Lagrangian

mechanics

Int roduced by t he It alian-French mat hemat ician and ast ronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1788
from his work Mécanique analyt ique, Lagrangian mechanics is a formulat ion of classical
mechanics and is founded on t he st at ionary act ion principle.

Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813)

Lagrangian mechanics defines a mechanical syst em to be a pair of a configurat ion space

and a smoot h funct ion called Lagrangian. By convent ion,
where and are t he kinet ic and pot ent ial energy of t he syst em, respect ively. Here
and is t he velocit y vector at is t angent ial to (For t hose familiar wit h t angent bundles,
and .)

Given t he t ime inst ant s and Lagrangian mechanics post ulat es t hat a smoot h pat h
describes t he t ime evolut ion of t he given syst em if and only if is a
stationary point of t he act ion funct ional

If is an open subset of and are finit e, t hen t he smoot h pat h is a st at ionary point
of if all it s direct ional derivat ives at vanish, i.e., for every smoot h

The funct ion on t he right -hand side is called perturbation or virtual displacement. The
direct ional derivat ive on t he left is known as variation in physics and Gat eaux derivat ive in
mat hemat ics.

Lagrangian mechanics has been ext ended to allow for non-conservat ive forces.

Introduction

Bead constrained to move on a frictionless wire. The wire exerts a reaction force C on the bead to keep it on the wire.
The non-constraint force N in this case is gravity. Notice the initial position of the wire can lead to different motions.
Simple pendulum. Since the rod is rigid, the position of the bob is constrained according to the equation f(x, y) = 0, the
constraint force C is the tension in the rod. Again the non-constraint force N in this case is gravity.

Suppose t here exist s a bead sliding around on a wire, or a swinging simple pendulum, et c. If one
t racks each of t he massive object s (bead, pendulum bob, et c.) as a part icle, calculat ion of t he
mot ion of t he part icle using Newtonian mechanics would require solving for t he t ime-varying
const raint force required to keep t he part icle in t he const rained mot ion (react ion force exert ed
by t he wire on t he bead, or t ension in t he pendulum rod). For t he same problem using Lagrangian
mechanics, one looks at t he pat h t he part icle can t ake and chooses a convenient set of
independent generalized coordinat es t hat complet ely charact erize t he possible mot ion of t he
part icle. This choice eliminat es t he need for t he const raint force to ent er into t he result ant
syst em of equat ions. There are fewer equat ions since one is not direct ly calculat ing t he
influence of t he const raint on t he part icle at a given moment .

For a wide variet y of physical syst ems, if t he size and shape of a massive object are negligible, it
is a useful simplificat ion to t reat it as a point part icle. For a syst em of N point part icles wit h
masses m1, m2, ..., mN, each part icle has a posit ion vector, denot ed r1, r2, ..., rN. Cart esian
coordinat es are oft en sufficient , so r1 = (x1, y1, z1), r2 = (x2, y2, z2) and so on. In t hree dimensional
space, each posit ion vector requires t hree coordinat es to uniquely define t he locat ion of a point ,
so t here are 3N coordinat es to uniquely define t he configurat ion of t he syst em. These are all
specific point s in space to locat e t he part icles; a general point in space is writ t en r = (x, y, z). The
velocit y of each part icle is how fast t he part icle moves along it s pat h of mot ion, and is t he t ime
derivat ive of it s posit ion, t hus
In Newtonian mechanics, t he equat ions of mot ion are given by Newton's laws. The second law
"net force equals mass t imes accelerat ion",

applies to each part icle. For an N part icle syst em in 3 dimensions, t here are 3N second order
ordinary different ial equat ions in t he posit ions of t he part icles to solve for.

The Lagrangian

Inst ead of forces, Lagrangian mechanics uses t he energies in t he syst em. The cent ral quant it y
of Lagrangian mechanics is t he Lagrangian, a funct ion which summarizes t he dynamics of t he
ent ire syst em. Overall, t he Lagrangian has unit s of energy, but no single expression for all physical
syst ems. Any funct ion which generat es t he correct equat ions of mot ion, in agreement wit h
physical laws, can be t aken as a Lagrangian. It is nevert heless possible to const ruct general
expressions for large classes of applicat ions. The non-relativistic Lagrangian for a syst em of
part icles can be defined by[1]

where

is t he tot al kinet ic energy of t he syst em, equalling t he sum Σ of t he kinet ic energies of t he

part icles,[2] and V is t he pot ent ial energy of t he syst em.

Kinet ic energy is t he energy of t he syst em's mot ion, and vk2 = vk · vk is t he magnit ude squared of
velocit y, equivalent to t he dot product of t he velocit y wit h it self. The kinet ic energy is a
funct ion only of t he velocit ies vk, not t he posit ions rk nor t ime t, so T = T(v1, v2, ...).

The pot ent ial energy of t he syst em reflect s t he energy of int eract ion bet ween t he part icles, i.e.
how much energy any one part icle will have due to all t he ot hers and ot her ext ernal influences.
For conservat ive forces (e.g. Newtonian gravit y), it is a funct ion of t he posit ion vectors of t he
part icles only, so V = V(r1, r2, ...). For t hose non-conservat ive forces which can be derived from an
appropriat e pot ent ial (e.g. elect romagnet ic pot ent ial), t he velocit ies will appear also, V = V(r1, r2,
..., v1, v2, ...). If t here is some ext ernal field or ext ernal driving force changing wit h t ime, t he
pot ent ial will change wit h t ime, so most generally V = V(r1, r2, ..., v1, v2, ..., t).
The above form of L does not hold in relat ivist ic Lagrangian mechanics, and must be replaced by
a funct ion consist ent wit h special or general relat ivit y. Also, for dissipat ive forces anot her
funct ion must be int roduced alongside L.

One or more of t he part icles may each be subject to one or more holonomic const raint s; such a
const raint is described by an equat ion of t he form f(r, t) = 0. If t he number of const raint s in t he
syst em is C, t hen each const raint has an equat ion, f1(r, t) = 0, f2(r, t) = 0, ... fC(r, t) = 0, each of
which could apply to any of t he part icles. If part icle k is subject to const raint i, t hen fi(rk, t) = 0.
At any inst ant of t ime, t he coordinat es of a const rained part icle are linked toget her and not
independent . The const raint equat ions det ermine t he allowed pat hs t he part icles can move
along, but not where t hey are or how fast t hey go at every inst ant of t ime. Nonholonomic
const raint s depend on t he part icle velocit ies, accelerat ions, or higher derivat ives of posit ion.
Lagrangian mechanics can only be applied to systems whose constraints, if any, are all
holonomic. Three examples of nonholonomic const raint s are:[3] when t he const raint equat ions
are nonint egrable, when t he const raint s have inequalit ies, or wit h complicat ed non-conservat ive
forces like frict ion. Nonholonomic const raint s require special t reat ment , and one may have to
revert to Newtonian mechanics, or use ot her met hods.

If T or V or bot h depend explicit ly on t ime due to t ime-varying const raint s or ext ernal influences,
t he Lagrangian L(r1, r2, ... v1, v2, ... t) is explicitly time-dependent. If neit her t he pot ent ial nor t he
kinet ic energy depend on t ime, t hen t he Lagrangian L(r1, r2, ... v1, v2, ...) is explicitly independent of
time. In eit her case, t he Lagrangian will always have implicit t ime-dependence t hrough t he
generalized coordinat es.

Wit h t hese definit ions, Lagrange's equat ions of t he first kind are [4]

Lagrange's equat ions(First kind)

where k = 1, 2, ..., N labels t he part icles, t here is a Lagrange mult iplier λi for each const raint
equat ion fi, and
are each short hands for a vector of part ial derivat ives ∂/∂ wit h respect to t he indicat ed variables
(not a derivat ive wit h respect to t he ent ire vector).[nb 1] Each overdot is a short hand for a t ime
derivat ive. This procedure does increase t he number of equat ions to solve compared to
Newton's laws, from 3N to 3N + C, because t here are 3N coupled second order different ial
equat ions in t he posit ion coordinat es and mult ipliers, plus C const raint equat ions. However, when
solved alongside t he posit ion coordinat es of t he part icles, t he mult ipliers can yield informat ion
about t he const raint forces. The coordinat es do not need to be eliminat ed by solving t he
const raint equat ions.

In t he Lagrangian, t he posit ion coordinat es and velocit y component s are all independent
variables, and derivat ives of t he Lagrangian are t aken wit h respect to t hese separat ely according
to t he usual different iat ion rules (e.g. t he derivat ive of L wit h respect to t he z-velocit y
component of part icle 2, vz2 = dz2/dt, is just t hat ; no awkward chain rules or tot al derivat ives
need to be used to relat e t he velocit y component to t he corresponding coordinat e z2).

In each const raint equat ion, one coordinat e is redundant because it is det ermined from t he ot her
coordinat es. The number of independent coordinat es is t herefore n = 3N − C. We can t ransform
each posit ion vector to a common set of n generalized coordinat es, convenient ly writ t en as an
n-t uple q = (q1, q2, ... qn), by expressing each posit ion vector, and hence t he posit ion coordinat es,
as funct ions of t he generalized coordinat es and t ime,

The vector q is a point in t he configurat ion space of t he syst em. The t ime derivat ives of t he
generalized coordinat es are called t he generalized velocit ies, and for each part icle t he
t ransformat ion of it s velocit y vector, t he tot al derivat ive of it s posit ion wit h respect to t ime, is

Given t his vk, t he kinet ic energy in generalized coordinates depends on t he generalized

velocit ies, generalized coordinat es, and t ime if t he posit ion vectors depend explicit ly on t ime
due to t ime-varying const raint s, so T = T(q, dq/dt, t).

Wit h t hese definit ions, t he Euler–Lagrange equat ions, or Lagrange's equat ions of t he second
kind[5][6]

Lagrange's equat ions(Second kind)

are mat hemat ical result s from t he calculus of variat ions, which can also be used in mechanics.
Subst it ut ing in t he Lagrangian L(q, dq/dt, t), gives t he equat ions of mot ion of t he syst em. The
number of equat ions has decreased compared to Newtonian mechanics, from 3N to n = 3N − C
coupled second order different ial equat ions in t he generalized coordinat es. These equat ions do
not include const raint forces at all, only non-const raint forces need to be account ed for.

Alt hough t he equat ions of mot ion include part ial derivat ives, t he result s of t he part ial derivat ives
are st ill ordinary different ial equat ions in t he posit ion coordinat es of t he part icles. The tot al t ime
derivat ive denot ed d/dt oft en involves implicit different iat ion. Bot h equat ions are linear in t he
Lagrangian, but will generally be nonlinear coupled equat ions in t he coordinat es.

From Newtonian to Lagrangian mechanics

Newton's laws

Isaac Newton (1642—1727)

For simplicit y, Newton's laws can be illust rat ed for one part icle wit hout much loss of generalit y
(for a syst em of N part icles, all of t hese equat ions apply to each part icle in t he syst em). The
equat ion of mot ion for a part icle of mass m is Newton's second law of 1687, in modern vector
not at ion

where a is it s accelerat ion and F t he result ant force act ing on it . In t hree spat ial dimensions, t his
is a syst em of t hree coupled second order ordinary different ial equat ions to solve, since t here
are t hree component s in t his vector equat ion. The solut ions are t he posit ion vectors r of t he
part icles at t ime t, subject to t he init ial condit ions of r and v when t = 0.

Newton's laws are easy to use in Cart esian coordinat es, but Cart esian coordinat es are not always
convenient , and for ot her coordinat e syst ems t he equat ions of mot ion can become complicat ed.
In a set of curvilinear coordinat es ξ = (ξ1, ξ2, ξ3), t he law in t ensor index not at ion is t he
"Lagrangian form"[7][8]

where Fa is t he at h cont ravariant component of t he result ant force act ing on t he part icle, Γabc
are t he Christoffel symbols of t he second kind,

is t he kinet ic energy of t he part icle, and gbc t he covariant component s of t he metric tensor of
t he curvilinear coordinat e syst em. All t he indices a, b, c, each t ake t he values 1, 2, 3. Curvilinear
coordinat es are not t he same as generalized coordinat es.

It may seem like an overcomplicat ion to cast Newton's law in t his form, but t here are
advant ages. The accelerat ion component s in t erms of t he Christoffel symbols can be avoided
by evaluat ing derivat ives of t he kinet ic energy inst ead. If t here is no result ant force act ing on
t he part icle, F = 0, it does not accelerat e, but moves wit h const ant velocit y in a st raight line.
Mat hemat ically, t he solut ions of t he different ial equat ion are geodesics, t he curves of ext remal
lengt h bet ween t wo point s in space (t hese may end up being minimal so t he short est pat hs, but
t hat is not necessary). In flat 3D real space t he geodesics are simply st raight lines. So for a free
part icle, Newton's second law coincides wit h t he geodesic equat ion, and st at es free part icles
follow geodesics, t he ext remal t rajectories it can move along. If t he part icle is subject to
forces, F ≠ 0, t he part icle accelerat es due to forces act ing on it , and deviat es away from t he
geodesics it would follow if free. Wit h appropriat e ext ensions of t he quant it ies given here in flat
3D space to 4D curved spacet ime, t he above form of Newton's law also carries over to Einst ein's
general relat ivit y, in which case free part icles follow geodesics in curved spacet ime t hat are no
longer "st raight lines" in t he ordinary sense.[9]

However, we st ill need to know t he tot al result ant force F act ing on t he part icle, which in t urn
requires t he result ant non-const raint force N plus t he result ant const raint force C,

The const raint forces can be complicat ed, since t hey will generally depend on t ime. Also, if
t here are const raint s, t he curvilinear coordinat es are not independent but relat ed by one or more
const raint equat ions.

The const raint forces can eit her be eliminat ed from t he equat ions of mot ion so only t he non-
const raint forces remain, or included by including t he const raint equat ions in t he equat ions of
mot ion.

D'Alembert's principle

Jean d'Alembert (1717—1783)

 One degree of freedom.
Two degrees of freedom.

Constraint force C and virtual displacement δr for a particle of mass m confined to a curve. The resultant non-
constraint force is N.

A fundament al result in analyt ical mechanics is D'Alembert 's principle, int roduced in 1708 by
Jacques Bernoulli to underst and st at ic equilibrium, and developed by D'Alembert in 1743 to solve
dynamical problems.[10] The principle assert s for N part icles t he virt ual work, i.e. t he tot al work
along a virt ual displacement , δrk, is zero:[2]

The virtual displacements, δrk, are hypot het ical infinit esimal changes in t he configurat ion of t he
syst em at an instant of time. They are not t he same as t he act ual displacement s in t he syst em,
which are caused by t he result ant const raint and non-const raint forces act ing on t he part icle to
accelerat e and move it .[nb 2] Virt ual work is t he work done along a virt ual displacement for any
force (const raint or non-const raint ).

Since t he const raint forces act perpendicular to t he kinemat ically possible mot ions in
configurat ion space in t he syst em, virt ual displacement s consist ent wit h t he const raint s of t he
syst em do no virt ual work. This is because t he purpose of const raint forces is precisely to
enforce t he kinemat ics of t he syst em. So for virt ual displacement s t hat are also kinemat ically
possible, t he const raint force C t erm drops.

for part icle k subject to a const raint force, however

because of t he const raint equat ions on t he rk coordinat es.</ref>

so t hat

Thus D'Alembert 's principle allows us to concent rat e on only t he applied non-const raint forces,
and exclude t he const raint forces in t he equat ions of mot ion.[11][12] The form shown is also
independent of t he choice of coordinat es. However, it cannot be readily used to set up t he
equat ions of mot ion in an arbit rary coordinat e syst em since t he displacement s δrk might be
connect ed by a const raint equat ion, which prevent s us from set t ing t he N individual summands
to 0. We will t herefore seek a syst em of mut ually independent coordinat es for which t he tot al
sum will be 0 if and only if t he individual summands are 0. Set t ing each of t he summands to 0 will
event ually give us our separat ed equat ions of mot ion.

Equations of motion from D'Alembert's principle

If t here are const raint s on part icle k, t hen since t he coordinat es of t he posit ion rk = (xk, yk, zk) are
linked toget her by a const raint equat ion, so are t hose of t he virt ual displacement s δrk = (δxk, δyk,
δzk). Since t he generalized coordinat es are independent , we can avoid t he complicat ions wit h t he
δrk by convert ing to virt ual displacement s in t he generalized coordinat es. These are relat ed in
t he same form as a tot al different ial,[2]

There is no part ial t ime derivat ive wit h respect to t ime mult iplied by a t ime increment , since t his
is a virt ual displacement , one along t he const raint s in an instant of t ime.

The first t erm in D'Alembert 's principle above is t he virt ual work done by t he non-const raint
forces Nk along t he virt ual displacement s δrk, and can wit hout loss of generalit y be convert ed
into t he generalized analogues by t he definit ion of generalized forces
so t hat

This is half of t he conversion to generalized coordinat es. It remains to convert t he accelerat ion
t erm into generalized coordinat es, which is not immediat ely obvious. Recalling t he Lagrange form
of Newton's second law, t he part ial derivat ives of t he kinet ic energy wit h respect to t he
generalized coordinat es and velocit ies can be found to give t he desired result :[2]

Now D'Alembert 's principle is in t he generalized coordinat es as required,

and since t hese virt ual displacement s δqj are independent and nonzero, t he coefficient s can be
equat ed to zero, result ing in Lagrange's equat ions[13][14] or t he generalized equat ions of
mot ion,[15]

These equat ions are equivalent to Newton's laws for the non-constraint forces. The generalized
forces in t his equat ion are derived from t he non-const raint forces only – t he const raint forces
have been excluded from D'Alembert 's principle and do not need to be found. The generalized
forces may be non-conservat ive, provided t hey sat isfy D'Alembert 's principle.[16]

Euler–Lagrange equations and Hamilton's principle

As the system evolves, q traces a path through configuration space (only some are shown). The path taken by the
system (red) has a stationary action (δS = 0) under small changes in the configuration of the system (δq).[17]

For a non-conservat ive force which depends on velocit y, it may be possible to find a pot ent ial
energy funct ion V t hat depends on posit ions and velocit ies. If t he generalized forces Qi can be
derived from a pot ent ial V such t hat [18][19]

equat ing to Lagrange's equat ions and defining t he Lagrangian as L = T − V obt ains Lagrange's
equat ions of t he second kind or t he Euler–Lagrange equat ions of mot ion

However, t he Euler–Lagrange equat ions can only account for conservat ive forces if a pot ent ial
can be found as shown. This may not always be possible for non-conservat ive forces, and
Lagrange's equat ions do not involve any pot ent ial, only generalized forces; t herefore t hey are
more general t han t he Euler–Lagrange equat ions.

The Euler–Lagrange equat ions also follow from t he calculus of variat ions. The variation of t he
Lagrangian is

which has a form similar to t he tot al different ial of L, but t he virt ual displacement s and t heir t ime
derivat ives replace different ials, and t here is no t ime increment in accordance wit h t he definit ion
of t he virt ual displacement s. An int egrat ion by part s wit h respect to t ime can t ransfer t he t ime
derivat ive of δqj to t he ∂L/∂(dqj/dt), in t he process exchanging d(δqj)/dt for δqj, allowing t he
independent virt ual displacement s to be factorized from t he derivat ives of t he Lagrangian,

Now, if t he condit ion δqj(t1) = δqj(t2) = 0 holds for all j, t he t erms not int egrat ed are zero. If in
addit ion t he ent ire t ime int egral of δL is zero, t hen because t he δqj are independent , and t he only
way for a definit e int egral to be zero is if t he int egrand equals zero, each of t he coefficient s of
δqj must also be zero. Then we obt ain t he equat ions of mot ion. This can be summarized by
Hamilton's principle:

The t ime int egral of t he Lagrangian is anot her quant it y called t he act ion, defined as[20]

which is a functional; it t akes in t he Lagrangian funct ion for all t imes bet ween t1 and t2 and
ret urns a scalar value. It s dimensions are t he same as [ angular moment um ], [energy]·[t ime], or
[lengt h]·[moment um]. Wit h t his definit ion Hamilton's principle is

Thus, inst ead of t hinking about part icles accelerat ing in response to applied forces, one might
t hink of t hem picking out t he pat h wit h a st at ionary act ion, wit h t he end point s of t he pat h in
configurat ion space held fixed at t he init ial and final t imes. Hamilton's principle is somet imes
referred to as t he principle of least action, however t he act ion funct ional need only be
stationary, not necessarily a maximum or a minimum value. Any variat ion of t he funct ional gives an
increase in t he funct ional int egral of t he act ion.

Historically, t he idea of finding t he short est pat h a part icle can follow subject to a force
mot ivat ed t he first applicat ions of t he calculus of variat ions to mechanical problems, such as
t he Brachistochrone problem solved by Jean Bernoulli in 1696, as well as Leibniz, Daniel Bernoulli,
L'Hôpit al around t he same t ime, and Newton t he following year.[21] Newton himself was t hinking
along t he lines of t he variat ional calculus, but did not publish.[21] These ideas in t urn lead to t he
variat ional principles of mechanics, of Fermat , Maupert uis, Euler, Hamilton, and ot hers.
Hamilton's principle can be applied to nonholonomic const raint s if t he const raint equat ions can
be put into a cert ain form, a linear combinat ion of first order different ials in t he coordinat es. The
result ing const raint equat ion can be rearranged into first order different ial equat ion.[22] This will
not be given here.

Lagrange multipliers and constraints

The Lagrangian L can be varied in t he Cart esian rk coordinat es, for N part icles,

Hamilton's principle is st ill valid even if t he coordinat es L is expressed in are not independent ,
here rk, but t he const raint s are st ill assumed to be holonomic.[23] As always t he end point s are
fixed δrk(t1) = δrk(t2) = 0 for all k. What cannot be done is to simply equat e t he coefficient s of δrk
to zero because t he δrk are not independent . Inst ead, t he met hod of Lagrange mult ipliers can be
used to include t he const raint s. Mult iplying each const raint equat ion fi(rk, t) = 0 by a Lagrange
mult iplier λi for i = 1, 2, ..., C, and adding t he result s to t he original Lagrangian, gives t he new
Lagrangian

The Lagrange mult ipliers are arbit rary funct ions of t ime t, but not funct ions of t he coordinat es rk,
so t he mult ipliers are on equal foot ing wit h t he posit ion coordinat es. Varying t his new Lagrangian
and int egrat ing wit h respect to t ime gives

The int roduced mult ipliers can be found so t hat t he coefficient s of δrk are zero, even t hough t he
rk are not independent . The equat ions of mot ion follow. From t he preceding analysis, obt aining
t he solut ion to t his int egral is equivalent to t he st at ement

which are Lagrange's equat ions of t he first kind. Also, t he λi Euler-Lagrange equat ions for t he
new Lagrangian ret urn t he const raint equat ions
For t he case of a conservat ive force given by t he gradient of some pot ent ial energy V, a
funct ion of t he rk coordinat es only, subst it ut ing t he Lagrangian L = T − V gives

and ident ifying t he derivat ives of kinet ic energy as t he (negat ive of t he) result ant force, and t he
derivat ives of t he pot ent ial equaling t he non-const raint force, it follows t he const raint forces
are

t hus giving t he const raint forces explicit ly in t erms of t he const raint equat ions and t he Lagrange
mult ipliers.

Properties of the Lagrangian

Non-uniqueness

The Lagrangian of a given syst em is not unique. A Lagrangian L can be mult iplied by a nonzero
const ant a, an arbit rary const ant b can be added, and t he new Lagrangian aL + b will describe
exact ly t he same mot ion as L. If, in addit ion, we rest rict ourselves, as we did above, to
t rajectories confined into a given t ime int erval and having t heir end point s
and fixed, t hen t wo Lagrangians describing t he same syst em can
differ by t he "tot al t ime derivat ive" of a funct ion ,[24] i.e.

where is a short hand for

Bot h Lagrangians and produce t he same equat ions of mot ion[25][26] since t he corresponding
act ions and are relat ed via
wit h t he last t wo component s and independent from

Invariance under point transformations

Given a set of generalized coordinat es q, if we change t hese variables to a new set of

generalized coordinat es s according to a point t ransformat ion q = q(s, t), t he new Lagrangian L′ is
a funct ion of t he new coordinat es

and by t he chain rule for part ial different iat ion, Lagrange's equat ions are invariant under t his
t ransformat ion;[27]

This may simplify t he equat ions of mot ion.

Cyclic coordinates and conserved momenta

An import ant propert y of t he Lagrangian is t hat conserved quant it ies can easily be read off from
it . The generalized momentum "canonically conjugat e to" t he coordinat e qi is defined by

If t he Lagrangian L does not depend on some coordinat e qi, it follows immediat ely from t he
Euler–Lagrange equat ions t hat

and int egrat ing shows t he corresponding generalized moment um equals a const ant , a conserved
quant it y. This is a special case of Noet her's t heorem. Such coordinat es are called "cyclic" or
"ignorable".
For example, a syst em may have a Lagrangian

where r and z are lengt hs along st raight lines, s is an arc lengt h along some curve, and θ and φ are
angles. Not ice z, s, and φ are all absent in t he Lagrangian even t hough t heir velocit ies are not .
Then t he moment a

are all conserved quant it ies. The unit s and nat ure of each generalized moment um will depend on
t he corresponding coordinat e; in t his case pz is a t ranslat ional moment um in t he z direct ion, ps is
also a t ranslat ional moment um along t he curve s is measured, and pφ is an angular moment um in
t he plane t he angle φ is measured in. However complicat ed t he mot ion of t he syst em is, all t he
coordinat es and velocit ies will vary in such a way t hat t hese moment a are conserved.

Energy

Definit ion

Given a Lagrangian t he energy of t he corresponding mechanical syst em is, by definit ion,

Invariance under coordinat e t ransformat ions

At every t ime inst ant t he energy is invariant under configurat ion space coordinat e changes
, i.e.

Besides t his result , t he proof below shows t hat , under such change of coordinat es, t he
derivat ives change as coefficient s of a linear form.
Proof

For a coordinat e t ransformat ion we have

where is t he t angent map of t he vector space

to t he vector space

and

is t he Jacobian. In t he coordinat es and t he previous formula for has t he form

Aft er different iat ion involving t he product rule,

where

In vector not at ions,

On t he ot her hand,
It was ment ioned earlier t hat Lagrangians do not depend on t he choice of configurat ion space
coordinat es, i.e. One implicat ion of t his is t hat
and

This demonst rat es t hat , for each and is a well-defined linear form whose

coefficient s are cont ravariant 1-t ensors. Applying bot h sides of t he equat ion to and

using t he above formula for yields

The invariance of t he energy follows.

Conservat ion

In Lagrangian mechanics, t he syst em is closed if and only if it s Lagrangian does not explicit ly
depend on t ime. The energy conservat ion law st at es t hat t he energy of a closed syst em is an
int egral of mot ion.

More precisely, let be an extremal. (In ot her words, sat isfies t he Euler-Lagrange
equat ions). Taking t he tot al t ime-derivat ive of along t his ext remal and using t he EL equat ions
leads to

If t he Lagrangian does not explicit ly depend on t ime, t hen so is, indeed, an

int egral of mot ion, meaning t hat

Hence, t he energy is conserved.

Kinet ic and pot ent ial energies

It also follows t hat t he kinet ic energy is a homogenous funct ion of degree 2 in t he generalized
velocit ies. If in addit ion t he pot ent ial V is only a funct ion of coordinat es and independent of
velocit ies, it follows by direct calculat ion, or use of Euler's t heorem for homogenous funct ions,
t hat

Under all t hese circumst ances,[28] t he const ant

is t he tot al energy of t he syst em. The kinet ic and pot ent ial energies st ill change as t he syst em
evolves, but t he mot ion of t he syst em will be such t hat t heir sum, t he tot al energy, is const ant .
This is a valuable simplificat ion, since t he energy E is a const ant of int egrat ion t hat count s as an
arbit rary const ant for t he problem, and it may be possible to int egrat e t he velocit ies from t his
energy relat ion to solve for t he coordinat es. In t he case t he velocit y or kinet ic energy or bot h
depends on t ime, t hen t he energy is not conserved.

Mechanical similarity

If t he pot ent ial energy is a homogeneous funct ion of t he coordinat es and independent of
t ime,[29] and all posit ion vectors are scaled by t he same nonzero const ant α, rk′ = αrk, so t hat

and t ime is scaled by a factor β, t′ = βt, t hen t he velocit ies vk are scaled by a factor of α/β and
t he kinet ic energy T by (α/β)2. The ent ire Lagrangian has been scaled by t he same factor if

Since t he lengt hs and t imes have been scaled, t he t rajectories of t he part icles in t he syst em
follow geomet rically similar pat hs differing in size. The lengt h l t raversed in t ime t in t he original
t rajectory corresponds to a new lengt h l′ t raversed in t ime t′ in t he new t rajectory, given by t he
rat ios
Interacting particles

For a given syst em, if t wo subsyst ems A and B are non-int eract ing, t he Lagrangian L of t he
overall syst em is t he sum of t he Lagrangians LA and LB for t he subsyst ems:[24]

If t hey do int eract t his is not possible. In some sit uat ions, it may be possible to separat e t he
Lagrangian of t he syst em L into t he sum of non-int eract ing Lagrangians, plus anot her Lagrangian
LAB cont aining informat ion about t he int eract ion,

This may be physically mot ivat ed by t aking t he non-int eract ing Lagrangians to be kinet ic
energies only, while t he int eract ion Lagrangian is t he syst em's tot al pot ent ial energy. Also, in t he
limit ing case of negligible int eract ion, LAB t ends to zero reducing to t he non-int eract ing case
above.

The ext ension to more t han t wo non-int eract ing subsyst ems is st raight forward – t he overall
Lagrangian is t he sum of t he separat e Lagrangians for each subsyst em. If t here are int eract ions,
t hen int eract ion Lagrangians may be added.

Examples

The following examples apply Lagrange's equat ions of t he second kind to mechanical problems.

Conservative force

A part icle of mass m moves under t he influence of a conservat ive force derived from t he
gradient ∇ of a scalar pot ent ial,

If t here are more part icles, in accordance wit h t he above result s, t he tot al kinet ic energy is a
sum over all t he part icle kinet ic energies, and t he pot ent ial is a funct ion of all t he coordinat es.

Cart esian coordinat es

The Lagrangian of t he part icle can be writ t en

The equat ions of mot ion for t he part icle are found by applying t he Euler–Lagrange equat ion, for
t he x coordinat e

wit h derivat ives

hence

and similarly for t he y and z coordinat es. Collect ing t he equat ions in vector form we find

which is Newton's second law of mot ion for a part icle subject to a conservat ive force.

Polar coordinat es in 2D and 3D

The Lagrangian for t he above problem in spherical coordinat es (2D polar coordinat es can be
recovered by set t ing ), wit h a cent ral pot ent ial, is

so t he Euler–Lagrange equat ions are

The φ coordinat e is cyclic since it does not appear in t he Lagrangian, so t he conserved

moment um in t he syst em is t he angular moment um
in which r, θ and dφ/dt can all vary wit h t ime, but only in such a way t hat pφ is const ant .

Pendulum on a movable support

Sketch of the situation with definition of the coordinates (click to enlarge)

Consider a pendulum of mass m and lengt h ℓ, which is at t ached to a support wit h mass M, which
can move along a line in t he x-direct ion. Let x be t he coordinat e along t he line of t he support , and
let us denot e t he posit ion of t he pendulum by t he angle θ from t he vert ical. The coordinat es and
velocit y component s of t he pendulum bob are

The generalized coordinat es can be t aken to be x and θ. The kinet ic energy of t he syst em is
t hen

and t he pot ent ial energy is

giving t he Lagrangian

Since x is absent from t he Lagrangian, it is a cyclic coordinat e. The conserved moment um is

and t he Lagrange equat ion for t he support coordinat e x is

The Lagrange equat ion for t he angle θ is

and simplifying

These equat ions may look quit e complicat ed, but finding t hem wit h Newton's laws would have
required carefully ident ifying all forces, which would have been much more laborious and prone to
errors. By considering limit cases, t he correct ness of t his syst em can be verified: For example,
should give t he equat ions of mot ion for a simple pendulum t hat is at rest in some inert ial
frame, while should give t he equat ions for a pendulum in a const ant ly accelerat ing
syst em, et c. Furt hermore, it is t rivial to obt ain t he result s numerically, given suit able st art ing
condit ions and a chosen t ime st ep, by st epping t hrough t he result s it erat ively.

Two-body central force problem

Two bodies of masses m1 and m2 wit h posit ion vectors r 1 and r 2 are in orbit about each ot her
due to an at t ract ive cent ral pot ent ial V. We may writ e down t he Lagrangian in t erms of t he
posit ion coordinat es as t hey are, but it is an est ablished procedure to convert t he t wo-body
problem into a one-body problem as follows. Int roduce t he Jacobi coordinat es; t he separat ion of
t he bodies r = r 2 − r 1 and t he locat ion of t he cent er of mass R = (m1r 1 + m2r 2)/(m1 + m2). The
Lagrangian is t hen[30][31][nb 3]

where M = m1 + m2 is t he tot al mass, μ = m1m2/(m1 + m2) is t he reduced mass, and V t he

pot ent ial of t he radial force, which depends only on t he magnit ude of t he separat ion
|r| = |r 2 − r 1|. The Lagrangian split s into a center-of-mass t erm Lcm and a relative motion
t erm Lrel.

The Euler–Lagrange equat ion for R is simply

which st at es t he cent er of mass moves in a st raight line at const ant velocit y.

Since t he relat ive mot ion only depends on t he magnit ude of t he separat ion, it is ideal to use
polar coordinat es (r, θ) and t ake r = |r|,

so θ is a cyclic coordinat e wit h t he corresponding conserved (angular) moment um

The radial coordinat e r and angular velocit y dθ/dt can vary wit h t ime, but only in such a way t hat
ℓ is const ant . The Lagrange equat ion for r is

This equat ion is ident ical to t he radial equat ion obt ained using Newton's laws in a co-rotating
reference frame, t hat is, a frame rot at ing wit h t he reduced mass so it appears st at ionary.
Eliminat ing t he angular velocit y dθ/dt from t his radial equat ion,[32]
which is t he equat ion of mot ion for a one-dimensional problem in which a part icle of mass μ is
subject ed to t he inward cent ral force − dV/dr and a second out ward force, called in t his cont ext
t he cent rifugal force

Of course, if one remains ent irely wit hin t he one-dimensional formulat ion, ℓ ent ers only as some
imposed paramet er of t he ext ernal out ward force, and it s int erpret at ion as angular moment um
depends upon t he more general t wo-dimensional problem from which t he one-dimensional
problem originat ed.

If one arrives at t his equat ion using Newtonian mechanics in a co-rot at ing frame, t he
int erpret at ion is evident as t he cent rifugal force in t hat frame due to t he rot at ion of t he frame
it self. If one arrives at t his equat ion direct ly by using t he generalized coordinat es (r, θ) and
simply following t he Lagrangian formulat ion wit hout t hinking about frames at all, t he
int erpret at ion is t hat t he cent rifugal force is an out growt h of using polar coordinates. As
Hildebrand says:[33]

"Since such quant it ies are not t rue physical forces, t hey are oft en called inertia forces. Their
presence or absence depends, not upon t he part icular problem at hand, but upon the coordinate
system chosen." In part icular, if Cart esian coordinat es are chosen, t he cent rifugal force
disappears, and t he formulat ion involves only t he cent ral force it self, which provides t he
cent ripet al force for a curved mot ion.

This viewpoint , t hat fict it ious forces originat e in t he choice of coordinat es, oft en is expressed
by users of t he Lagrangian met hod. This view arises nat urally in t he Lagrangian approach, because
t he frame of reference is (possibly unconsciously) select ed by t he choice of coordinat es. For
example, see [34] for a comparison of Lagrangians in an inert ial and in a noninert ial frame of
reference. See also t he discussion of "tot al" and "updat ed" Lagrangian formulat ions in.[35]
Unfort unat ely, t his usage of "inert ial force" conflict s wit h t he Newtonian idea of an inert ial force.
In t he Newtonian view, an inert ial force originat es in t he accelerat ion of t he frame of observat ion
(t he fact t hat it is not an inert ial frame of reference), not in t he choice of coordinat e syst em. To
keep mat t ers clear, it is safest to refer to t he Lagrangian inert ial forces as generalized inert ial
forces, to dist inguish t hem from t he Newtonian vector inert ial forces. That is, one should avoid
following Hildebrand when he says (p. 155) "we deal always wit h generalized forces, velocit ies
accelerat ions, and moment a. For brevit y, t he adject ive "generalized" will be omit t ed frequent ly."
It is known t hat t he Lagrangian of a syst em is not unique. Wit hin t he Lagrangian formalism t he
Newtonian fict it ious forces can be ident ified by t he exist ence of alt ernat ive Lagrangians in which
t he fict it ious forces disappear, somet imes found by exploit ing t he symmet ry of t he syst em.[36]

Electromagnetism

A t est part icle is a part icle whose mass and charge are assumed to be so small t hat it s effect
on ext ernal syst em is insignificant . It is oft en a hypot het ical simplified point part icle wit h no
propert ies ot her t han mass and charge. Real part icles like elect rons and up quarks are more
complex and have addit ional t erms in t heir Lagrangians.

The Lagrangian for a charged part icle wit h elect rical charge q, int eract ing wit h an
elect romagnet ic field, is t he protot ypical example of a velocit y-dependent pot ent ial. The
elect ric scalar pot ent ial ϕ = ϕ(r, t) and magnet ic vector pot ent ial A = A(r, t) are defined from
t he elect ric field E = E(r, t) and magnet ic field B = B(r, t) as follows:

The Lagrangian of a massive charged t est part icle in an elect romagnet ic field

is called minimal coupling. Combined wit h Euler–Lagrange equat ion, it produces t he Lorent z force
law

Under gauge t ransformat ion:

where f(r,t) is any scalar funct ion of space and t ime, t he aforement ioned Lagrangian t ransforms
like:

which st ill produces t he same Lorent z force law.

Not e t hat t he canonical moment um (conjugat e to posit ion r) is t he kinet ic moment um plus a
cont ribut ion from t he A field (known as t he pot ent ial moment um):
This relat ion is also used in t he minimal coupling prescript ion in quant um mechanics and quant um
field t heory. From t his expression, we can see t hat t he canonical moment um p is not gauge
invariant , and t herefore not a measurable physical quant it y; However, if r is cyclic (i.e. Lagrangian
is independent of posit ion r), which happens if t he ϕ and A fields are uniform, t hen t his canonical
moment um p given here is t he conserved moment um, while t he measurable physical kinet ic
moment um mv is not .

Extensions to include non-conservative forces

Dissipat ion (i.e. non-conservat ive syst ems) can also be t reat ed wit h an effect ive Lagrangian
formulat ed by a cert ain doubling of t he degrees of freedom.[37][38][39][40]

In a more general formulat ion, t he forces could be bot h conservat ive and viscous. If an
appropriat e t ransformat ion can be found from t he Fi, Rayleigh suggest s using a dissipat ion
funct ion, D, of t he following form:[41]

where Cjk are const ant s t hat are relat ed to t he damping coefficient s in t he physical syst em,
t hough not necessarily equal to t hem. If D is defined t his way, t hen[41]

and

Other contexts and formulations

The ideas in Lagrangian mechanics have numerous applicat ions in ot her areas of physics, and can
adopt generalized result s from t he calculus of variat ions.
Alternative formulations of classical mechanics

A closely relat ed formulat ion of classical mechanics is Hamiltonian mechanics. The Hamiltonian
is defined by

and can be obt ained by performing a Legendre t ransformat ion on t he Lagrangian, which
int roduces new variables canonically conjugat e to t he original variables. For example, given a set
of generalized coordinat es, t he variables canonically conjugat e are t he generalized moment a.
This doubles t he number of variables, but makes different ial equat ions first order. The
Hamiltonian is a part icularly ubiquitous quant it y in quant um mechanics (see Hamiltonian (quant um
mechanics)).

Rout hian mechanics is a hybrid formulat ion of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, which is not
oft en used in pract ice but an efficient formulat ion for cyclic coordinat es.

Momentum space formulation

The Euler–Lagrange equat ions can also be formulat ed in t erms of t he generalized moment a
rat her t han generalized coordinat es. Performing a Legendre t ransformat ion on t he generalized
coordinat e Lagrangian L(q, dq/dt, t) obt ains t he generalized moment a Lagrangian L′(p, dp/dt, t) in
t erms of t he original Lagrangian, as well t he EL equat ions in t erms of t he generalized moment a.
Bot h Lagrangians cont ain t he same informat ion, and eit her can be used to solve for t he mot ion
of t he syst em. In pract ice generalized coordinat es are more convenient to use and int erpret t han
generalized moment a.

Higher derivatives of generalized coordinates

There is no reason to rest rict t he derivat ives of generalized coordinat es to first order only. It is
possible to derive modified EL equat ions for a Lagrangian cont aining higher order derivat ives, see
Euler–Lagrange equat ion for det ails.

Optics
Lagrangian mechanics can be applied to geomet rical opt ics, by applying variat ional principles to
rays of light in a medium, and solving t he EL equat ions gives t he equat ions of t he pat hs t he light
rays follow.

Relativistic formulation

Lagrangian mechanics can be formulat ed in special relat ivit y and general relat ivit y. Some
feat ures of Lagrangian mechanics are ret ained in t he relat ivist ic t heories but difficult ies quickly
appear in ot her respect s. In part icular, t he EL equat ions t ake t he same form, and t he connect ion
bet ween cyclic coordinat es and conserved moment a st ill applies, however t he Lagrangian must
be modified and is not simply t he kinet ic minus t he pot ent ial energy of a part icle. Also, it is not
st raight forward to handle mult ipart icle syst ems in a manifest ly covariant way, it may be possible
if a part icular frame of reference is singled out .

Quantum mechanics

In quant um mechanics, act ion and quant um-mechanical phase are relat ed via Planck's const ant ,
and t he principle of st at ionary act ion can be understood in t erms of const ruct ive int erference of
wave funct ions.

In 1948, Feynman discovered t he pat h int egral formulat ion ext ending t he principle of least act ion
to quant um mechanics for elect rons and photons. In t his formulat ion, part icles t ravel every
possible pat h bet ween t he init ial and final st at es; t he probabilit y of a specific final st at e is
obt ained by summing over all possible t rajectories leading to it . In t he classical regime, t he pat h
int egral formulat ion cleanly reproduces Hamilton's principle, and Fermat 's principle in opt ics.

Classical field theory

In Lagrangian mechanics, t he generalized coordinat es form a discret e set of variables t hat define
t he configurat ion of a syst em. In classical field t heory, t he physical syst em is not a set of
discret e part icles, but rat her a cont inuous field ϕ(r, t) defined over a region of 3D space.
Associat ed wit h t he field is a Lagrangian densit y

defined in t erms of t he field and it s space and t ime derivat ives at a locat ion r and t ime t.
Analogous to t he part icle case, for non-relat ivist ic applicat ions t he Lagrangian densit y is also t he
kinet ic energy densit y of t he field, minus it s pot ent ial energy densit y (t his is not t rue in general,
and t he Lagrangian densit y has to be "reverse engineered"). The Lagrangian is t hen t he volume
int egral of t he Lagrangian densit y over 3D space

where d3r is a 3D different ial volume element . The Lagrangian is a funct ion of t ime since t he
Lagrangian densit y has implicit space dependence via t he fields, and may have explicit spat ial
dependence, but t hese are removed in t he int egral, leaving only t ime in as t he variable for t he
Lagrangian.

Noether's theorem

The act ion principle, and t he Lagrangian formalism, are t ied closely to Noet her's t heorem, which
connect s physical conserved quant it ies to cont inuous symmet ries of a physical syst em.

If t he Lagrangian is invariant under a symmet ry, t hen t he result ing equat ions of mot ion are also
invariant under t hat symmet ry. This charact erist ic is very helpful in showing t hat t heories are
consist ent wit h eit her special relat ivit y or general relat ivit y.

See also

Fundamental lemma of the calculus of Lagrangian point

variations
Lagrangian system
Canonical coordinates
Non-autonomous mechanics
Functional derivative
Restricted three-body problem
Generalized coordinates
Plateau's problem
Hamiltonian mechanics
Inverse problem for Lagrangian mechanics, the
Hamiltonian optics general topic of finding a Lagrangian for a
system given the equations of motion.
Lagrangian and Eulerian specification of the
flow field

Footnotes

1. Sometimes in this context the variational derivative denoted and defined as

 is used. Throughout this article only partial and total derivatives are used.

2. Here the virtual displacements are assumed reversible, it is possible for some systems to have non-
reversible virtual displacements that violate this principle, see Udwadia–Kalaba equation.

3. The Lagrangian also can be written explicitly for a rotating frame. See Padmanabhan, 2000.

Notes

1. Torby 1984, p. 270

2. Torby 1984, p. 269

3. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 36–40

4. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 60–61

5. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 19

6. Penrose 2007

7. Schuam 1988, p. 156

8. Synge & Schild 1949, p. 150–152

9. Foster & Nightingale 1995, p. 89

10. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 4

11. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 15

12. Fetter & Walecka 1980, p. 53

13. Kibble & Berkshire 2004, p. 234

14. Fetter & Walecka 1980, p. 56

15. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 17

16. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 15–17

17. R. Penrose (2007). The Road to Reality. Vintage books. p. 474. ISBN 978-0-679-77631-4.

18. Goldstien 1980, p. 23

19. Kibble & Berkshire 2004, p. 234–235

20. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 51

21. Hand & Finch 2008, p. 44–45

22. Goldstein 1980

23. Fetter & Walecka, pp. 68–70

24. Landau & Lifshitz 1976, p. 4

25. Goldstien, Poole & Safko 2002, p. 21

26. Landau & Lifshitz 1976, p. 4

27. Goldstein 1980, p. 21

28. Landau & Lifshitz 1976, p. 14

29. Landau & Lifshitz 1976, p. 22

30. Taylor 2005, p. 297

31. Padmanabhan 2000, p. 48

32. Hand & Finch 1998, pp. 140–141

33. Hildebrand 1992, p. 156

34. Zak, Zbilut & Meyers 1997, pp. 202

35. Shabana 2008, pp. 118–119

36. Gannon 2006, p. 267

37. Kosyakov 2007

38. Galley 2013

39. Hadar, Shahar & Kol 2014

40. Birnholtz, Hadar & Kol 2013

41. Torby 1984, p. 271

References

Lagrange, J. L. (1811). Mécanique analytique (https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8MKAAAAYAAJ) .

Vol. 1.

Lagrange, J. L. (1815). Mécanique analytique (https://books.google.com/books?id=TmMSAAAAIAAJ) .

Vol. 2.

Penrose, Roger (2007). The Road to Reality. Vintage books. ISBN 978-0-679-77631-4.

Landau, L. D.; Lifshitz, E. M. (15 January 1976). Mechanics (3rd ed.). Butterworth Heinemann. p. 134.
ISBN 9780750628969.
Landau, Lev; Lifshitz, Evgeny (1975). The Classical Theory of Fields. Elsevier Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7506-
2768-9.

Hand, L. N.; Finch, J. D. (13 November 1998). Analytical Mechanics (2nd ed.). Cambridge University
Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780521575720.

Louis N. Hand; Janet D. Finch (1998). Analytical mechanics (https://books.google.com/books?id=1J2h

zvX2Xh8C&pg=PA141) . Cambridge University Press. pp. 140–141. ISBN 0-521-57572-9.

Saletan, E. J.; José, J. V. (1998). Classical Dynamics: A Contemporary Approach (https://books.google.c

om/books?id=Eql9dRQDgvQC&pg=PA129) . Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521636360.

Kibble, T. W. B.; Berkshire, F. H. (2004). Classical Mechanics (5th ed.). Imperial College Press. p. 236.
ISBN 9781860944352.

Goldstein, Herbert (1980). Classical Mechanics (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Addison Wesley.
ISBN 0201029189.

Goldstein, Herbert; Poole, Charles P. Jr.; Safko, John L. (2002). Classical Mechanics (https://archive.or
g/details/classicalmechani00gold) (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-201-65702-
3.

Lanczos, Cornelius (1986). "II §5 Auxiliary conditions: the Lagrangian λ-method" (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=ZWoYYr8wk2IC&pg=PA43) . The variational principles of mechanics (Reprint of
University of Toronto 1970 4th ed.). Courier Dover. p. 43. ISBN 0-486-65067-7.

Fetter, A. L.; Walecka, J. D. (1980). Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=n54oAwAAQBAJ) . Dover. pp. 53–57. ISBN 978-0-486-43261-8.

The Principle of Least Action, R. Feynman

Dvorak, R.; Freistetter, Florian (2005). "§ 3.2 Lagrange equations of the first kind" (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=shYNuW0B0fsC&pg=PA24) . Chaos and stability in planetary systems. Birkhäuser.
p. 24. ISBN 3-540-28208-4.

Haken, H (2006). Information and self-organization (https://books.google.com/books?id=tAfj4-xzyGwC

&pg=PA61) (3rd ed.). Springer. p. 61. ISBN 3-540-33021-6.

Henry Zatzkis (1960). "§1.4 Lagrange equations of the second kind" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=QgswE2BicW4C&pg=PA160) . In DH Menzel (ed.). Fundamental formulas of physics. Vol. 1
(2nd ed.). Courier Dover. p. 160. ISBN 0-486-60595-7.

Francis Begnaud Hildebrand (1992). Methods of applied mathematics (https://books.google.com/book

s?id=17EZkWPz_ eQC&pg=PA156) (Reprint of Prentice-Hall 1965 2nd ed.). Courier Dover. p. 156.
ISBN 0-486-67002-3.

Michail Zak; Joseph P. Zbilut; Ronald E. Meyers (1997). From instability to intelligence (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=tHdDL0GCA70C&pg=PA202) . Springer. p. 202. ISBN 3-540-63055-4.
Ahmed A. Shabana (2008). Computational continuum mechanics (https://books.google.com/books?id=
RJbPQPrS6VsC&pg=PA118) . Cambridge University Press. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-521-88569-0.

John Robert Taylor (2005). Classical mechanics (https://books.google.com/books?id=P1kCtNr-pJsC&

pg=PA297) . University Science Books. p. 297. ISBN 1-891389-22-X.

Padmanabhan, Thanu (2000). "§2.3.2 Motion in a rotating frame" (https://books.google.com/books?id

=ZzJicsTIrAAC&pg=PA48) . Theoretical Astrophysics: Astrophysical processes (3rd ed.). Cambridge
University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-521-56632-0.

Doughty, Noel A. (1990). Lagrangian Interaction. Addison-Wesley Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-201-41625-5.

Kosyakov, B. P. (2007). Introduction to the classical theory of particles and fields (http://cds.cern.ch/rec
ord/1338975) . Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-40934-2 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F
978-3-540-40934-2) . ISBN 978-3-540-40933-5.

Galley, Chad R. (2013). "Classical Mechanics of Nonconservative Systems". Physical Review Letters.
110 (17): 174301. arXiv:1210.2745 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1210.2745) . Bibcode:2013PhRvL.110q4301G
(https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013PhRvL.110q4301G) . doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.174301 (ht
tps://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.110.174301) . PMID 23679733 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.go
v/23679733) . S2CID 14591873 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14591873) .

Birnholtz, Ofek; Hadar, Shahar; Kol, Barak (2014). "Radiation reaction at the level of the action".
International Journal of Modern Physics A. 29 (24): 1450132. arXiv:1402.2610 (https://arxiv.org/abs/140
2.2610) . Bibcode:2014IJMPA..2950132B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014IJMPA..2950132B) .
doi:10.1142/S0217751X14501322 (https://doi.org/10.1142%2FS0217751X14501322) .
S2CID 118541484 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:118541484) .

Birnholtz, Ofek; Hadar, Shahar; Kol, Barak (2013). "Theory of post-Newtonian radiation and reaction".
Physical Review D. 88 (10): 104037. arXiv:1305.6930 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1305.6930) .
Bibcode:2013PhRvD..88j4037B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013PhRvD..88j4037B) .
doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.88.104037 (https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevD.88.104037) .
S2CID 119170985 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:119170985) .

Roger F Gans (2013). Engineering Dynamics: From the Lagrangian to Simulation (https://www.amazon.c
om/gp/product/1461439299/ref=olp_ product_ details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=) . New York: Springer.
ISBN 978-1-4614-3929-5.

Terry Gannon (2006). Moonshine beyond the monster: the bridge connecting algebra, modular forms
and physics (https://books.google.com/books?id=ehrUt21SnsoC&pg=RA3-PA267) . Cambridge
University Press. p. 267. ISBN 0-521-83531-3.

Torby, Bruce (1984). "Energy Methods". Advanced Dynamics for Engineers. HRW Series in Mechanical
Engineering. United States of America: CBS College Publishing. ISBN 0-03-063366-4.
 Foster, J; Nightingale, J.D. (1995). A Short Course in General Relativity (2nd ed.). Springer. ISBN 0-03-
063366-4.

M. P. Hobson; G. P. Efstathiou; A. N. Lasenby (2006). General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?id=xma1QuTJphYC&q=hobson+general+relativity+gravitomagnetic+fi
eld&pg=PA496) . Cambridge University Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN 9780521829519.

Further reading

Gupt a, Kiran Chandra, Classical mechanics of particles and rigid bodies (Wiley, 1988).

Cassel, Kevin (2013). Variational methods with applications in science and engineering.
Cambridge: Cambridge Universit y Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02258-4.

Goldst ein, Herbert , et al. Classical Mechanics. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2002.

External links

David Tong. "Cambridge Lect ure Not es on Classical Dynamics" (ht t p://www.damt p.cam.ac.uk/u
ser/tong/dynamics.ht ml) . DAMTP. Ret rieved 2017-06-08.

Principle of least act ion int eract ive (ht t p://www.eft aylor.com/soft ware/Act ionApplet s/Least
Act ion.ht ml) Excellent int eract ive explanat ion/webpage

Joseph Louis de Lagrange - Œuvres complèt es (ht t ps://web.archive.org/web/2013051314093

3/ht t p://port ail.mat hdoc.fr/cgi-bin/oetoc?id=OE_ LAGRANGE_ _ 1) (Gallica-Mat h)

Const rained mot ion and generalized coordinat es (ht t p://www.physics.indiana.edu/~dermisek/C

M_ 13/CM-7-2p.pdf) , page 4

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Lagrangian_mechanics&oldid=1083487047"

Last edit ed 1 day ago by Ranjeet q