We present a unified geometric framework for describing both the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms of contact autonomous mechanical systems, which is based on the approach of the pionnering work of R. Skinner and R. Rusk. This framework permits to skip the second order differential equation problem, which is obtained as a part of the constraint algorithm (for singular or regular Lagrangians), and is specially useful to describe singular Lagrangian systems. Some examples are also discussed to illustrate the method.
Conservation laws related to the gauge invariance of Lagrangians and Euler-Lagrange operators in finite and infinite order Lagrangian formalisms are analyzed.
Second-order Lagrangian densities admitting a first-order Hamiltonian formalism are studied; namely, i) for each second-order Lagrangian density on an arbitrary fibred manifold $p\colon E\to N$ the Poincaré-Cartan form of which is projectable onto $J^1E$, by using a new notion of regularity previously introduced, a first-order Hamiltonian formalism is developed for such a class of variational problems; ii) the existence of first-order equivalent Lagrangians are discussed from a local point of view as well as global; iii) this formalism is then applied to classical Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian a…
We present a geometric Lagrangian formulation for first-order field theories with dissipation. This formulation is based on the $k$-contact geometry introduced in a previous paper, and gathers contact Lagrangian mechanics with $k$-symplectic Lagrangian field theory together. We also study the symmetries and dissipation laws for these nonconservative theories, and analyze some examples.
Lagrangian formalism is established for differential equations with special functions of mathematical physics as solutions. Formalism is based on either standard or non-standard Lagrangians. This work shows that the procedure of deriving the standard Lagrangians leads to Lagrangians for which the Euler--Lagrange equation vanishes identically, and that only some of these Lagrangians become the null Lagrangians with the well-defined gauge functions. It is also demonstrated that the non-standard Lagrangians require that the Euler--Lagrange equations are amended by the auxiliary conditions, which …
We describe geometrically contact Lagrangian systems under impulsive forces and constraints, as well as instantaneous nonholonomic constraints which are not uniform along the configuration space. In both situations, the vector field describing the dynamics of a contact Lagrangian system is determined by defining projectors to evaluate the constraints by using a Riemannian metric. In particular, we introduce the Herglotz equations for contact Lagrangian systems subject to instantaneous nonholonomic constraints. Moreover, we provide a Carnot-type theorem for contact Lagrangian systems subject to…
Contact Hamiltonian dynamics is a subject that has still a short history, but with relevant applications in many areas: thermodynamics, cosmology, control theory, and neurogeometry, among others. In recent years there has been a great effort to study this type of dynamics both in theoretical aspects and in its potential applications in geometric mechanics and mathematical physics. This paper is intended to be a review of some of the results that the authors and their collaborators have recently obtained on the subject.
A set of linear second-order differential equations is converted into a semigroup, whose algebraic structure is used to generate many novel equations. Two independent methods that can be used to derive the equations of the semigroup are considered, namely, the Lagrangian formalism and the Lie group approach. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed, and it is shown that the Lagrangian formalism can be established for all equations of the semigroup, however, the Lie group approach is only limited to a certain sub-semigroup . The obtained results are discussed in the context…
We present an introduction to the mathematical theory of the Lagrangian formalism for multiform fields on Minkowski spacetime based on the multiform and extensor calculus. Our formulation gives a unified mathematical description for the main relativistic field theories including the gravitational field (which however will be discussed in a separate paper). We worked out several examples (including tricks of the trade), from simple to very sophisticated ones (like, e.g., the Dirac-Hestenes field on the more general gravitational background) which show the power and beauty of the formalism.
In the framework of polysymplectic Hamiltonian formalism, degenerate Lagrangian field systems are described as multi-Hamiltonian systems with Lagrangian constraints. The physically relevant case of degenerate quadratic Lagrangians is analized in detail, and the Koszul--Tate resolution of Lagrangian constraints is constructed in an explicit form. The particular case of Hamiltonian mechanics with time-dependent constraints is studied.
A geometric approach is used to study a family of higher-order nonlinear Abel equations. The inverse problem of the Lagrangian dynamics is studied in the particular case of the second-order Abel equation and the existence of two alternative Lagrangian formulations is proved, both Lagrangians being of a non-natural class (neither potential nor kinetic term). These higher-order Abel equations are studied by means of their Darboux polynomials and Jacobi multipliers. In all the cases a family of constants of the motion is explicitly obtained. The general n-dimensional case is also studied.
We show that the contact dynamics obtained from the Herglotz variational principle can be described as a constrained nonholonomic or vakonomic ordinary Lagrangian system depending on a dissipative variable with an adequate choice of one constraint. As a consequence we obtain the dynamics of contact nonholonomic and vakonomic systems as ordinary variational calculus with constraints on a Lagrangian with a dissipative variable. The variation of the energy and the other dissipative quantities are also obtained giving the usual results.
We provide new insights into the contact Hamiltonian and Lagrangian formulations of dissipative mechanical systems. In particular, we state a new form of the contact dynamical equations, and we review two recently presented Lagrangian formalisms, studying their equivalence. We define several kinds of symmetries for contact dynamical systems, as well as the notion of dissipation laws, prove a dissipation theorem and give a way to construct conserved quantities. Some well-known examples of dissipative systems are discussed.
We present several results on the inverse problem and equivalent contactLagrangian systems. These problems naturally lead to consider smooth transformations on the z variable (i.e., reparametrizations of the action). We present the extended contact Lagrangian systems to formalize this notion. With this structure we define horizontal equivalence of Lagrangians, which generalizes the symplectic case. We also present some results on the inverse problem for extended contact systems.
The work is devoted to studying some new classical electrodynamics models of interacting charged point particles and the aspects of the quantization via the Dirac procedure related to them. Based on the vacuum field theory no-geometry approach developed in [6,7,9], the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian reformulations of some alternative classical electrodynamics models are devised. The Dirac-type quantization procedure for the considered alternative electrodynamics models, based on the obtained canonical Hamiltonian formulations, is developed.
We are proposing Tulczyjew's triple for contact dynamics. The most important ingredients of the triple, namely symplectic diffeomorphisms, special symplectic manifolds, and Morse families, are generalized to the contact framework. These geometries permit us to determine so-called generating family (obtained by merging a special contact manifold and a Morse family) for a Legendrian submanifold. Contact Hamiltonian and Lagrangian Dynamics are recast as Legendrian submanifolds of the tangent contact manifold. In this picture, the Legendre transformation is determined to be a passage between two d…
This review paper is devoted to presenting the standard multisymplectic formulation for describing geometrically classical field theories, both the regular and singular cases. First, the main features of the Lagrangian formalism are revisited and, second, the Hamiltonian formalism is constructed using Hamiltonian sections. In both cases, the variational principles leading to the Euler-Lagrange and the Hamilton-De Donder-Weyl equations, respectively, are stated, and these field equations are given in different but equivalent geometrical ways in each formalism. Finally, both are unified in a new…
In this paper, we present a Lagrangian formalism for nonequilibrium thermodynamics. This formalism is an extension of the Hamilton principle in classical mechanics that allows the inclusion of irreversible phenomena in both discrete and continuum systems (i.e., systems with finite and infinite degrees of freedom). The irreversibility is encoded into a nonlinear nonholonomic constraint given by the expression of entropy production associated to all the irreversible processes involved. Hence from a mathematical point of view, our variational formalism may be regarded as a generalization of the L…
We develop a time-non-local (TNL) formalism based on variational calculus, which allows for the analysis of TNL Lagrangians. We derive the generalized Euler-Lagrange equations starting from the Hamilton's principle and, by defining a generalized momentum, we introduce the corresponding Hamiltonian formalism. We apply the formalism to second order TNL Lagrangians and we show that it reproduces standard results in the time-local limit. An example will show how the formalism works, and will provide an interesting insight on the non-standard features of TNL equations.
The conformal transformations corresponding to $N$-Galilean conformal symmetries, previously defined as canonical symmetry transformations on phase space, are constructed as point transformations in coordinate space.
A simple formal procedure makes the main properties of the lagrangian binomial extendable to functions depending to any kind of order of the time--derivatives of the lagrangian coordinates. Such a broadly formulated binomial can provide the lagrangian components, in the classical sense of the Newton's law, for a quite general class of forces. At the same time, the generalized equations of motions recover some of the classical alternative formulations of the Lagrangian equations.
Formalism of extended Lagrangian represent a systematic procedure to look for the local symmetries of a given Lagrangian action. In this work, the formalism is discussed and applied to a field theory. We describe it in detail for a field theory with first-class constraints present in the Hamiltonian formulation. The method is illustrated on examples of electrodynamics, Yang-Mills field and non-linear sigma model.
In this paper we address the problem of identifying contracting systems among dynamical systems appearing in mechanics. First, we introduce a sufficient condition to identify contracting systems in a general Riemannian manifold. Then, we apply this technique to establish that a particular type of dissipative forced mechanical system is contracting, while stating immediate consequences of this fact for the stability of these systems. Finally, we use the previous results to study the stability of particular types of Contact and Nonholonomic systems.
In this paper we will present Lagrangian and Hamiltonian $k$-symplectic formalisms, we will recall the notions of symmetry and conservation law and we will define the notion of pseudosymmetry as a natural extension of symmetry. Using symmetries and pseudosymmetries, without the help of a Noether type theorem, we will obtain new kinds of conservation laws for $k$-symplectic Hamiltonian systems and $k$-symplectic Lagrangian systems.
This paper is devoted to studying symmetries of k-symplectic Hamiltonian and Lagrangian first-order classical field theories. In particular, we define symmetries and Cartan symmetries and study the problem of associating conservation laws to these symmetries, stating and proving Noether's theorem in different situations for the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian cases. We also characterize equivalent Lagrangians, which lead to an introduction of Lagrangian gauge symmetries, as well as analyzing their relation with Cartan symmetries.
We study Lagrangian systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom that are non-local in time. We obtain an extension of Noether theorem and Noether identities to this kind of Lagrangians. A Hamiltonian formalism is then set up for this systems. $n$-order local Lagrangians can be treated as a particular case and the standard results for them are recovered. The method is then applied to several other cases, namely two examples of non-local oscillators and the p-adic particle.
Using the recently developed groupoidal description of Schwinger's picture of Quantum Mechanics, a new approach to Dirac's fundamental question on the role of the Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics is provided. It is shown that a function $\ell$ on the groupoid of configurations (or kinematical groupoid) of a quantum system determines a state on the von Neumann algebra of the histories of the system. This function, which we call {\itshape q-Lagrangian}, can be described in terms of a new function $\mathcal{L}$ on the Lie algebroid of the theory. When the kinematical groupoid is the pair groupoid …
In this paper we propose a Hamilton-Jacobi theory for implicit contact Hamiltonian systems in two different ways. One is the understanding of implicit contact Hamiltonian dynamics as a Legendrian submanifold of the tangent contact space, and another is as a Lagrangian submanifold of a certain symplectic space embedded into the tangent contact space. In these two scenarios, we propose a Hamilton-Jacobi theory specifically derived with the aid of Herglotz Lagrangian dynamics generated by non-regular Lagrangian functions.
In this paper we present a unified Lagrangian--Hamiltonian geometric formalism to describe time-dependent contact mechanical systems, based on the one first introduced by K. Kamimura and later formalized by R. Skinner and R. Rusk. This formalism is especially interesting when dealing with systems described by singular Lagrangians, since the second-order condition is recovered from the constraint algorithm. In order to illustrate this formulation, some relevant examples are described in full detail: the Duffing equation, an ascending particle with time-dependent mass and quadratic drag, and a c…
Graded Lagrangian formalism in terms of a Grassmann-graded variational bicomplex on graded manifolds is developed in a very general setting. This formalism provides the comprehensive description of reducible degenerate Lagrangian systems, characterized by hierarchies of non-trivial higher-order Noether identities and gauge symmetries. This is a general case of classical field theory and Lagrangian non-relativistic mechanics.
The Rusk-Skinner formalism was developed in order to give a geometrical unified formalism for describing mechanical systems. It incorporates all the characteristics of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian descriptions of these systems (including dynamical equations and solutions, constraints, Legendre map, evolution operators, equivalence, etc.). In this work we extend this unified framework to first-order classical field theories, and show how this description comprises the main features of the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms, both for the regular and singular cases. This formulation is a first s…
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 first-order and higher-order field theories. However, a complete generalization to higher-order mechanical systems has yet to be described. In this work, after reviewing the natural geometrical setting and the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for higher-order autonomous mechanical systems, we develop a complete generalization of the Lagrangian-Hamiltoni…
The existence of a Lagrangian description for the second-order Riccati equation is analyzed and the results are applied to the study of two different nonlinear systems both related with the generalized Riccati equation. The Lagrangians are nonnatural and the forces are not derivable from a potential. The constant value $E$ of a preserved energy function can be used as an appropriate parameter for characterizing the behaviour of the solutions of these two systems. In the second part the existence of two--dimensional versions endowed with superintegrability is proved. The explicit expressions of…
This article aims to study non-local Lagrangians with an infinite number of degrees of freedom. We obtain an extension of Noether's theorem and Noether's identities for such Lagrangians. We then set up a Hamiltonian formalism for them. In addition, we show that $n$-order local Lagrangians can be treated as a particular case and the standard results can be recovered. Finally, this formalism is applied to the case of $p$-adic open string field.
In this paper, we continue the construction of variational integrators adapted to contact geometry started in \cite{VBS}, in particular, we introduce a discrete Herglotz Principle and the corresponding discrete Herglotz Equations for a discrete Lagrangian in the contact setting. This allows us to develop convenient numerical integrators for contact Lagrangian systems that are conformally contact by construction. The existence of an exact Lagrangian function is also discussed.
Lagrangian contact supersymmetries (depending on derivatives of arbitrary order) are treated in very general setting. The cohomology of the variational bicomplex on an arbitrary graded manifold and the iterated cohomology of a generic nilpotent contact supersymmetry are computed. In particular, the first variational formula and conservation laws for Lagrangian systems on graded manifolds using contact supersymmetries are obtained.
Applied to field theory, the familiar symplectic technique leads to instantaneous Hamiltonian formalism on an infinite-dimensional phase space. A true Hamiltonian partner of first order Lagrangian theory on fibre bundles $Y\to X$ is covariant Hamiltonian formalism in different variants, where momenta correspond to derivatives of fields relative to all coordinates on $X$. We follow polysymplectic (PS) Hamiltonian formalism on a Legendre bundle over $Y$ provided with a polysymplectic $TX$-valued form. If $X=\mathbb R$, this is a case of time-dependent non-relativistic mechanics. PS Hamiltonian f…
We generalize the Lagrangian-Hamiltonian formalism of Skinner and Rusk to higher order field theories on fiber bundles. As a byproduct we solve the long standing problem of defining, in a coordinate free manner, a Hamiltonian formalism for higher order Lagrangian field theories. Namely, our formalism does only depend on the action functional and, therefore, unlike previously proposed ones, is free from any relevant ambiguity.
In this paper, we introduce a geometric description of contact Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems on Lie algebroids in the framework of contact geometry, using the theory of prolongations. We discuss the relation between Lagrangian and Hamiltonian settings through a convenient notion of Legendre transformation. We also discuss the Hamilton-Jacobi problem in this framework and introduce the notion of a Legendrian Lie subalgebroid of a contact Lie algebroid.
A description of time-dependent Mechanics in terms of Lagrangian submanifolds of Dirac manifolds (in particular, presymplectic and Poisson manifolds) is presented. Two new Tulczyjew triples are discussed. The first one is adapted to the restricted Hamiltonian formalism and the second one is adapted to the extended Hamiltonian formalism.
We show that the specific operators V^a appearing in the triplectic formalism can be viewed as the anti-Hamiltonian vector fields generated by a second rank irreducible Sp(2) tensor. This allows for an explicit realization of the triplectic algebra being constructed from an arbitrary Poisson bracket on the space of the fields only, equipped by the flat Poisson connection. We show that the whole space of fields and antifields can be equipped with an even supersymplectic structure when this Poisson bracket is non-degenerate. This observation opens the possibility to provide the BRST/antiBRST pat…
We reformulate the standard Lagrangian formalism to a reparameterisation invariant Lagrangian formalism by means of Finsler and Kawaguchi geometry. In our formalism, various types of symmetries that appears in theories of physics are expressed geometrically by symmetries of Finsler (Kawaguchi) metric, and the conservation law of energy-momentum is a part of Euler-Lagrange equations. The application to scalar field, Dirac field, electromagnetic field and general relativity coupled to perfect fluid (added: ver.3) are discussed. By this formalism, we try to propose an alternative definition of en…
We study spacetime diffeomorphisms in Hamiltonian and Lagrangian formalisms of generally covariant systems. We show that the gauge group for such a system is characterized by having generators which are projectable under the Legendre map. The gauge group is found to be much larger than the original group of spacetime diffeomorphisms, since its generators must depend on the lapse function and shift vector of the spacetime metric in a given coordinate patch. Our results are generalizations of earlier results by Salisbury and Sundermeyer. They arise in a natural way from using the requirement of …
In previous papers, a geometric framework has been developed to describe non-conservative field theories as a kind of modified Lagrangian and Hamiltonian field theories. This approach is that of $k$-contact Hamiltonian systems, which is based on the $k$-symplectic formulation of field theories as well as on contact geometry. In this work we present the Skinner--Rusk unified setting for these kinds of theories, which encompasses both the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms into a single picture. This unified framework is specially useful when dealing with singular systems, since: (i) it incor…
We introduce a version of the Hamiltonian formalism based on the Clairaut equation theory, which allows us a self-consistent description of systems with degenerate (or singular) Lagrangian. A generalization of the Legendre transform to the case, when the Hessian is zero is done using the mixed (envelope/general) solutions of the multidimensional Clairaut equation. The corresponding system of equations of motion is equivalent to the initial Lagrange equations, but contains "nondynamical" momenta and unresolved velocities. This system is reduced to the physical phase space and presented in the H…
We present a complete theory of higher-order autonomous contact mechanics, which allows us to describe higher-order dynamical systems with dissipation. The essential tools for the theory are the extended higher-order tangent bundles, ${\rm T}^kQ\times{\mathbb R}$, whose geometric structures are previously introduced in order to state the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for these kinds of systems, including their variational formulation. The variational principle, the contact forms, and the geometric dynamical equations are obtained by using those structures and generalizing the standard …
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 yields proper equations of motion; no additional Lagrange multipliers are necessary (ii) the Legendre transformation can be performed in a straightforward way provided the Lagrangian is nonsingular in Ostrogradski sense. The generalization to singular Lagrangians as well as field theory are presented.
The investigation of contact symmetries of re--parametrization invariant Lagrangians of finite degrees of freedom and quadratic in the velocities is presented. The main concern of the paper is those symmetry generators which depend linearly in the velocities. A natural extension of the symmetry generator along the lapse function $N(t)$, with the appropriate extension of the dependence in $\dot{N}(t)$ of the gauge function, is assumed; this action yields new results. The central finding is that the integrals of motion are either linear or quadratic in velocities and are generated, respectively …
In this paper, we extend the well-known Noether theorem for Lagrangian systems to contact Lagrangian systems. We introduce a classification of infinitesimal symmetries and obtain the corresponding dissipated quantities. We notice that in contact dynamics, the existence of infinitesimal symmetries does not produce conserved quantities, but functions that dissipate at the same rate than the energy; so, the corresponding quotients are true conserved quantities.
We study the Hamiltonian formalisms of the second order degenerate Clèment and Sarıoğlu-Tekin Lagrangians. The Dirac-Bergmann constraint algorithm is employed while arriving at the total Hamiltonian functions and the Hamilton's equations on the associated momemtum phase spaces whereas the Gotay-Nester-Hinds algorithm is run while investigating the Skinner-Rusk unified formalism on the proper Whitney bundles.
