Related papers: Introduction to Higher Order Classical Dynamics: P…
Recently the Hamilton-Jacobi formulation for first order constrained systems has been developed. In such formalism the equations of motion are written as total differential equations in many variables. We generalize the Hamilton-Jacobi…
Motivated by the considerable success of alternative theories of gravity, we consider the toy model of a higher derivative Lagrangian theory, namely the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator studied in a recent paper by Hawking-Hertog. Its Euclidean…
In the context of classical mechanics, we study the conditions under which higher-order derivative theories can evade the so-called Ostrogradsky instability. More precisely, we consider general Lagrangians with second order time…
In the generalized Hamiltonian formalism by Dirac, the method of constructing the generator of local-symmetry transformations for systems with first- and second-class constraints (without restrictions on the algebra of constraints) is…
If a higher derivative theory arises from a transformation of variables that involves time derivatives, a tailor-made Hamiltonian formulation is shown to exist. The details and advantages of this elegant Hamiltonian formulation, which…
The fractional Hamiltonian analysis of 1+1 dimensional field theory is investigated and the fractional Ostrogradski's formulation is obtained. The fractional path integral of both simple harmonic oscillator with an acceleration-squares part…
We investigate an interacting Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator with a Landau-Ginzburg type interaction term and analyse its classical dynamics from a geometric and numerical point of view. We show that the resulting fourth-order equation of motion…
We present a method for constructing a consistent low energy canonical formalism for higher order time-derivative theories, extending the Dirac method to include perturbative Hamiltonian constraints. We apply it to two paradigmatic…
Ostrogradsky's construction of a Hamiltonian formalism for nondegenerate higher derivative Lagrangians is reviewed. The resulting instability imposes by far the most powerful restriction on fundamental, interacting, continuum Lagrangian…
It is shown that the classical damped harmonic oscillator belongs to the family of fourth-order Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillators. It follows that the solutions to the damped harmonic oscillator equation make the Pais-Uhlenbeck action stationary.…
Two Lagrangian formulations for describing of the damped harmonic oscillator have been introduced by Bateman. For these models we construct higher derivative generalization which enjoys the l-conformal Newton-Hooke symmetry. The dynamics of…
We explore the Jacobi Last Multiplier as a means for deriving the Lagrangian of a fourth-order differential equation. In particular we consider the classical problem of the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator and write down the accompanying…
The alternative version of Hamiltonian formalism for higher-derivative theories is proposed. As compared with the standard Ostrogradski approach it has the following advantages: (i) the Lagrangian, when expressed in terms of new variables…
Higher order derivative theories, generally suffer from instabilities, known as Ostrogradsky instabilities. This issue can be resolved by removing any existing degeneracy present in such theories. We consider a model involving at most…
We consider the Euclidean path integral approach to higher-derivative theories proposed by Hawking and Hertog (Phys. Rev. D65 (2002), 103515). The Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator is studied in some detail. The operator algebra is reconstructed…
We study stability of higher-derivative dynamics from the viewpoint of more general correspondence between symmetries and conservation laws established by the Lagrange anchor. We show that classical and quantum stability may be provided if…
We study higher derivative terms associated with scalar field cosmology. We consider a coupling between the scalar field and the geometry inspired by the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator, given by…
We study the constrained Ostrogradski-Hamilton framework for the equations of motion provided by mechanical systems described by second-order derivative actions with a linear dependence in the accelerations. We stress out the peculiar…
The Hamilton theories for higher orders classical Lagrange functions result on a well known Ostrogradski's instabilities. In this work, we propose a different definition for the second order canonical momentum and obtain a new set of second…
We consider a Hamiltonian formulation of the (2n+1)-order generalization of the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator with distinct frequencies of oscillation. This system is invariant under time translations. However, the corresponding Noether…