Related papers: On a geometric description of time dependent singu…
The jet bundle description of time-dependent mechanics is revisited. The constraint algorithm for singular Lagrangians is discussed and an exhaustive description of the constraint functions is given. By means of auxiliary connections we…
In this paper we discuss singular Lagrangian systems on the framework of contact geometry. These systems exhibit a dissipative behavior in contrast with the symplectic scenario. We develop a constraint algorithm similar to the presymplectic…
We show that a method presented in [S.L. Trubatch and A. Franco, Canonical Procedures for Population Dynamics, J. Theor. Biol. 48 (1974), 299-324] and later in [G.H. Paine, The development of Lagrangians for biological models, Bull. Math.…
We consider a class of Lagrangians that depend not only on some configurational variables and their first time derivatives, but also on second time derivatives, thereby leading to fourth-order evolution equations. The proposed higher-order…
Mathematical modeling should present a consistent description of physical phenomena. We illustrate an inconsistency with two Hamiltonians -- the standard Hamiltonian and an example found in Goldstein -- for the simple harmonic oscillator…
Shapere and Wilczek ( Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 160402 and 200402 (2012)) have recently described certain singular Lagrangian systems which display spontaneous breaking of time translation symmetry. We begin by considering the standard Lienard…
When a Hamiltonian system is subject to constraints which depend explicitly on time, difficulties can arise in attempting to reduce the system to its physical phase space. Specifically, it is non-trivial to restrict the system in such a way…
We present a method devised by Jacobi to derive Lagrangians of any second-order differential equation: it consists in finding a Jacobi Last Multiplier. We illustrate the easiness and the power of Jacobi's method by applying it to the same…
Searching for a Lagrangian may seem either a trivial endeavour or an impossible task. In this paper we show that the Jacobi last multiplier associated with the Lie symmetries admitted by simple models of classical mechanics produces (too?)…
The application of the Legendre transformation to a hyperregular Lagrangian system results in a Hamiltonian vector field generated by a Hamiltonian defined on the phase space of the mechanical system. The Legendre transformation in its…
We present a new setting of the geometric Hamilton-Jacobi theory by using the so-called time-evolution operator K. This new approach unifies both the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian formulation of the problem developed in a previous paper…
The Dirac-Bergmann algorithm is a recipe for converting a theory with a singular Lagrangian into a constrained Hamiltonian system. Constrained Hamiltonian systems include gauge theories -- general relativity, electromagnetism, Yang Mills,…
The Hamilton-Jacobi problem is revisited bearing in mind the consequences arising from a possible bi-Hamiltonian structure. The problem is formulated on the tangent bundle for Lagrangian systems in order to avoid the bias of the existence…
New geometric structures that relate the lagrangian and hamiltonian formalisms defined upon a singular lagrangian are presented. Several vector fields are constructed in velocity space that give new and precise answers to several topics…
A formulation of singular classical theories (determined by degenerate Lagrangians) without constraints is presented. A partial Hamiltonian formalism in the phase space having an initially arbitrary number of momenta (which can be smaller…
A comparative analysis of two different versions of the Legendre transformation is presented. We provide an almost complete although somewhat superficial review of the geometric background for analytical mechanics. Complete coordinate…
A method to construct Hamiltonian theories for systems of both ordinary and partial differential equations is presented. The knowledge of a Lagrangian is not at all necessary to achieve the result. The only ingredients required for the…
Using Dirac's approach to constrained dynamics, the Hamiltonian formulation of regular higher order Lagrangians is developed. The conventional description of such systems due to Ostrogradsky is recovered. However, unlike the latter, the…
Some mechanical systems with dissipation can be described within the framework of the so-called contact mechanics: a modified form of the Euler-Lagrange equations stemming from Herglotz's variational principle, which admits a geometric…
It is shown that a given non-autonomous system of two first-order ordinary differential equations can be expressed in Hamiltonian form. The derivation presented here allow us to obtain previously known results such as the infinite number of…