Past exam of the classical mechanics course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / 3 / b

The canonical momentum of the harmonic oscillator is $p=\partial L_0/\partial \dot{q}=m\dot{q}$. Substituting $\dot{q}=p/m$ into the Legendre transform in mechanics gives

Work on $I>0$, with a local choice of the periodic angle $\theta$. The inverse formulas areIn particular, ${\theta }_q=p/(2I)$, ${\theta }_p=-q/(2I)$, $I_q=\alpha q$ and $I_p=p/\alpha$. Their Poisson bracket isThe other fundamental Poisson brackets vanish by antisymmetry. Thus this is a canonical transformation for every $\alpha >0$, on local charts away from the origin. At $I=0$ the angle is undefined.

In the new coordinates the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian isFor $I$ to be a conserved quantity throughout phase space, Hamilton's equations require $\dot{I}=-{\partial }_{\theta }{H}_0=0$ identically. The two coefficients must coincide. For the usual $m>0$ and $\omega >0$, positivity of $\alpha$ selectsThese are harmonic oscillator action-angle variables; the action variable is $I=H_0/\omega$.