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Mathematical formulation {eai; Hamilton's principle states that the true evolutiong(t) of a system described by N generalized coordinates q = (q1, q2, .-. gu) between two specified states q1 = q(t) and qa = q(tz) at two specified times t; and fz is a stationary point (a point where the variation is zero), of the action functional [ Ha.ae.nae 1 where L(q, q@ t)is the Lagrangian function for the system. In other words, any first-orderperturbation of the true evolution results in (at most)second-order changes in . The action is afunctional, ie., something that takes as its input afunction and returns a single number, a scalar. In terms of functional analysis, Hamilton's principle states that the true evolution of a physical system is a solution of the functional equation Hamilton's principle 5S 3S _ 9 dq(t) Euler-Lagrange equations derived from the action integral [cdit| Requiring that the true trajectory q(t) be astationary point of the action functional is equivalent to a set of differential equations for q(t) (the Euler-Lagrange equations), which may be derived as follows. Let q(t) represent the true evolution of the system between two specified states q4 = q(t) and qz =a(t2) at two specified times fy and fp, and let e(t) be a small perturbation that is zero at the endpoints of the trajectory e(ts) = elt) #0 To first order in the perturbation e(f), the change in the action functional §.S would be t2 ty OL OL | q+) —L(q,q)|dt Se.) at [ [q+e.a+e) —L(q,4)] [ (« aq? =) where we have expanded the Lagrangian L to first order in the perturbation e(f). 6S Applying integration by parts to the last term results in ar" te ( aL d 3) 5S = |e- +f eS e. [) a Aa), Ju oq dt Iq The boundary conditions e(t,) = e(ty) “2 OL daL 6S = (S-L2) a I . (3; am) Hamilton's principle requires that this first-order change §S is zero for all possible perturbationse(t), ie., the true path is a stationary point of the action functional .S (either a minimum, maximum or saddle (pauses the first term to vanish point). This requirement can be satisfied if and only if Euler-Lagrange equ ab dal _, dq” dq” These equations are called the Euler-Lagrange equations for the variational problem. Canonical momenta and constants of motion |edit) The conjugate momentum p; for a generalized coordinate q, is defined by the equation An important special case of the Euler-Lagrange equation occurs when L does not contain a generalized coordinate q, explicitly, aL dL dps 5-=9 = F5-=0 = > ai dt qx dt that is, the conjugate momentum is a constant of the motion. 0 In such cases, the coordinate q, is called a cyclic coordinate. For example, if we use polar coordinates f, r, 6 to describe the planar motion of a particle, and if L does not depend on @, the conjugate momentum is the conserved angular momentum

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