Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / ia / Paper 4 / 12A (Dynamics and Relativity)

With no electric field, the Lorentz force isFor nonrelativistic motion, the work-energy theorem givesConsequently $\boxed{K(t)=K(0)}$. The reason is geometric: magnetic forces do no work because they are perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity. They can change its direction but not its magnitude. The same energy conclusion holds relativistically, using $dE/dt=\mathbf{F}\cdot \mathbf{v}$ and subtracting the constant rest energy to obtain kinetic energy.

Place the four fixed charges at $(sa,ta)$ with $s,t\in \{-1,1\}$, and write the moving particle's position as $(x,y)$. Introduce its mass $m>0$, which is needed for an oscillation frequency but is not named in the question. Let $C=Qq/(4\pi {ϵ}_0)>0$. By Coulomb's law and superposition, the moving particle's potential energy isThe electrostatic potential itself is $V/q$. Put $r^2=x^2+y^2$ and ${\delta }_{st}=-(sx+ty)/a+r^2/(2a^2)$. Near the centre, a Taylor expansion givesOn summing over the four corners, linear terms cancel. To quadratic order, $\sum {\delta }_{st}=2r^2/a^2$ and $\sum {\delta }_{st}^2=4r^2/a^2+O(r^4/a^4)$, since $\sum st=0$. Reflection symmetry removes all odd-degree terms. HencewhereThus the centre has zero planar force and a positive-definite planar Hessian matrix $\kappa I_2$. It is a strict local minimum of the constrained potential energy, so it is a stable equilibrium. More explicitly, conservation of the total energy confines sufficiently small-energy motions within a small neighbourhood of this isolated local minimum.

Keeping only the quadratic potential, the two coordinates obey independent small oscillations:Both planar modes have the same angular frequency, and the ordinary frequency isThe planar constraint is essential to this constrained electrostatic equilibrium. Along the perpendicular axis, $V(0,0,z)=4C/(2a^2+z^2{)}^{1/2}=V(0,0)-C{z}^2/(\sqrt{2}{a}^3)+O(z^4)$, so the same stationary point is unstable to unconstrained normal displacements. That also checks the cancellation of the three-dimensional Hessian trace required by Laplace's equation away from charges; it does not contradict the positive-definite restriction to the given plane.