Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 8 / 1 / b / Solution

For $S_t(z)=\Phi (t,0,z)$, differentiability with respect to initial data gives the variational equationThe Jacobi determinant derivative formula givesThe mixed derivatives in the Hamiltonian vector field cancel:Consequently $J^{\prime }(t)=0$, and $J(0)=1$ gives preservation of phase space volume:The same argument applies to $\Phi (t,s)$ for every starting time $s$. This is the Liouville theorem in Hamiltonian mechanics. Explicit time dependence of $H$ does not affect the cancellation.