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3 votes
4 answers
1k views

Applications of Hamiltonian formalism to classical mechanics

In many courses in theoretical classical mechanics Hamiltonian formalism takes an important place. However I did not see it applied to problems of classical mechanics (unless one expands the scope of ...
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

Practical example of Hamiltonian reduction

I know what is the Liouville integrability: given a Hamiltonian with $n$ degrees of freedom, with $n$ independent constants of motion in involution, the Hamiltonian can be brought to the form $H(p_1, \...
27 votes
4 answers
13k views

Hamiltonian, Lagrangian and Newton formalism of mechanics

If my thinking is wrong please let me know. I have little knowledge on beyond-college physics. For research purposes, I read a few introductions to these three formalisms of classical mechanics [1,2,...
9 votes
1 answer
728 views

When does a Lagrangian dynamical system have an equivalent Hamiltonian description?

Let a Lagrangian dynamical system with $n$ degrees of freedom and configuration space $\mathbb{R}^n$ (i.e. phase space $\mathbb{R}^{2n}$), which is described by $L=L(q_{i},\dot{q}_{i},t)$, $i=1,2,......
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

Momentum a cotangent vector

Apparently one identifies the configuration space in physics often with a manifold $M$. The tangent bundle $TM$ is then the space of all possible positions and velocities. Furthermore, many sources ...