Related papers: Introduction to Higher Order Classical Dynamics: P…
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…
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…
In this work we analyze systems described by Lagrangians with higher order derivatives in the context of the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism for first order actions. Two different approaches are studied here: the first one is analogous to the…
Shortcomings of Dirac's constrained analysis in the context of fourth order Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator action and the appearance of badly affected phase-space Hamiltonian for a generalized fourth order oscillator action, following…
In physics, all dynamical equations that describe fundamental interactions are second order ordinary differential equations in the time derivatives. In the literature, this property is traced back to a result obtained by Ostrogradski in the…
Ostrogradsky's method allows one to construct Hamiltonian formulation for a higher derivative system. An application of this approach to the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator yields the Hamiltonian which is unbounded from below. This leads to the…
The problems that are connected with Lagrangians which depend on higher order derivatives (namely additional degrees of freedom, unbound energy from below, etc.) are absent if effective Lagrangians are considered because the equations of…
After reviewing the Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism (i.e, the Skinner-Rusk formalism) for higher-order (non-autonomous) dynamical systems, we state a unified geometrical version of the Variational Principles which allows us to…
The status of classical stability in higher-derivative systems is still subject to discussions. In this note, we argue that, contrary to general belief, many higher-derivative systems are classically stable. The main tool to see this…
The study of the symmetry of Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator initiated in [Nucl. Phys. B 885 (2014) 150] is continued with special emphasis put on the Hamiltonian formalism. The symmetry generators within the original Pais and Uhlenbeck…
In this paper, we present a generalization of a Hamilton--Jacobi theory to higher order implicit differential equations. We propose two different backgrounds to deal with higher order implicit Lagrangian theories: the Ostrogradsky approach…
The Eisenhart lift provides an elegant geometric description of a dynamical system of second order in terms of null geodesics of the Brinkmann-type metric. In this work, we attempt to generalize the Eisenhart method so as to encompass…
We present a method for the Hamiltonian formulation of field theories that are based on Lagrangians containing second derivatives. The new feature of our formalism is that all four partial derivatives of the field variables are initially…
In two recent papers [N. Aizawa, Y. Kimura, J. Segar, J. Phys. A 46 (2013) 405204] and [N. Aizawa, Z. Kuznetsova, F. Toppan, J. Math. Phys. 56 (2015) 031701], representation theory of the centrally extended l-conformal Galilei algebra with…
The Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism of R. Skinner and R. Rusk was originally stated for autonomous dynamical systems in classical mechanics. It has been generalized for non-autonomous first-order mechanical systems, as well as for…
We review the fate of the Ostrogradsky ghost in higher-order theories. We start by recalling the original Ostrogradsky theorem and illustrate, in the context of classical mechanics, how higher-derivatives Lagrangians lead to unbounded…
The Ostrogradsky theorem states that any classical Lagrangian that contains time derivatives higher than the first order and is nondegenerate with respect to the highest-order derivatives leads to an unbounded Hamiltonian which linearly…
This work is devoted to giving a geometric framework for describing higher-order non-autonomous mechanical systems. The starting point is to extend the Lagrangian-Hamiltonian unified formalism of Skinner and Rusk for these kinds of systems,…
The development of instability in the dynamics of theories with higher derivatives is traced in detail in the framework of the Pais-Uhlenbeck fourth oder oscillator. For this aim the external friction force is introduced in the model and…
We show that it is possible to consistently describe dynamical systems, whose equations of motion are of degree higher than two, in the microcanonical ensemble, even if the higher derivatives aren't coordinate artifacts. Higher time…