Past exam of the theoretical physics I course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / Paper 1 / 3 / Solution

In Cartesian components, $\partial L/\partial v_i=m{v}_i+e{A}_i$ and $\partial L/\partial x_i=e{v}_j{\partial }_i{A}_j-e{\partial }_i\varphi$. The Euler-Lagrange equation therefore givesThus the minimally coupled particle Lagrangian yields the Lorentz force.

For an arbitrary smooth gauge function $\chi$, take $\mathbf{A}\to \mathbf{A}+\nabla \chi$ and $\varphi \to \varphi -{\partial }_t\chi$. Both fields are unchanged, whileThe action changes only by an endpoint term, so fixed-endpoint variation gives the same motion. Canonical momentum shifts by $e\nabla \chi$, whereas kinetic momentum $m\mathbf{v}$ and the Lorentz force are gauge invariant. This is the relevant gauge invariance of the classical particle dynamics.