Related papers: Is the principle of least action a must?
The Principle of Least Action has evolved and established itself as the most basic law of physics. This allows us to see how this fundamental law of nature determines the development of the system towards states with less action, i.e.,…
Despite the importance of the variational principles of physics, there have been relatively few attempts to consider them for a realistic framework. In addition to the old teleological question, this paper continues the recent discussion…
We present a self-contained introduction to the classical theory of spacetime and fields. This exposition is based on the most general principles: the principle of general covariance (relativity) and the principle of least action. The order…
In this paper we show how the equations of motion of a superfield, which makes its appearance in a path-integral approach to classical mechanics, can be derived without the need of the least-action principle
In this article, it is suggested that a pedagogical point of departure in the teaching of classical mechanics is the Liouville theorem. The theorem is interpreted to define the condition that describe the conservation of information in…
The principle of least action seems not to lead to equations describing the motion consistent with the physical behaviour, for non-holonomic constraints. Here, a response is proposed for this fundamental problem in Mathematical Physics.…
The least action principle is established for the dynamics of a test particle in a dilaton-Maxwell background. These dynamics and background are invariant under the action of the dilatation transformation; explicit form of the corresponding…
The principle of least action provides a holistic worldview in which nature in its entirety and every detail is pictured in terms of actions. Each and every action is ultimately composed of one or multiples of the most elementary action…
When generalizing the principle of least action for fields containing higher order derivatives, in general, it is not possible not to take into account the surface integrated term since it gives direct contribution to the forms of the…
This article serves as a pedagogical introduction to the problem of motion in classical field theories. The primary focus is on self-interaction: How does an object's own field affect its motion? General laws governing the self-force and…
In this paper, we show that the difficulties of interpretation of the principle of least action concerning "final causes" or "efficient causes" are due to the existence of two different actions, the "Euler-Lagrange action" (or classical…
It is commonly believed as a fundamental principle that energy-momentum conservation of a physical system is the result of space-time symmetry. However, for classical particle-field systems, e.g., charged particles interacting through…
In spirit of the principle of least action, which means that when a perturbation is applied to a physical system its reaction is such that it modifies its state to "agree" with the perturbation by "minimal" change of its initial state. In…
We prove that the field equations of general relativity and other metric theories can be derived from the conservation of energy-momentum without using the assumption of least action principle. We show a new procedure for perturbative…
It is shown that the difficulties in formulating the quantum field theory on discrete spacetime appear already in classical dynamics of one degree of freedom on discrete time. The difference equation of motion which maintains a conserved…
We consider the action principle to derive the classical, non-relativistic motion of a self-interacting particle in a 4-D Lorentzian spacetime containing a wormhole and which allows the existence of closed time-like curves. For the case of…
Formulating the equations of motion for cosmological bodies (such as galaxies) in an integral, rather than differential, form has several advantages. Using an integral the mathematical instability at early times is avoided and the boundary…
Hamilton's principle of stationary action lies at the foundation of theoretical physics and is applied in many other disciplines from pure mathematics to economics. Despite its utility, Hamilton's principle has a subtle pitfall that often…
We consider the problem of a conditional extremum of an action in a class of fields constrained by differential equations. For this setup, we propose an extension of Noether's first theorem to connect the symmetries of the action and the…
The Hamilton action principle, also known as the principle of least action, and Lagrange equations are an integral part of advanced undergraduate mechanics. At present, substantial efforts are ongoing to suitably incorporate the action…