p Q
Evaluating the various derivatives we find
p q
∂q Q = 2 2
, ∂p Q = − 2 , ∂q P = q, ∂p P = p.
p +q p + q2
So we find
p −q p2 + q 2
{Q, P } = p − q = = 1.
p2 + q 2 p2 + q 2 p2 + q 2

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 (b) P = q −1 and Q = pq 2
This time we have

∂q Q = 2pq, ∂p Q = q 2 , ∂q P = −q −2 , ∂p P = 0

and hence
{Q, P } = −q 2 (−q −2 ) = 1.

√ √ √
(c) P = 2 q(1 + q cos p) sin p and Q = log(1 + q cos p).
Last but not least this time we have and
1 cos p −q sin p
∂q Q = √ , ∂p Q = √
2 q + q cos p q + q cos p

and
 
1 √
∂q P = √ + 2 cos p sin p, ∂p P = 2( q cos p + q cos 2p).
q

Once again
1 cos p √
{Q, P } = √ 2( q cos p + q cos 2p)
2 q + q cos p
 
−q sin p 1
− √ √ + 2 cos p sin p
q + q cos p q
√ √
q cos p + q cos p cos 2p + q sin2 p + 2 cos p sin2 p
2
= √
q + q cos p
√
q + q cos p − q cos p sin2 p + 2 cos p sin2 p
3
= √
q + q cos p
√
q + q cos3 p + cos p sin2 p
= √
q + q cos p
√
q + q cos p
= √ = 1.
q + q cos p

4. (20 pts) Prove that the following transformation is canonical for any
constant λ

q1 = Q1 cos λ + P2 sin λ , q2 = Q2 cos λ + P1 sin λ

p1 = −Q2 sin λ + P1 cos λ , p2 = −Q1 sin λ + P2 cos λ (1)

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 If the original Hamiltonian is H(qi , pi ) = 12 (q12 + q22 + p21 + p22 ), determine
the new Hamiltonian H(Qi , Pi ). Use this to solve for the dynamics under
the constraint Q2 = P2 = 0.
If a transformation is canonical, so is the inverse transformation.
So let us treat the capital Q as the original variables, and check
that the Poisson brackets of the qi , pi variables have the canonical
form when using Qi and Pi as our dynamical variables. Since
we have 2 position-momentum pairs we this time have several
Poisson brackets to check:

{q1 , q2 }P,Q = ∂Q1 q1 ∂P1 q2 + ∂Q2 q1 ∂P2 q2 − ∂Q1 q2 ∂P1 q1 − ∂Q2 q2 ∂P2 q1
= cos λ sin λ − cos λ sin λ = 0
{q1 , p1 }P,Q = ∂Q1 q1 ∂P1 p1 + ∂Q2 q1 ∂P2 p1 − ∂Q1 p1 ∂P1 q1 − ∂Q2 p1 ∂P2 q1
= cos2 λ sin λ + sin2 λ = 1
{q2 , p2 }P,Q = ∂Q1 q2 ∂P1 p2 + ∂Q2 q2 ∂P2 p2 − ∂Q1 p2 ∂P1 q2 − ∂Q2 p2 ∂P2 q2
= cos2 λ sin λ + sin2 λ = 1
{p1 , p2 }P,Q = ∂Q1 p1 ∂P1 p2 + ∂Q2 p1 ∂P2 p2 − ∂Q1 p2 ∂P1 p1 − ∂Q2 p2 ∂P2 p1
= − cos λ sin λ + cos λ sin λ = 0

The Hamiltonian in the new variables reads

1 2 1
H = (q1 + q22 + p21 + p22 ) = (Q21 + Q22 + P12 + P22 ).
2 2
This result follows immediately from simply observing that the
transformation is simply a generalized rotation, q12 + p22 = Q21 + P22
and q22 +p21 = Q22 +P12 . So after imposing the constraint Q2 = P2 = 0
we only have a single harmonic oscillator left:
1
H = (P12 + Q21 ).
2
The dynamics can easily be solved, we know that the most gen-
eral solution is given by

Q1 = A sin(t + φ), P1 = A cos(t + φ).

In the original variables this reads

q1 = A cos λ sin(t + φ), q2 = A sin λ cos(t + φ).

5. (20 pts) A group of particles, all of the same mass m, have initial heights
z and vertical momenta p lying in the rectangle −a ≤ z ≤ a and −b ≤
p ≤ b. The particles fall freely in the Earth’s gravitational field for a time

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t. Find the region in phase space in which they lie at time t and show by
direct calculation that its area is still 4ab.
The equations of motion of a falling particle of mass m with
initial position z0 and momentum p0 are solved by

gt2
z(t) = z0 + P0 t − , p(t) = p0 − mgt.
2
The resulting evolution of the phase space is displayed in the

Initial Phase space region: After Falling;

origin shifted by (-mgt, -gt2/2):

z z
a
a + bt/m

a a – bt/m
p p

-a + bt/m
a – bt/m

Figure 1: Phase space region before and after falling.

figure. First note that the acceleration affects all particles the
same, so the origin of the region simply gets shifted by (−gt, −gt2 /2)
due to gravity. The only interesting effect is that the rectan-
gle gets deformed to a parallelogram due to the −P0 t term in
z(t). We indicated the corner points of the parallelogram in the
graph. The area of a parallelogram is base times height, or in
other words
A = (2a)(2b) = 4ab.
This can also easily be seen geometrically by observing that we
simply need to move two triangles to get back to the original
rectangle.