Past exam of the classical mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 a iv Solution 2026-10-25
Set . The hypotheses mean as identities on phase space. By the Jacobi identity for the Poisson bracket,Also, the product rule applied to the defining coordinate formula givesAdding these identities provesConsequentlyThis proves the Poisson bracket of time-dependent conserved quantities theorem, including explicit time dependence of and .
In canonical coordinates, the Poisson bracket isIn particular, , , and . Hence and the coordinate–coordinate and momentum–momentum brackets vanish.
The chain rule along a Hamiltonian trajectory givesThe Poisson bracket of time-dependent conserved quantities follows by defining . The ordinary product rule and Jacobi identity implyTo see the Hamiltonian part explicitly, Jacobi rearranges to . Therefore implies , even when the conserved functions depend explicitly on time.