Mechanics
Physics 151
Lecture 17
Special Relativity
(Chapter 7)
What We Did Last Time
Worked on relativistic kinematics
Essential tool for experimental physics
Basic techniques are easy:
Define all 4 vectors
Calculate c-o-m energy and boost
Go about with business
Examples:
Particle creation
Elastic scattering
Particle decays
Today’s Goals
Relativistic Lagrangian formulation
Two different approaches: practical and truly relativistic
Neither is perfect – Will cover both
Will do a few easy examples in the process
Lagrangian Formulation
Proper Approach
Set up a covariant form of Hamilton’s principle
Keep everything in clean tensor forms
Practical Approach
Build a Lagrangian that reproduces 3-force in a frame
May or may not be correct in other frames
Works OK pretty often, but no guarantee
Practical Formalism
For a single particle of mass m
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V (x) β = reduced velocity
Let’s check if this works
∂L ∂ 1− β 2 mc β i Space component
= − mc = = p i
good. But no time
∂vi ∂β i 1− β 2 component
d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ ∂L ∂V
3-d equation
⎜ i⎟ − =
p i
+ =
p i
− F i
=0
of motion dt ⎝ ∂v ⎠ ∂x i
∂x i
Looks OK for the 3-d part… Try to push this path
Generalized Potential
Expand the definition to allow v-dependent potential
Consider the EM force
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − U (x, v) = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − qφ + qA ⋅ v
We know that U gives us
Did this before
∂U d ⎛ ∂U ⎞
− i + ⎜ i ⎟ = qE i + q( v × B)i
∂x dt ⎝ ∂v ⎠ Still works fine
Only difference is the definition of the momentum
∂L Same thing happened
Pi = = p i
+ qAi
without relativity
∂vi
Canonical momentum Classical 3-momentum
No big deal
Energy Function L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V (x)
Energy function h is defined by conservative
∂L mc β i vi mc 2
h = x i − L =
i
+ mc 1 − β + V =
2 2
+V
∂x 1− β 2
1− β 2
This is total energy
It’s conserved if V is time-independent
Proved this before – No changes by going relativistic
Simple Example
Particle accelerating under constant force
Electron in an electric field E
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 + eEx φ =0 −e β φ =V
Lagrange’s equation x
d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ ∂L d ⎛ mc β ⎞ d⎛ β ⎞ eE
⎜ ⎟− = ⎜ ⎟ − eE = 0 ⎜ ⎟=
dt ⎝ ∂v ⎠ ∂x dt ⎜⎝ 1 − β 2 ⎟⎠ dt ⎜⎝ 1 − β 2 ⎟ mc
⎠
Integrate twice, assuming x = 0, v = 0 at t = 0
mc 2
( )
eE
t
β= mc
x= 1 + ( mc
eE
t )2 − 1
1+ ( t) eE
mc
2
eE
Simple Example
x=
mc 2
eE
( 1 + ( mc
eE
)
t )2 − 1
x Relativistic solution is a
hyperbola
non- Approaches v = c
relativistic
Non-relativistic solution
mc 2 (parabola) accelerates faster
x = ct −
eE
t
Simple Example
mc 2
( )
eE
t
β= mc
x= 1 + ( mc
eE
t )2 − 1
1+ ( t) eE
mc
2
eE
eE eE 2
Low-velocity limit Æ v = t x= t
m 2m
t Æ ∞ limit Æ β → 1 x → ct
All as expected
Look at it in terms of energy
mc 2
x= (γ − 1) eEx = mc 2 (γ − 1)
eE
Energy
LHS = −V ( x) RHS = p 0 c − mc 2 = T
conservation
Relativistic Oscillator
Consider a 1-dim. harmonic oscillator
m
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V V = 12 kx 2
x
Let’s use energy conservation this time
mc 2 m 2 4
c
E= + V = const β 2 = 1− >0
1− β 2
(E − V ) 2
Solution exists only when
E − V > mc 2 V ( x)
Oscillation between two E
points expected E − mc 2
What’s the x
frequency? −b b
Semi-Relativistic Oscillator
Integrate β for ¼ of the cycle Oscillation period
1 dx m2c 4 τ b 1
β= = 1− =∫ dx
c dt ( E − V )2 4 0
c 1 − ( Em−Vc )2
2 4
b is given by E = mc 2 + 12 kb 2 Nasty
E −V k integral
2
= 1 + 2
(b 2
− x 2
) ≡ 1 + κ (b 2
− x 2
)
mc 2mc
Approximate for V << mc2
E −V 1 1 1 + 34 ε
= 1+ ε ≈ ≈
1 − (1 + ε ) 2ε − 3ε 2ε
2 −2
mc 2
Semi-Relativistic Oscillator
4 b 1 + 34 κ (b 2 − x 2 ) 2π ⎛ 3 2⎞ m⎛ 3kb 2 ⎞
τ= ∫ dx = ⎜1 + κ b ⎟ = 2π ⎜1 + 2 ⎟
c 0
2κ (b − x )
2 2
c 2κ ⎝ 8 ⎠ k ⎝ 16mc ⎠
Period is longer than non-relativistic oscillator
∆τ 3kb 2 3 Vmax
= = Wrong sign in textbook /
τ 0 16mc 8 mc 2
2
Relativistic solution slower than the non-relativistic one
Difference depends on the amplitude of oscillation
Limitations of Practical Approach
L = − mc 2
1 − β 2
− V (x) gives correct relativistic answers
for many practical problems
It is an ad-hoc technique
Not Lorentz covariant by construction
Time is treated separately from space
Lorentz transformation of Lagrangian is not given
Must redefine L in each inertial frame
Truly relativistic theory should respect relativity from
the principle all the way up
Let’s see how well it works…
Lagrangian Formulation
Practical Approach
Build a Lagrangian that reproduces 3-force in a frame
May or may not be correct in other frames
Works OK pretty often, but no guarantee
Proper Approach
Set up a covariant form of Hamilton’s principle
Keep everything in clean tensor forms
… but it quickly runs into difficulties … even for a single particle. For a system
of more than one particle, it breaks down almost from the start. No satisfactory
formulation for an interacting multiparticle system exists in classical relativistic
mechanics except for some few special cases
Goldstein, p. 313
Truly Relativistic Formalism
Hamilton’s principle δ I = δ ∫ Ldt = 0
We want the action integral to be Lorentz scalar
Integration should not be by t, but by a Lorentz-invariant
variable Æ Proper time τ could be a good choice?
Lagrangian L must then be a Lorentz scalar
Lagrange’s equation should look like
∂L d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ Symmetric for time and
− ⎜ µ ⎟=0
∂x µ
dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠ space components
Solution is not unique. None of them perfect
Let’s look at one – Goldstein Section 7.10 for more
Free Lagrangian
We try a force-free Lagrangian Λ = 12 muν uν
Looks like the non-relativistic kinetic energy
Lorentz scalar
d ⎛ ∂Λ ⎞ d (muµ )
Lagrange’s equation would be ⎜ µ ⎟= =0
dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠ dτ
Conservation of 4-momentum
Time component is conservation of energy
Energy function doesn’t give total energy, though
∂Λ
µ 1 µ 1 2 Conserved,
h=u µ
− Λ = mu uµ = mc
∂u 2 2 but not energy
EM Force
We know only one force in 4-vector form Æ EM
Potential was given by qu µ Aµ
Lagrangian can be Λ( x µ , u µ ) = 12 muµ u µ + qu µ Aµ
Lagrange’s equations
d ⎛ ∂Λ ⎞ ∂Λ d ∂Aµ
⎜ ν ⎟− ν = ( muν + qAν ) − qu ν = 0
µ
dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠ ∂x dτ ∂x
d (muν ) ⎛ µ ∂Aµ dA ⎞ ν 4-force found
= q⎜u − ⎟ = K
dτ ⎝ ∂xν dτ ⎠ last week
This looks promising
Limitations of Purist Approach
We don’t know 4-force for anything but EM
Most real-world problems cannot be solved this way
What to do with multi-particle system
∂L d ⎛ ∂L ⎞
δ I = δ ∫ Ldτ µ
− ⎜ µ ⎟=0
∂x dτ ⎝ ∂u ⎠
Proper time of what?
Lagrangian formalism allows coordinate transformation
Each coordinate does not correspond to a single particle
Problem will be solved only when we give up the
particle picture
Summary
Constructed Lagrangian formulation
Practical approach provides useful tools
Relativistic solutions can be
L = −mc 2 1 − β 2 − V (x)
found for many systems
Not really relativistic at heart
Purist approach can be built only for limited cases
E.g. single particle in EM field Λ = 12 muµ u µ + qu µ Aµ
Done with special relativity
Next: Hamiltonian formalism
