Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-16/1/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 16 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The passage to Hamiltonian mechanics uses the Legendre transform in mechanics. Assume a regular Lagrangian: the velocity Hessian matrix is invertible. Thendefines a locally invertible map from the tangent bundle to the cotangent bundle. Write its local inverse as and define the HamiltonianDifferentiating this expression, all terms containing cancel because . HenceThe Euler-Lagrange equations become Hamilton's equations:Conversely, a solution of Hamilton's equations satisfies , hence , and recovers the Euler-Lagrange equations. This proves local equivalence of the two descriptions.
On the cotangent bundle, choose the canonical symplectic form and the convention . Then , so its integral curves are exactly the phase-space equations above. This sign convention is used throughout these solutions. For a hyperregular Lagrangian, the Legendre transform in mechanics is globally invertible and gives global equivalence; regularity alone only gives local equivalence. A singular velocity Hessian matrix may instead produce constraints, so the ordinary unconstrained argument does not apply to every Lagrangian.
New to topics? Read the docs here!