Mechanics
Physics 151
Lecture 8
Rigid Body Motion
(Chapter 4)
What We Did Last Time
!
Discussed scattering problem
!
Defined and calculated cross sections
!
!
Foundation for all experimental physics
Differential cross section and impact parameter
Rutherford scattering
( ) =
Translated into laboratory system
!
!
N hits = I
Angular translation + Jacobian
Shape of () changes
s ds
sin d
Goals For Today
!
Start discussing rigid-body motion
!
Concentrate on representing the rotation
!
!
!
Multi-particle system with fixed shape
Which generalized coordinates should we use?
Define Euler angles
Define infinitesimal rotation
! Will use this for angular velocities, etc
Todays lecture is largely mathematical
!
Assume knowledge of linear algebra
Rigid Body
!
Multi-particle system with fixed distances
!
Constraints: rij = ri r j = const for all i, j
How should we define generalized coordinates?
!
!
How many independent coordinates are there?
If you start from 3N and subtract the number of constraints
N ( N 1) 7 N N 2
3N
=
2
2
0 for N 7
Not all the constraints are independent
!
Right answer: 3 translation and 3 rotation = 6
Todays theme
2-D Rotation
!
2-dimensional rotation is specified by a 22 matrix
x cos sin x
=
y
sin
cos
y
i i i j x
=
j
i
j
j
y
!
Try the same thing with 3-d rotation
z
y
z
y
x
y
j
i
x
x
i
3D Rotation
!
Vector r is represented in x-y-z and x-y-z as
r = xi + yj + zk = xi + yj + z k
!
Using angles ij between two axes
x = r i = xi i + yj i + zk i
= cos 11 x + cos 12 y + cos 13 z
z
z 13
y = cos 21 x + cos 22 y + cos 23 z
z = cos 31 x + cos 32 y + cos 33 z
x cos 11 cos 12
or y = cos 21 cos 22
z cos 31 cos 32
cos 13 x
cos 23 y
cos 33 z
11
12
x
3D Rotation
!
Simplify formulae by renaming
( x, y, z ) ( x1 , x2 , x3 ) ( x, y, z ) ( x1, x2 , x3 )
!
Rotation is now expressed by
xi = cos ij x j = aij x j = aij x j
j
Einstein convention:
Implicit summation over repeated index
!
We got 9 parameters aij to describe a 3-d rotation
!
Only 3 are independent
Constraints of Rotation
!
Rotation cannot change the length of any vector
!
Exactly the constraints we need for rigid body motion
r 2 = xi xi = xixi
!
Using the transformation matrix
xi = aij x j
xixi = aij x j aik xk
therefore
1 ( j = k )
aij aik = jk
0 ( j k )
Matrix A = [aij] is orthogonal
! =1
AA
Transpose of A
6 conditions
reduces free
parameters
from 9 to 3
Orthogonal Matrix
!
a11
A = a21
a31
a12
a22
a32
a13
a23
a33
Goldstein Section 4.3 covers algebra of matrices
You must have learned this already
aij aik = jk
!
! Orthogonal matrix A satisfies AA = 1
! Consider the determinants
Transposed matrix
2
!
!
AA = A A = A = 1
A = 1
!
!
!
|A| = +1 " proper matrix
|A| = 1 " improper matrix
Space Inversion
!
Space inversion is represented by
1 0 0
r = r = Sr 0 1 0 r
0 0 1
!
!
S = 1
S is orthogonal Doesnt change distances
But it cannot be a rotation
! Coordinate axes invert to become left-handed
! Orthogonal matrices with |A| = 1 does this
Rigid body rotation is represented by proper
orthogonal matrices
Rotation Matrix
!
A operating on r can be interpreted as
!
Rotating r around an axis by an angle
! Positive angle = clockwise rotation
Rotating the coordinate axes around the same axis by the
same angle in the opposite direction
! Positive angle = counter clockwise rotation
Both interpretations are useful
!
We are more interested in the latter for now
How do we write A with 3 parameters?
!
r = Ar
There are many ways
Euler Angles
!
Transform x-y-z to x-y-z in 3 steps
( x, y , z )
Rotate CCW by around z axis
( , , )
( , , )
Rotate CCW by around axis
( x, y, z)
Rotate CCW by around axis
Dx
CDx
Ax = BCDx
z y
Euler Angles
cos
D = sin
0
sin
cos
0
0
0
1
0 C = 0 cos
0 sin
1
cos cos cos sin sin
A = sin cos cos sin cos
sin sin
!
0
cos
sin B = sin
0
cos
sin
cos
cos sin + cos cos sin
sin sin + cos cos cos
sin cos
Definition of Euler angles is somewhat arbitrary
!
!
May rotate around different axes in different order
Many conventions exist Watch out!
0
0
1
sin sin
cos sin
cos
Rigid Body Motion
!
Motion of a rigid body can be described by:
!
!
!
Define x-y-z axes (body axes) attached to the rigid body
! Same direction as x-y-z (space axes) at t = 0
! Origin fixed at one point of the rigid body (e.g. CoM)
Use R(t) to describe the motion of the origin
Use A(t) to describe the rotation of the x-y-z axes
! Use Euler angles (t), (t), (t)
! A(0) = 1 " (0) = (0) = (0) = 0
6 independent coordinates (x, y, z, , , )
Eulers Theorem
The general displacement of a rigid body with
one point fixed is a rotation about some axis
!
In other words
!
!
Arbitrary 3-d rotation equals to one rotation around an axis
Any 3-d rotation leaves one vector unchanged
For any rotation matrix A
!
!
There exists a vector r that satisfies Ar = r
A has an eigenvalue of 1
Eigenvector with
eigenvalue 1
Eulers Theorem
!
If a matrix A satisfies Ar = r
( A 1)r = 0
A 1 = 0 or r = 0 or A - 1 = 0
!
Since A 1 = A
! = 1 A
!
( A 1) A
! = 1 A
!
A 1 A
A 1 = 1 A
!
For odd-dimensioned matrices M = M
A 1 = A 1 = 0
Q.E.D.
Rotation Vector?
!
Eulers theorem provides another way of describing
3-d rotation
!
!
Direction of axis (2 parameters) and angle of rotation (1)
It sounds a bit like angular momentum
Critical difference: commutativity
!
Angular momentum is a vector
! Two angular momenta can be added in any order
Rotation is not a vector
! Two rotations add up differently depending on which
rotation is made first
Infinitesimal Rotation
!
Small (infinitesimal) rotations are commutative
!
!
They can be represented by vectors
We also need them to describe how a rigid body changes
orientation with time
Infinitesimal rotation must be close to non-rotation
xi = xi + ij x j or x = (1 + )x
!
ij " 1
Two successive infinitesimal rotations make
(1 + 1 )(1 + 2 ) = 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 2
2nd order of vanishes
= 1 + 1 + 2
! Obviously commutative
Infinitesimal Rotation
!
Inverse of an infinitesimal rotation is
(1 + ) 1 = 1
!
!
Using A 1 = A
! =
!
(1 + )(1 ) = 1 + = 1
1 + ! = 1
is antisymmetric
We can write as
0
= d 3
d 2
d 3
0
d 1
d 2
d 1
0
d = (d 1 , d 2 , d 3 )
behaves almost like a
vector
Well see
Infinitesimal Rotation
!
A vector r is rotated by (1 + ) as r = (1 + )r
d 3 d 2 x1
0
dr r r = r = d 3
d 1 x2 = r d
0
d 2 d 1
0 x3
! Eulers theorem says this equals to a
n
d
rotation by an infinitesimal angle d
around an axis n
dr = r nd
d = nd
dr
Axial Vector
!
d behaves pretty much like a vector
!
d rotates the same way as r with coordinate rotations
Space inversion S reveals difference
!
!
Ordinary vector flips r = Sr = r
d doesnt
(dr ) = r d
d = d
= dr = r d = r d
!
Such a vector is called an axial vector
!
Examples: angular momentum, magnetic field
Parity
!
Parity operator P represents space inversion
P
( x, y, z ) ( x, y, z )
Quantity
Parity
Eigenvalue
Scalar
PS = S
+1
Pseudoscalar PS* = S*
Vector
PV = V
Axial vector
PV* = V*
+1
V V = V*
V V* = V
S *V = V*
V V* = S *
V* V* = S
S *V* = V
etc.
Summary
!
Discussed 3-dimensional rotation
!
Looked for ways to describe 3-d rotation
!
!
Euler angles one of the many possibilities
Eulers theorem
Defined infinitesimal rotation d
!
!
Preparation for rigid body motion
! Movement in 3-d + Rotation in 3-d = 6 coordinates
Commutative (unlike finite rotation)
Behaves as an axial vector (like angular momentum)
Ready to go back to physics
