Principle of least action

• It is a variational principle.
• When applied to the ‘action’, it yields the equations of motion for that
system.
• Action is a numerical value describing how a physical system has changed
over time.
• The principle can be used to derive Newtonian, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian
equations of motion, and even GR (Einstein–Hilbert action).
• In Hamilton's formulation, a true dynamical trajectory of a system between
an initial and final configuration is determined by considering all possible
paths the system can take and computing the action for each of these paths,
and selecting one that makes the action locally stationary.
2
• The actual path out of all the possible paths is such that 𝑆 = 1
𝑚𝑣𝑑𝑠 is
extremum.
2
• i.e. δ 1
𝑚𝑣𝑑𝑠 =0
• The particles energy is a constant of motion.
• For a system of particles:
2
δ 𝑚𝑖 𝑣𝑖 𝑑𝑠𝑖 = 0
1
Alternate forms
2
δ 𝑝𝑖 𝑣𝑖 𝑑𝑡 = 0
1

2
δ 𝑝𝑖 𝑞𝑖 𝑑𝑡 = 0
1

2
δ 𝑝𝑖 𝑑𝑞𝑖 = 0
1

2
δ 2𝑇𝑑𝑇 = 0
1
Hamilton’s principle
A dynamical system moves from one configuration to another such that
2
the variation of 1 𝐿𝑑𝑡 is zero.
Virtual work
• Proof:
From D’Alembert’s principle:
For conservative systems

The equation:

Becomes:
Significance
• Although formulated originally for classical mechanics, Hamilton's
principle also applies to classical fields (electromagnetic and
gravitational fields) as well as find application in quantum mechanics
(quantum field theories).
• It can be used for holonomic systems with infinite degrees of
freedom.
• Once the Lagrangian is formulated, this principle gives information
about all the dynamical features of the system.
Euler-Lagrange’s equation of motion from
Hamilton's principle
Hamilton’s equations of motion from Hamilton’s
principle
2
δ 𝐿𝑑𝑡 = 0 𝐿 = 𝑝𝑖 𝑞𝑖 − 𝐻
1
𝜕𝐻 𝜕𝐻
δ𝐿 = 𝑝𝑖 δ𝑞𝑖 + 𝑞𝑖 δ𝑝𝑖 − δ𝑞𝑖 − δ𝑝
𝜕𝑞𝑖 𝜕𝑝𝑖 𝑖
𝑑 𝜕𝐻 𝜕𝐻
δ𝐿 = 𝑝𝑖 δ𝑞𝑖 − 𝑝𝑖 + δ𝑞𝑖 + 𝑞𝑖 − δ𝑝𝑖
𝑑𝑡 𝜕𝑞𝑖 𝜕𝑝𝑖
2 2 2 2
𝑑 𝜕𝐻 𝜕𝐻
δ 𝐿𝑑𝑡 = 𝑝 δ𝑞 𝑑𝑡 − 𝑝𝑖 + δ𝑞𝑖 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑞𝑖 − δ𝑝𝑖 𝑑𝑡 = 0
1 1 𝑑𝑡 𝑖 𝑖 1 𝜕𝑞𝑖 1 𝜕𝑝𝑖

First term is zero since: δ𝑞𝑖 = 0

𝜕𝐻 𝜕𝐻
Therefore: 𝑝𝑖 = − 𝑞𝑖 =
𝜕𝑞𝑖 𝜕𝑝𝑖
 Compound pendulum
• Rigid body that can rotate about a horizontal axis passing
through it in a vertical plane.
𝐻 =𝑇+𝑉 𝑇 = 12𝐼𝜃2 𝑉 = −𝑚𝑔𝑙 cos 𝜃

𝐻 = 12𝐼𝜃2 −𝑚𝑔𝑙 cos 𝜃

Hamiltonian is a function of momentum and coordinate: 𝐻 𝑝𝜃 , 𝜃

𝜕𝐿 1 2 1 𝑝𝜃 2
2
𝑝𝜃
𝑝𝜃 = 𝐿 =𝑇−𝑉 = 𝑝𝜃 = 𝐼 𝜃 𝐻= =
2𝐼 𝐼 −𝑚𝑔𝑙 cos 𝜃 2𝐼 −𝑚𝑔𝑙 cos 𝜃
𝜕𝜃 2𝐼𝜃 +𝑚𝑔𝑙 cos 𝜃
𝜕𝐻 𝜕𝐻 𝑝𝜃
From Hamilton’s canonical equations of motion: 𝑝𝜃 = − 𝜕𝜃 = −𝑚𝑔𝑙 sin 𝜃 𝜃= = ⇒ 𝑝𝜃 = 𝐼 𝜃 𝑝𝜃 = 𝐼 𝜃
𝜕𝑝𝜃 𝐼
𝑚𝑔𝑙 𝑚𝑔𝑙
𝜃=− 𝜃 𝜔2 = 𝐼 = 𝐼𝑔 + 𝑚𝑙 2 = 𝑚𝑘 2 + 𝑚𝑙 2
𝐼 𝐼

𝑘 2 + 𝑙2 𝐿 𝑘2
𝑇 = 2𝜋 𝐿=𝑙+ Effective simple pendulum length
𝑇 = 2𝜋 𝑙
𝑔𝑙 𝑔
 Motion of a particle in central force field

In general H = H(q, p, t) may contain an explicit time dependence, because of its

explicit dependence on t, or the variable q and p are.

Then the total time derivative of H is:

From Hamilton’s equations of motion:

In a conservative system, T & V does not have explicit dependence on time, hence:

This leads to the law of conservation of energy: H = T + V = E = constant

The Hamiltonian can be written as: Using the polar coordinates:

Using the Lagrangian and generalised momenta:

From Hamilton’s equation of motion:

This leads to the conservation of angular momentum:

For planetary motion

G is the gravitational constant and 2a is the major axis

Hamiltonian equations are

Areal velocity of the planet is constant (Kepler’s second law)

Describes the orbit of the planet (Kepler’s first law)