Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-classical-mechanics-course-of-part-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/2/a/solution

Assume positive, pairwise distinct masses and generic nonzero . Let , and similarly for . The three uncoupled oscillators each conserve
Uniform translation of all conserves . The interaction permits their common translation, while is entirely free, giving two independent momenta and . The interacting subsystem is autonomous and has its own conserved energy. A useful basic collection is therefore
The total energy is generally not conserved. With , its derivative is , which is generically nonzero.
Unequal masses do not remove every rotation charge in the oscillator sector. Put , . This is a canonical transformation and makes that sector an isotropic harmonic oscillator. Its rotations conserve
These mass-weighted oscillator symmetries exist already at distinct masses. The energies and three rotation charges are not all functionally independent; the three-oscillator sector has at most five independent time-independent integrals on regular trajectories.
There are further simple explicitly time-dependent constants, such as and , and center-of-mass boost constants. For example is constant for and . These illustrate why an unrestricted raw number of conserved functions is not meaningful.

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