Related papers: The Vertical Logic of Hamiltonian Methods (Part 1)
Hamiltonian mechanics describes the evolution of a system through its Hamiltonian. The Hamiltonian typically also represents the energy observable, a Noether-conserved quantity associated with the time-invariance of the law of evolution. In…
I show how Hamilton's philosophical commitments led him to a causal interpretation of classical mechanics. I argue that Hamilton's metaphysics of causation was injected into his dynamics by way of a causal interpretation of force. I then…
Energy is a crucial concept within classical and quantum physics. An essential tool to quantify energy is the Hamiltonian. Here, we consider how to define a Hamiltonian in general probabilistic theories, a framework in which quantum theory…
We put forth the idea that Hamilton's equations coincide with deterministic and reversible evolution. We explore the idea from five different perspectives (mathematics, measurements, thermodynamics, information theory and state mapping) and…
In a first part we propose an introduction to multisymplectic formalisms, which are generalisations of Hamilton's formulation of Mechanics to the calculus of variations with several variables: we give some physical motivations, related to…
We consider classical theories described by Hamiltonians $H(p,q)$ that have a non-degenerate minimum at the point where generalized momenta $p$ and generalized coordinates $q$ vanish. We assume that the sum of squares of generalized momenta…
We use a local scale invariance of a classical Hamiltonian and describe how to construct six different formulations of quantum mechanics in spaces with two time-like dimensions. All these six formulations have the same classical limit…
In this paper of "The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics" series we investigate the epistemological significance and sensibility (and hence interpretability and interpretation) of classical mechanics in its Newtonian and non-Newtonian…
Quantum theory can be understood as pointing to an ontology of relations. I observe that this reading of quantum mechanics is supported by the ubiquity of relationality in contemporary fundamental physics, including in classical mechanics,…
It is demonstrated that energy conservation allows for a straight derivation of Newtonian mechanics without an apriori definition of the concept of work. Furthermore it is shown that energy must be depicted as a function of position and…
This paper deals with the foundations of quantum mechanics. We start by outlining the characterisation, due to Birkhoff and Von Neumann, of the logical structures of the theories of classical physics and quantum mechanics, as boolean and…
When compared to quantum mechanics, classical mechanics is often depicted in a specific metaphysical flavour: spatio-temporal realism or a Newtonian "background" is presented as an intrinsic fundamental classical presumption. However, the…
In this work we present (and encourage the use of) the Williamson theorem and its consequences in several contexts in physics. We demonstrate this theorem using only basic concepts of linear algebra and symplectic matrices. As an immediate…
From the principle that there is no absolute description of a physical state, we advance the approach according to which one should be able to describe the physics from the perspective of a quantum particle. The kinematics seen from this…
We start with the cosmic Friedmann equations, where we adopt a novel perspective rooted in a Lagrangian formulation grounded in Newtonian mechanics and the first law of thermodynamics. Our investigation operates under the assumption that…
We explore the idea that gravitational interaction can be described by instantaneous inter-particle potentials. This idea is in full accord with relativistic quantum theory. In particular, it resembles the ``dressed particle'' approach to…
Recent work has demonstrated the existence of universal Hamiltonians - simple spin lattice models that can simulate any other quantum many body system to any desired level of accuracy. Until now proofs of universality have relied on…
The Hamiltonian formulation plays the essential role in constructing the framework of modern physics. In this paper, a new form of canonical equations of Hamilton with the complete symmetry is obtained, which are valid not only for the…
Heisenberg motion equations in Quantum mechanics can be put into the Hamilton form. The difference between the commutator and its principal part, the Poisson bracket, can be accounted for exactly. Canonical transformations in Quantum…
The indeterministic character of physical laws is generally considered to be the most important consequence of quantum physics. A deterministic point of view, however, together with the possibility of well defined Hamiltonian trajectories,…