(14) TrickyPotentials

1 Kaptiza Example
Let’stryaslightlydifferentpendulumsystemthistimeforournextexample.

Kapitza

1 � 2 2

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T = m ẋm + ẏm , U = mgym , D = bφ̇2
2 2
xm = l sin φ , ym = yd − l cos φ
ẋm = l cos φφ̇ , ẏm = ẏd + l sin φφ̇

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TheLagrangianforthissystem,afterdroppingtermswhichcontainonlyy d ,which
isanexplicitfunctionoftime,is

1 2 2 
L = m l φ̇ + 2l sin φ φ̇ẏd + mgl cos φ
  2
d ∂L  
¨
= ml lφ + cos φφ̇ẏd + sin φÿd
dt ∂φ̇
∂L ∂D  
− = ml cos φφ̇ẏd − g sin φ − bφ̇
∂φ ∂φ̇
whichgivesustheequationofmotion.
A vertically drivenpendulum is a bit of astrangething; itdoesn’t seem to work
asadriver!

b ˙
lφ¨ + φ + (g + ÿd ) sin φ = 0
lm
b
wherethedampingtermis lm φ̇.
Instead, the drive appears to modify gravity. This makes sense, due to the
equivalenceprinciple.Interestingly,thislet’susexploreparametricresonance...
Noticehowthependulumbecomesexcitedwithadriveattwicetheresonance
frequency.

We won’t cover parametric resonance further, but LL27 does. Methods for
understandingnon-linear/anharmonicbehaviorare alsocovered in LL28-29, but I
found the mathunenelightening, so I won’t try toreproduce ithere.

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 Wealsoseestrangebehaviorforahighfrequency drive. Dampingisnotim-
portantforthis,solet’s operatewithb = 0. We canunderstandthis by noticingthat
thependulum’smotionconsistsofahighfrequency part(atthedrivefrequency)
andalowfrequency part(swingingaround).

φ (t) ' φ1 (t) + φ2 (t)

whereφ 1 correspondstoslowoscillations,andφ 2 to fast
lφ¨ + (g + ÿd ) sin φ = 0

 
¨ ¨
l φ1 + φ2 + (g + ÿd ) sin (φ1 + φ2 ) = 0
assumeφ 1 ∼ const,andφ 2  1
lφ¨2 + (g + ÿd ) (sin φ1 + cos φ1 φ2 ) = 0

fory d = ad cos (ωt),

ÿd = −ad ω 2 cos ωt = −ω 2 yd

Fastoscillationterms,tofirst order, are

lφ¨2 + g cos φ1 φ2 = ad ω 2 sin φ1 cos ωt

drivenresponse:
2
⇒ φ2 ' l(ωa2dcos
ω sin φ1
φ1 −ω 2 )
cos ωt ' − sin φ1 yld for ω  ω 0
0

Graphicallythisresultis

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 HighFrequency Drive

Returning toourequations ofmotion, but keepingφ 2  1 and φ¨2 = − sin φ1 ÿld

�
�

lφ̈1 + ω 2 sin φ1 yd + g − ω 2 yd sin φ1 1 − cos φ1 yld = 0
�

lφ¨1 + g sin φ1 + sin 2φ1 ω 2 y 2 − gyd = 0
2l d

Wearelookingfortheslowbehavior,solet’s average overthe fastdriveperiod.

Sincey d = ad cos (ωt)

SlowBehavior

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 ¨ g 1  ad ω 2
⇒ φ1 + sin φ1 + sin (2φ1 ) = 0
l 4 l

Ifweareclosetoφ 1 ' π (pointingup)

forφ 1 = π + ε withε  1 ⇒ sin φ 1 ' −ε, sin 2φ1 ' 2ε

 �

1 ad ω 2 g
⇒ ε̈ + 2 l − l ε=0

�
2 g
⇒ oscillatorwith ω 02 = 21 adlω − l
stableifa ω
2 2
d > gl

So,aswehaveseen,the Kapitzapendulumisstablearoundφ ∼ π (i.e. inverted)

given asufficiently fastdrive.
Generally,whentreatingmotioninarapidlyoscillatingfield,wecandefinean
effectivepotential

Uef f = U + T¯ = U (qslow ) + 12 mdotq ¯2

fast
whereq fast isthe fastpart ofq(t) = q slow (t) + qfast (t)

forus,thiswouldbe

 2
1 2
E= 2 ml φ̇1 + φ̇2 + mg (yd − l cos(φ1 + φ2 ))
averageoverfastoscillations(y¯ d = 0)
1 1
⇒ E = m(lφ̇1 )2 + m(lφ̇2 )2 − mgl cos(φ1 )
|2 {z } |2 {z }
T Ueff

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 1
Uef f = −mgl cos φ1 + m(− sin φ1 y˙d )2
2  2
1 1
= −mgl cos φ1 + m sin2 φ1 ad ω
2 2

Note:

∂Uef f �
2
= mgl sin φ1 + m sin (2φ) 21 ad ω
∂φ
dividebyml togetourequationofmotionforφ 1

2 Tricky Potentials
Alreadyinthiscoursewehaveseenafewtricky potentials.
Forcentralpotentials,angularmomentugivesusan effective potentialforr.

Central
    1  ˙ 2
˙ ˙
Uef f ~q, ~q = Uef f r, φ = U (r) + µ rφ
2
L2z
⇒ Uef f (r, Lz ) = U (r) +
2µr2
A homogeneousdissipative medium,whichconvertskineticenergyofthemacro-
scopic to kinetic energy of the microscopic (i.e. heat) can also be treated as a
velocitydependentpotential

Dissipative
Z
Udiss (q, q̇) = Ucon (q) − D (q̇) dt
 
d ∂Lcon ∂Lcon ∂D
⇒ = −
dt ∂q̇ ∂q ∂q̇

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 And last time we saw another sort of tricky potential for rapidly oscillating
fieldsordrives

RapidDrive
Uef f (q, q̇) = U (q) + 12 mq̇f2 ast
forq(t) = q slow (t) + qf ast (t)

Theseareallscalars. NeedtonotethatU ef f comesfromincludingthesameT ,

whichcanbewrittenasT (q),inU togetU ef f = U (q) + T (q).

3 Lorentz Force
Todayweencounteranothertricky potential,thisonefrom8.02. Theforceona
chargedparticlemovinginE andB fieldsis(asyoumayrecall)

Lorentzforceonparticlewithchargee (notq!)
 
~ ~
F = e E + ~v × B ~

whereE~ istheelectricfieldandB ~ isthemagneticfield.

LorentzForce

Manyeverydayobjectsuseelectricmotorsand/orgenerators,allofwhichde-
pendontheLorentzforce.
I’mnotgoingtouseq heretoavoidconfusion. e issomechargeand~r isthe
CartesianCoordinateofthatcharge.

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 Let’s say I have a small test charge constrained to move along a wire in an
externalB-field.TheB-fieldcanbealongẑ,andthewirecanbeahelicalcoil,like
aspring.

x = R cos φ ẋ = −R sin φφ̇

y = R sin φ ẏ = R cos φφ̇
z = αφ ż = αφ̇

Howdoesthechargemove? Ideas? Let’sfindout... weneedapotentialforthe

Lorentzforce

   
˙ ~ ˙
UL ~r, ~r = e Φ − A · ~r

~ = −rΦ (~r, t) − ∂ A
E ~ (~r, t)
∂t
~
B = r×A~

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 Φ ≡ electricscalarpotential
~ ≡ magneticvectorpotential
A
1
NB:forconstant,uniformB-field,A =~ ~r × B ~
2

So,forourtestchargewehave

~ = Bẑ ⇒ A
B ~ = B {−y, x, 0}
2
~ · ~r˙ = mgz + eB (yẋ − xẏ)
U = mgz − A
2
2 �

eBR
= mgαφ + − sin2 φ − cos2 φ φ˙
2

�
�

T = 12 m ẋ2 + ẏ 2 + ż 2 = 12 m R2 + α2 φ˙ 2
�
eBR2
⇒ L = 21 m R2 + α2 φ̇2 − mgαφ + φ̇
2
| {z }
drop!

ThedynamicsareunchangedbytheB-field!Why?
 
~ · ~v = 0 ⇒ noworkdone
F · v = ~v × B

Thiswillbetrueforany 1-Dmotion,solet’stry2-D...
Howaboutachargefreetomoveinthey-zplanewithaB-fieldinthex̂ direc-
tion?

B~ = Bx̂ ⇒ A ~ = B {0, −z, y}

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� 2 2

eB2
⇒ L = 2 m ẏ + ż + 2 (yż − zẏ) − mgz

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 ∂L eB ∂L eB
Fy = ∂y = 2 z,
˙ py = ∂ẏ = my˙ − 2 z
eB eB
ṗy = Fy ⇒ m¨
y− 2 ż = 2 ż

Fz = −eB
2 ẏ − mg, pz = mż + eB
2 y
⇒ ÿ = βz,
˙ z̈ = −g − βẏ
withβ = eB
m

Theseequationsofmotionaresimpleenoughtosolve,andthesolutionisin-
teresting...let’sseewhathappensforaparticlethatstartsatrest.
Ifyouignoreg, you mightguessthatsincetheLorentzforce is⊥ to~v , the
trajectorymustbeacircle.

y(t) = a sin ωt ⇒ ẏ = −ωz, ÿ = −ω 2 y

z(t) = −a cos ωt ⇒ ż = ωy, z̈ = −ω 2 z

Anotherwaytoseethatthetrajectorymustbeacircleistonoticethat

...
z = −βÿ = −β 2 ż = −ω 2 ż
withβ = ω

whichisthetimederivativeofequationofmotionforaharmonicoscillatorwith
frequencyβ.
Comparingwithourequationsofmotionsuggeststhatω = β, butwehavethis
pesky gravity...noproblem,add− βg t toy(t).Thisdoesn’t changeÿ.

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 g
y(t) = a sin βt − t
β
g
ẏ = aβ cos βt −
β
ż = aβ sin βt

Tostartatrest,weneed

g
ẏ (t = 0) = 0 ⇒ a = −
β2
g
y(t) = − (sin βt + βt)
β2
g
z(t) = cos βt
β2

Sothisparticledoesn’tfall, itmovessideways withaveragevelocity (for βg

generalinitialconditions,yougetsin andcos componentsforbothy andz).
We canquicklyrelatethisresulttoparticleaccelerators,thoughournon-relativistic
physicsisclearlyinadequatetogetagoodanswer...
Foraparticlemovinginaplane ⊥ togravity,andwithourB-fieldpointingup,
wecanreusethepreviousresult

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 forB~ = Bẑ ẍ = βẏ , ÿ = βẋ
x(t) = a sin βt ⇒ ẋ = aβ cos βt
y(t) = −a cos βt ⇒ ẏ = aβ sin βt

Soifwestartaproton withaninitialvelocityc inthex̂ direction...

c mp c
forv~ 0 = cx̂ ⇒ a ==
β eB
forB ' 8 Tesla ⇒ a = 0.4 m

withc = 3 × 10 8 m/s,m p = 1.7 × 10−27 kgande = 1.6 × 10 −19 C.

ButCERNhasaradiusof4.5km!
Ifwereplacem p withtherelativisticmassm r = Ep /c2 wegettherightanswer:

E E
mr = c2p ∼ 104 mp ⇒ ar = eBcp ∼ 4.2 km
forE p ≈ 10 Tev ≈ 1.6 × 10−6 J

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4 Gauge Invariance
WehavesomefreedominchoosingthemagneticvectorpotentialA ~

Gauge Transformation
0 ∂ ~0 = A~ + rf
Φ = Φ− f A
∂t  
~ 0 ~ 0 ~
B = r × A = r × A + rf = B ~ + r × (rf )
| {z }
thisis 0

~ 0 = −rΦ0 − ∂ A
E ~0 =
 ∂t 
∂ ∂ ~ 
~
= −r Φ − f − A + rf = E
∂t ∂t

WhataboutourLagrangian?

GaugeInvariantEquationofMotion
 0   
0
~ · ~r = L + e
0 ∂ ∂
L =Φ−e Φ −A f + ~ṙ · f
∂t ∂~r
d
= L+e f
dt

ForInteresting physicsassociatedwithmagnetic vectorpotential,googleAharnov-

Bohmeffect.

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