Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-72/4/a/ii/solution

In the distinction relevant here, an integral of motion is a single-valued function of instantaneous phase space, with no explicit time dependence, constant along the orbit. In an autonomous Hamiltonian system this is , where the bracket is the Poisson bracket. An integral must be defined consistently on the phase space region under discussion; an arbitrary multivalued formula obtained by solving one trajectory does not supply a global integral. Some conventions call explicitly time-dependent conserved functions integrals too; the stationary interpretation is needed for the following counts.

New to topics? Read the docs here!