4/1/2017 PHY302Topic4:OscillationsandWaveMotion

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PHY302 Topic4:OscillationsandWaveMotion 2011
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OscillationsandWaves
GeneralizedCoordinates
HolonomicConstraintsandDegreesofFreedom
Lagrange'sEquationsforGeneralizedCoordinates
Nonholonomicconstraints
Hamilton'sVariationalPrinciple
Lagrange'sEquationsinaNoninertialFrame
ApplicationstoOscillatingandOtherSystems
ThePhysicalPendulum
SimplePendulumAttachedtoaHorizontallyMovingMass
DoubleAtwoodMachine
ParticleonaMovableIncline
TheSphericalPendulum
ConstraintsandLagrangeMultipliers
HolonomicConstraints
FallingYoYo
NonholonomicConstraints
D'Alembert'sPrinciple
OscillationsAboutStableEquilibria
StabilityofEquilibrium
SmallOscillations
RockingChair
EarthSatellite
CoupledOscillationswithTwoDegreesofFreedom
NormalModes
TwoMassesandThreeMasslessSprings
TheDoublePendulum
Pendulum,MassandMasslessSpring
GeneralTheoryofVibratingSystems
SolutionbyDiagonalizingtheMassMatrix
LinearTriatomicMolecule
CoupledOscillatorsorLoadedString
CoupledNonlinearOscillators
WavePropagationonaString

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OscillationsandWaves
Thetwoprincipaltypesofregularandorderlymotionobservedinthephysicaluniversearerotations
andoscillations.

Insteadyrotationalmotionanobjectorsystemmovesperiodicallyinaclosedpathwithconstant
angularmomentum.

Insteadyoscillationthesystemmovesbackandforthaboutanequilibriumpositionwithconstant
totalenergy.Theequilibriumpositionisaminimumofpotentialenergy.Theexcessenergyabove
thisminimumvariescontinuouslyandperiodicallybetweenpotentialandkinetic.

Themostimportantconsequenceofoscillitorymotioniswavemotion.Wavesincontinuousmedia
arecausedbyoscillationsofconstituentparticles.

GeneralizedCoordinates
IntheNewtonianformulationofmechanics,asystemofparticlesmovesin3dimensionalEuclidean
space.Theequationofmotionforparticle is

where isdeterminedbydrawingafreebodydiagramforparticle andsummingalltheforces

onitduetoeveryotherparticle.

LagrangeandotherssimplifiedtheNewtonianformalismbyintroducingtheconceptofapotential
functionforconservativeforces

andshowedthatthevectorequationofmotionwasequivalenttoLagrange'sequations

where isascalarfunctionoftheCartesiancoordinatesandvelocities.

HolonomicConstraintsandDegreesofFreedom

Asystemof particlesmovinginEuclideanspacehas degreesoffreedom.Asystemof

pointparticlesinteractingviagravitationalforcescantraveltoanylocationin3dimensionalspace
givensufficientenergy.

Inpractice,realisticsystemsofparticlesaresubjecttoverystrongforcesthatcanrestricttheir
motionundernormalconditions.Theparticlesthatmakeuparigidbodyaresubjecttoverystrong
molecularforcesthatmaintainfixeddistancesbetweenthem.Macroscopicobjectsmayencounter
largesurfacesthateffectivelyrestricttheirmotiontocertainregionsofspaceor2dimensional
surfacesor1dimensionallines.

Strongconstrainingforcescanbeidealizedasinfinitelystrong.Inmanycasestheireffectcanbe
replacedbyasetofholonomicconstraintequationsoftheform

wherethe functionsareindependent,i.e.cannotbereducedtoasmallerset,anddonot
dependonthevelocities .

AsetofholonomicconstraintscanbesolvedfortheCartesiancoordinatesasfunctionsofasetof
generalizedcoordinates

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Lagrange'sEquationsforGeneralizedCoordinates

Whathappenstotheinfinitelystrongconstraintforces?Acarefulmathematicalanalysisshowsthat
theydropcompletelyoutoftheequationsofmotioniftheexpressionsfortheCartesiancoordinates
aresubstitutedintothefullsetofLagrange'sequations!

Theequationsofmotionofthesystembecome

where isnowafunctionofthegeneralizedcoordinatesandvelocities.

Generalizedcoordinates arepointsinan dimensionaldifferentiablemanifoldwhichisin

generalnotEuclideanlikeCartesiancoordinatespace.Pointsinthismanifoldarenotvectorsin
general!Forexample,theEulerangles definepointsina3dimensionalmanifoldwiththe
geometryof3dimensionalhyperspericalsurfacein4dimensionalEuclideanspace.Rotationsabout
theprincipalaxisdirectionsinthebodyfixedframearepointsina3dimensionalballofradius
withantipodalpointsidentified.Vectoralgebracannotbedefinedinthesemanifolds.

Generalizedvelocities howeverarevectors,notinthecoordinatemanifoldbutinthetangent
spaceofthemanifold:

Ingeneral,theLagrangianisafunctionona dimensionaltangentbundle:thebasespaceofthe
bundleisthe dimensionalmanifoldofgeneralizedcoordinates,andthefibersofthebundle
consistofthe dimensionalEuclideantangentspacesateachpointofthemanifold.

Generalizedcoordinatesarevectorsingeneral,butgeneralizedvelocitiesarevectors!

Nonholonomicconstraints

ConstraintswhichdependonCartesianvelocitycomponentsaregenerallynotholonomic.

Aballorabicyclewheelconstrainedtorollwithoutslippingona2dimensionalsurfaceisan
exampleofanonholonomicconstraint.Theinstantaneousvelocityofthepointofcontactwiththe
surfacemustbezero:

Thisisavectorequationwithtwocomponentsinthehorizontalplanethatinvolvethefourvelocities
.Theseequationsarenotintegrabletoaformthatinvolvesonlythegeneralized
coordinates.SeeThePhysicsofBowlingforexample.

Inthebicyclewheelproblemtheconstraintisalsonotintegrable:

However,acylinderrollinginastraightlineona2dimensionalflatsurfaceisholonomicbecausethe
constraintcanbeintegratedtoaformthatinvolvesonlythecoordinates.

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where isthetotaldeflection.

Hamilton'sVariationalPrinciple
Lagrange'sEquations,likeNewton'sLawsofMotion,canbetakenasaxiomsofMechanics,which
areequivalenttoNewton'sLaws.

Differentialequationsarelocalintime.Givenpostitionsandvelocitiesatanyinstantoftime ,the
equationsofmotiondetermineuniquetrajectoriesassubsequenttimes.Euler'salgorithmprovidesa
practicalmeansofdeterminingthetrajectoriesstepbystepintime.

Considerforexampletheonedimensionalsimpleharmonicoscillator

Specifyinginitialvalues

determinesthesolutionuniquely.

Adifferent,butequivalent,axiomaticbasisforMechanicsisprovidedbyglobalvariationalprinciples.
Hamilton'sPrinciplewhichisalsoreferredtoarethePrincipleofLeastAction,isbasedonaglobal
anintegralfunctionalofthegeneralizedcoordinatesandvelocitiescalledtheAction:

Insteadof determiningthemotion,Hamilton'sprincipledeterminesthemotiongiven
.Thereisreallynothingmysteriousaboutdoingthis:ineithercasethetrajectories
aredeterminedbyspecifying constants,whicharetakentobeinitialvaluesinthedifferential
approach,butboundaryvaluesintheintegralapproach.

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Intheexampleoftheharmonicoscillator,wecandeterminethesolutionuniquelywiththeboundary
conditions

AnumericalsolutiontothisproblemcanbefoundusingNewton'smethod.

Hamilton'sPrincipleisbasedontheCalculusofVariationsandstatesthattheActionisstationary
withrespecttoarbitraryvariationswithfixedboundaryvaluesattheinitialandfinaltimes:

Inthesecondlinewehaveused

integratedbypartsandusedtheboundaryconditions .

Becausethevariations arearbitrary,thevanishingoftheintegralovertimeimplies
Lagrange'sequations

TheMathematicaVariationalMethodsPackagecanbeusedtofindthevariationalderivativeofa
functionalandtheEulerLagrangeequations.

Lagrange'sEquationsinaNoninertialFrame

Newton'sequationofmotionforaparticlesubjecttoaphysicalforce inaninertialreference
frameis

Inaframethatmoveswithacceleration androtateswithangularvelocity theequationof

motionbecomes

ThisresultwasderivedinChapter5ofFowles/Cassiday,seeEq.(5.3.2).Notethefourfictitious
inertialforcesontherighthandside:(1)apparentaccelerationorartificialgravitydueto ,(2)
theCoriolisforce,(3)thetransverseforceduetononconstantrotationalvelocity,and(4)the
centrifugalforce.

Bymakingthetransformationofvelocityfromtheinertialtotheprimedframe

inHamilton'svariationalprinciple,itcanbeshownthattheLagrangianinthenoninertialframeis

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where isthepotentialenergyduetophysicalforcesatthepositionoftheparticleintheprimed
frame.

ApplicationstoOscillatingandOtherSystems
ThePhysicalPendulum

Thephysicalorcompoundpendulumisarigidbodypivotedaboutahorizontalaxisthatislocatedat
aperpendiculardistance fromitscenterofmass.

Arigidbodyhas6degreesoffreedom,whichcanbetakentobethevectorposition ofits
centerofmass,andthethreeEulerianangularcoordinates thatrelatethespacefixed
inertialreferenceframetothebodyfixedprincipalaxesreferenceframe.

Theconfigurationofthephysicalpendulumisdefinedbytheangle withtheverticalshowninthe
figure.Thereforetheremustbe5holonomicequationsofconstraint.

Ifwechoosethespacefixed axisverticallydownwardsandthelineofnodesperpendiculartothe
verticalplane,theEulerianangles and canbetakenequaltozero.

Becausethecenterofmassisconstrainedtomoveinaverticalcircle

Thefifthconstraintrelatestheangle tothecenterofmassposition

SimplePendulumAttachedtoaHorizontallyMovingMass

FowlesandCassidaydiscussindetailthesystemshowninthefigure.Themass moveson
frictionlessrailsalongthe axis.Themass issuspendedfrom byalightrodoflength

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andfreetoswingintheverticalplane.

Thereare6Cartesiancoordinatesintheproblem,thepositions of and of .Thereare

4holonomicconstraintsgivenby

Introducingapolaranglecoordinateusing

eliminates fromthefirstconstraintequation.Because isfixed

Thekineticenergyis

andthepotentialenergymeasuredrelativeto is

TheLagrangefunctionforthesystemis

Lagrange'sequationsofmotionare

whichimpliesthatthe componentoftotalmomentumofthesystemisconserved,and

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DoubleAtwoodMachine

InExample10.5.4thepulleysareassumedtobemasslessandfrictionless.

Theverticalposition ofthemovablepulleyandtheverticalpositions ofthemassesare

constrainedbythefixedlengthsofthestrings:

Thissystemhastwodegreesoffreedom.

TheLagrangianis

ParticleonaMovableIncline

Themass slidesdowntheinclinewithoutfriction,andtheinclinewedgeofmass moves

withoutfrictiononthehorizontalsurface.

Thesystemhas2degreesoffreedom,whicharetakentobetheposition ofthewedgerelativeto
afixedpointonthesurface,andthedistancedownthewedge ofthemovingmass.

TheLagrangianofthesystemis

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TheSphericalPendulum

Amass suspendedbyamasslessrodoflength fromapivotisfreetomoveinspace.

TheCartesiancoordinatesof areconstrainedtolieonsphericalsurfaceofradius

Thissystemalsohastwodegreesoffreedom.

TheLagrangianis

NotethattheLagrangiandependsonthreevariables .Theazimuthalangle isan

ignorableorcyclicgeneralizedcoordinatewhichdoesnotappearexplicitlyintheLagrangian.
Because

Lagrange'sequationfor is

andthecorrespondinggeneralizedmomentum isconserved

Conservationof relates to

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Theconservedenergyofthesystemis

Fowles/Cassidaydefineaneffectivepotentialforthe motion

Themotionofthesphericalpendulumissimilartotheprecessionandnutationofasymmetricaltop!

Theeffectivepotentialhasaminimumat where

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Withinitialcondition thependulumbobmovesinahorizontalcirclewith
spinandangularvelocity

Thisiscalledaconicalpendulum:thestringtracesarightcircularconeaboutthevertical.

Lagrange'sequationforthe motioningeneralis

Itcanbesolvednumerically:seethisMathematicaDemo.

ConstraintsandLagrangeMultipliers
TwosignificantadvantagesoftheLagrangianmethodare:

1.Insteadofworkingwithseparatevectorforcediagramsforeachparticlewehaveasinglescalar
functionofthegeneralizedcoordinatesandvelocities.
2.Ifthereare indpependentholonomicconstraints,theconfigurationspaceisreducedfrom
dimensionalEuclideanspacetoan configurationmanifold,andtheconstraint
forcesdisappearfromtheproblem.

ThemethodofLagrangemultiplierscanbeusedtoincorporateanytypeconstraintthatcanbe
expressedasanalgebraicequationintheCartesiancoordinates,velocitiesandtime.

Intheexampleabovetheextremumpointofthefunction subjecttotheconstraint
isfoundasthepointatwhichacontourofconstant touchestheconstraintcurve
tangentially.Theconstraintrestrictstheallowedvaluesof totheredcurve.Attheconstrained
extremumpointthevectorgradientsof and areparallel.Tofindanextremumof
subjecttotheconstraintweneedtosolvetheequations

where isaconstant.Thefirstscalarequationjustsaysthat satisfiestheconstraint,andthe

secondvectorequationsaysthatthegradientvectorsareparallel.Thesethreeequationscanbe
obtainedbyfindingtheextremumoftheLagrangefunction

withrespecttoallthreevariables

Lagrangemultiplierscanbegeneralizedtofindingtheextremaofmultivariablefunctionsandof
functionalslikeHamilton'saction,subjecttomorethanoneconstraint.
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1.Iftheconstraintsareholonomic,theLagrangemultipliermethodallowscontactforces,suchas
normalforcesaresurfacesandtensionsinropesorrodstobedetermined.
2.TheLagrangemultipliermethodcanbeusedtoincorporatenonholonomicconstraints.

HolonomicConstraints

Considerasystemdefinedby generalizedcoordinates andLagrange

equations

and independentholonomicconstraints

Introducing Lagrangemultipliers allowstheconstraintstobeincorporatedinLagrange's

equations

Thethirdterm

isthegeneralizedforcethatimplementstheconstraintsonthegeneralizedcoordinate .

TheLagrangemultipliers areinitallyunknown.The Lagrangeequationsandthe

constraintequationsaresolvedsimultaneouslytodeterminethegeneralizedtrajectories and
constraintforces .

FallingYoYo

TheLagrangianforthefallingdiskwithunwindingstringis

Theholonomicconstraintis

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Lagrange'sequationswithLagrangemultiplier are

Theconstraintequationrelatestheaccelerations

These3equationscanbesolvedtodeterminetheacceleration

theLagrangemultiplier

andhencethestringtensionandtorqueonthedisk

NonholonomicConstraints
Lagrangemultiplierscanalsobeusedtoimplementconstraintsthatarenotholonomic.Unlike
holonomicconstraints,itisnotpossibletomodifyLagrange'sequationsbyaddinggeneralizedforce
contributions:dependingontheformoftheconstraints,theequationsmayneedtobefurther
modified.

However nonholonomicconstraintsthatislinearinthegeneralizedvelocities

where dependonthecoordinatesonlyandnotonthevelocities,canbeimplementedina
straightforwardway.Becauseoftheconstraints,variations cannotbemadeindependentlybut
mustberelatedby

inordertosatisfythenonholonomicconstraints.Theconstraintscanbeimplementedusing
Lagrangemultipliers

Anexampleisthebicyclewheelstabilityproblemwiththefollowingnonholonomicconstraintsfor
rollingwithoutslipping

D'Alembert'sPrinciple
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LagrangeoriginallydeducedhisequationsofmotionnotfromHamilton'sPrinciple,whichcame
muchlater,butfromD'Alembert'sPrincipleofvirtualwork.

TheessentialconceptintroducedbyBernoulliandD'Alembertisthatofavirtualdisplacementand
thevirtualworkdonemytheforcesonthesysteminavirtualdisplacement.

Avirtualdisplacementisasetofinfinitesimalchanges intheCartesiancoordinates ofthe

bodiesinthesystemsubjecttocertainconditions.

Avirtualdisplacementhastwoessentialfeatures:(1)thecoordinatesofthesystemareimaginedto
changeatafixedinstantoftime,whichimpliesthattheforcesdonotchangewithtimeduringthe
displacement,and(2)thedisplacementisconsistentwithanyconstraintsonthesystem.

IntermsoftheCartesiancoordinatesD'Alembert'sprinciplestates

ThisequationistrueasaconsequenceofNewton'sequations

Theterminvolvingtheappliedforces

istheworkdonebytheseforcesinthevirtualdisplacements.Thissumwillnotbezeroingeneralif
anyoneoftheparticlesinthesystemisnotinequilibrium.

Thesecondterm

canbeinterpretedastheworkdonebytheinertialforces ontheparticles.

D'Alembert'sprinciplebecomesnontrivialwhenitistransformedfromCartesiantogeneralized
coordinates,whichmaybesubjecttoconstraints.Becausethevirtualdisplacementsareconsistent
withtheconstraints,thevirtualworkdonebyconstraintforces,suchasnormalforcesatapointof
contact,iszero.AlloftheconstraintforcesdropoutofD'Alembert'svirtualworkequationand
Newton'ssecondlawcannotbeappliedtoeachparticle:ingeneral,onlythesumofvirtualwork
doneonallparticlesiszero.

ThefinalresultofthisanalysisisageneralizedsetofLagrange'sequations

wheretheLagrangefunction

includedallconservativeforcesinthepotentialfunction ,andthe includenon

conservativegeneralizedforcesthatcannotbederivedfromapotentialfunction.

OscillationsAboutStableEquilibria
Theonedimensionallinearharmonicoscillator

isthesimplestexampleofoscillationaboutastableequilibriumpoint.

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Thepotentialenergyoftheoscillatoris

Anequilbriumpositionisapointincoordinatespaceatwhichthenetforceandhencethe
accelerationoftheobjectvanishes

whichhasthesolution .

Ingeneral,equilibriumpointsforthemotionofaconservativesystemdescribedbygeneralized
coordinates andapotentialfunction arepointsatwhichallgeneralizedforces
onthesystemvanish

StabilityofEquilibrium

Considerasystemwithonegeneralizedcoordinate .Supposeanequilibriumpoint hasbeen

located

TodeterminewhetherthepointisstableorunstableconsidertheTaylorexpansionofthepotential
functionabout

Ifweconsiderverysmallexcursions abouttheequilibriumpointthecubicandhigher
ordertermsarenegligibleandthesystemissubjecttoaneffectivepotential

whichisasimpleharmonicoscillatorpotentialwitheffectiveforceconstant

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Thepointisstableif andunstableif .

SmallOscillations
Considerthekineticenergyoftheobject

where maydependonthegeneralizedcoordinate.Notethatthekineticenergyisquadratic
inthegeneralizedvelocity.ClosetoequilibriumwecanTaylorexpand

Discardingtermsthatarecubicorhigherorderinthesmallquantities ,theLagrangian
canbeapproximated

ThisisjusttheLagrangianforaonedimensionalharmonicoscillatorwithequationofmotion

Theangularfrequencyofsmalloscillationsis

RockingChair

Anobjectwitharoundedbottomsurfaceandradiusofcurvature restsonahorizontalsurface.

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Itsgravitationalpotentialenergyis

Theequilibriumat isstableif .

Treattherockingchairisarigidbody.Thedeterminethefrequencyofsmalloscillationsaboutthe
equilibriumpositionweneedthekineticenergyatanyinstantoftime,forexampletheinstantshown
inthefigure.Atthisinstant,choosetheinertialspacefixedframe asshowninthefigure,
withtheoriginatthecenterofthecircleandthe axisperpendiculartotheplaneofthepageand
outwardindirection.FixtheEulerangle sothelineofnodescoincideswiththe axis.The
Eulerangle isthetiltofthechairwithrespecttothevertical.Thechairdoesnotspinaboutthe
axis,sotheEulerangle .

Choosingthebodyfixedaxisoriginatthecenterofmass,thekineticenergyisthesumofthe
translationalandrotationalterms

where isthevelocityofthecenterofoscillationand isthemomentofinertiaaboutthe

axis,whichcoincideswiththelineofnodes.

Thechairrocksbyrollingwithoutslippingonthehorizontalsurface,whichrequiresthatthe
instantaneousvelocityofthepointofcontact mustvanish:

whichdetermines

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Forsmalloscillationsnear ,Taylorexpand

anddiscardtermscubicorhigherorderinthesmallquantities and toobtaintheLagrangian

forsmalloscillations

andtheangularfrequencyofsmalloscillationsis

EarthSatellite
GravitationaltorquesonasatelliteinEarthorbitcanresultinanequilibriumattitudeororientation
relativetotheradialdirection.ThisisanexampleofthegeneralphenomenonofTidallocking.

Thegravitationalpotentialenergyofthesatelliteconsideredasarigidbodyhasaquadrupoleterm
thatdependsontheprincipalmomentsofinertiaandtheattitudeangle.

ChoosingtheoriginofthespacefixedframeatthecenteroftheEarthofmass andthebody
fixedframeatthecenterofmassofthesatelliteofmass ,thepotentialenergytakestheform

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wherethesumisoverthecomponents,eachofmass ,ofthesatellite.Theposition of
relativetothecenterofmassinbodyfixedcomponentsis

Considerthesimplespecialcasethatthesatelliterotatesonlyaboutthe bodyfixedaxis,which
remainsperpendiculartotheplaneoftheorbit.Choosethe axisinthedirectionofthe
instantaneouspositionofthesatellite.TheEulerangles and asshowninthe
figure.

Thesuminthequadrupolepotentialenergyis

Thedefinitionsofmomentsofinertiacanbeusedtoexpressthesums

intermsoftheprincipalmomentsofinertiaofthesatellite.Assumingthatthebodyfixedaxesare
chosentobetheprincipalaxes

thepotentialenergyis

Thekineticenergyofthesatelliteis

CoupledOscillationswithTwoDegreesofFreedom
Manyconservativesystemswithtwogeneralizedcoordinates haveaLagrangianfunctionof
theform

Thekineticenergyisaquadraticforminthegeneralizedvelocities withcoefficientsthat
dependon .Thepotentialenergydependsonlyonthegeneralizedcoordinates.

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Astableequilibrium ofthesystemisaminimumofthepotentialenergyfunction

atwhichtheHessianmatrix

hasbotheigenvaluesnonzeroandpositive.

Theeigenvaluesofasymmetric matrixcanbefoundbysolvingthesimultaneousequations

whichhaveanontrivialsolutionsifthedeterminant

whichhastwosolutions

EigenvaluesandeigenvectorscanbefoundconvenientlyusingMathematica:

A={{a,b},{b,c}}

Eigenvalues[A]

Eigenvectors[A]

NormalModes
Nowconsidersmalloscillationsaboutastableequilibrium.Tosimplifythenotation,choosethe
generalizedcoordinatessothattheequilibriumpointislocatedat .

TheLagrangianforsmalloscillationscanbewritteninmatrixnotation

where

Theequationofmotionforsmalloscillationsis

whichisasetoftwocoupleddifferentialequations.

Thenormalmodesofthesystemarelinearcombinationsof and

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where isaconstantmatrix,thatoscillatewithadefiniteangularfrequency .

Tofindthenormalmodes,weneedtosolvetheGeneralizedmatrixeigenvalueproblem

Aswiththematrixeigenvalueproblem,thegeneralizedeigenvaluesaretherootsofthedeterminant

asafunctionof .

Ifthematrix isnonsingular,i.e.itsinverseexists,thegeneralizedeigenvalueproblemcanbe
transformedtoanordinaryeigenvalueproblem:

andsolvedusingMathematica

K={{k11,k12},{k12,k22}}

M={{m11,m12},{m12,m22}}

Eigenvalues[Dot[Inverse[M],K]]

Eigenvectors[Inverse[M].K]

NotethatamatrixproductisrepresentedbytheDotfunctionorperiod(.)operator.

ThegeneralizedeigenvaluesandeigenvectorscanbefoundusingMathematica'sEigenvaluesand
Eigenvectorsfunctions,providedthatthematricesarespecifiednumerically:

K=N[{{1,2},{2,3}}]

M=N[{{4,5},{5,6}}]

Eigenvalues[{K,M}]

Eigenvectors[{K,M}]

Therewillbetwoeigenvectorscorrespondingtothetwoeigenvalues and

eachdetermineduptoanoverallmultiplicativeconstant.Iftheeigenvaluesaredistinct,thenthetwo
eigenvectorsareorthogonaltooneanother.Iftheeigenvalueshappentobeequal,thenlinear
combinationsoftheeigenvectorscanbechosenthatareothogonaltooneanother.

Itcanalsobeshownthatthematrix isdeterminedbytheeigenvectorsarrangedascolumns

Thegeneralizedcoordinatescorrespondingtothenormalmodesarethengivenby

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Thegeneralsolutionisalinearcombinationofnormalmodesolutionswithcoefficientsthatare
determinedbytheinitialconditions.TheMathematicademoshowsthetrajectoriesforthespecial
caseofequalamplitudes,whichareLissajouscurves.

Manipulate[
ParametricPlot[{Sin[at],Sin[bt+\[Phi]]},{t,0,tmax},
PlotRange>1.05,Axes>ax,ImageSize>{500,400},
PerformanceGoal>"Quality"],
{{a,1,"horizontalfrequency"},1,3,Appearance>"Labeled"},
{{b,1,"verticalfrequency"},1,3,Appearance>"Labeled"},
{{\[Phi],Pi/4,"relativephase"},0,2Pi,
Appearance>"Labeled"},Delimiter,
{{tmax,100,"length"},0.1,500,Appearance>"Labeled"},
{{ax,False,"showaxes"},{True,False}}]

TwoMassesandThreeMasslessSprings
Considertwoequalmasses connectedbythreemasslesssprings.

TheLagrangianofthiscoupledoscillatorsystemis

Theforceandmassmatricesare

Becausethemassmatrixistrivialwehaveanordinaryeigenvalueproblem

Eigensystem[{{K+Kp,Kp},{Kp,K+Kp}}/m]

Solvingthenormalmodeseigenvalueproblemgivestwofrequencies

withcorrespondingnormalmodes

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Notethatthenormalmodesaredetermineduptoanoverallconstantbecausetheeigenvalue
equationislinearandhomogenous.

TheDoublePendulum
Thedoublependulumconsistsoftwomassesconnectedbylightrodssuspendedfromapivotand
freetorotateindependentlyintheverticalplane.

Thetworodsprovideholonomicconstraintsonthemotionofthetwomassesintheverticalplane:

Therearethereforeonlytwoindependentgeneralizedcoordinates,whichcanbetakentobethe
angles and thatthetworodsmakewiththedownwardverticaldirection.

TheLagrangianforthedoublependulumis

Thestableequilibriumconfigurationisobviously withbothmasseshangingvertically
downwards.TheLagrangianforsmalloscillationsis

Themassandforcematricesare

Thenormalfrequenciescanbefoundquiteeasilyforthe2x2matrixproblem,orbyusing
Mathematica:

M={{2,1},{1,1}}

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MInv=Inverse[M]

K={{2,0},{0,1}}

Eigensystem[MInv.K]

Theeigenvaluesare

andthecorrespondingeigenvectorsare

Pendulum,MassandMasslessSpring
Ablockofmass isattachedtoalighthorizontalspringwithforceconstant andmovesona
frictionlesshorizontalsupport.Apendulumbobofmass isattachedtothebottomoftheblockby
alightrodoflength andcanswingfreelyintheverticalplaneundergravity.

TheLagrangianforthesystemis

Thestableequilibriumconfigurationhasthespringrelaxed andthebobhangingstraight
down .

TheLagrangianforsmalloscillationsis

wherethegeneralizedcoordinatesandthemassandforcematricesare

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Thenormalfrequenciescanbefoundquiteeasilyforthe2x2matrixproblem,orbyusing
Mathematica:

M={{2,1},{1,1}}

MInv=Inverse[M]

K={{2k,0},{0,1}}

Eigensystem[MInv.K]

Theeigenvaluesare

andthecorrespondingeigenvectorsare

GeneralTheoryofVibratingSystems
TheLagrangianforasystemwith degreesoffreedomdescribedby generalizedcoordinates
hastheform

Thekineticenergyisapositivedefinitequadraticforminthegeneralizedvelocities.Toseethis,
considerthekineticenergyof particlesinCartesiancoordinates ,

andmakethetransformationto generalizedcoordinates,whichcanincorporate
holonomicorintegrablenonholonomicconstraints:

NotethatthateachCartesianvelocityvector isalinearcombinationofgeneralized
velocities withcoefficientsthatdependonthegeneralizedcoordinates.

Considerastableequilibriumconfiguration ofthesystematwhich

andsmalloscillationsaboutthisequilibrium.Theequationscanbesimplifiedbychoosingtheorigin
ofgeneralizedcoordinatesattheequilibriumpointso .MakeamultivariableTaylor
expansion

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Theconstant canbeignoredandthesecondtermlinearin vanishes.TheLagrangianfor

smalloscillationsis

wherethegeneralizedmassmatrix andthegeneralizedforcematrix haveconstant

components

Themassmatrices and arebothrealandsymmetric.Themassmatrixispositivedefinite,

andtheeigenvaluesoftheforcematrixmustbepositivefortheequilibriumtobestable.

TheLagrangeequationsforsmalloscillations

havenormalmodesolutionsoftheform

for normalmodefrequencies thatareeigenvaluesofthegeneralizedeigenvalueequation

SolutionbyDiagonalizingtheMassMatrix

Becausethemassmatrix issymmetric,itcanbediagonalizedbyanorthogonaltransformation:

TheMomentofInertiaTensorisanexampleofapositivedefinitesymmetric matrix,whichis
diagonalizedbytransformingtoaprincipalaxescoordinatesystem.

Because ispositivedefinite,itseigenvalues forall ,andthe

diagonalmatrices

arewelldefinedandpositivedefinite.Nowdefineacolumnvector

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andthetransformedmatrices

Thegeneralizedeigenvalueproblemistransformedintotheordinaryeigenvalueproblem

where isarealsymmetricmatrix.

Because isrealandsymmetric,itseigenvalues arereal.Iftheequilibriumisaminimumof

thepotentialenergy,theneacheigenvaluemustbepositive correspondingtoarealnon
zerofrequency .

Ifanyoftheeigenvaluesiszero,thecorrespondingeigenmodeobeys

whichcorrespondstoneutralequilibriuminthedirectionofthemode:therestoringforceiszero,
whichimpliesmotionwithconstantvelocity.

Azeroeigenvaluecanoccurforvariousreasons,usuallybecauseofasymmetrypropertyofthe
potentialenergyfunction,butalsowhenthepotentialminimumislocallyflat:

1.Considerthetwodimensionalharmonictroughpotential:

Theforceinthe directioniszero.Thepotentialissymmetricundertranslationsinthe
direction.The componentofmomentumisconserved.

2.Thequarticpotential

haszerocurvatureatequilibrium,whichgivesrisetoazerofrequencysmalloscillation
mode.

LinearTriatomicMolecule

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M={{1,0,0},{0,mu,0},{0,0,1}}

MInv=Inverse[M]

K={{1,1,0},{1,2,1},{0,1,1}}

Eigensystem[MInv.K]

Theeigenvaluesare

andthecorrespondingeigenfunctionsare

CoupledOscillatorsorLoadedString
Considerasystemof particles,eachofmass ,connectedbylinearsprings.Thekinetic
energyofthesystemis

whereweassumethatparticle isdescribedbyasinglegeneralizedcoordinate .

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Thepotentialenergyofthesystemdependsonhowtheparticlesareconnectedtooneanotherand
ontheconstraintsthatrestrictthe degreesoffreedomofeachmasstoasinglegeneralized
coordinate.

Thefigureaboveshowsthemassesconfinedinalinearregionoffixedsizeandconnectedby
identicalspringseachofstiffness .Themassesmovelongitudinallywithpotentialenergy

Thelongitudinalrestoringforceonparticle is

withtheunderstandingthe representtheimmovableboundarywalls.

Transverseoscillationsareanotherpossibility.Herethemassesareconstrainedtomoveinaplane
withfixedhorizontalseparations .Here isthetransversedisplacementofmass .

Thissystemistrickybecausethereareconstraintforcesinadditiontotherestoringforcesinthe
connectingsprings.Toseetheproblem,assumethatthepotentialenergyofthetwospring
connectedtoparticle issimply

ifweassumethat isthelengthofarelaxedspring.

Therestoringforceonparticle is

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Assumingthat

wehave

Cubicforces??Whatwentwrong??Theassumptionthat istherelaxedlengthofthespringsis
notrealistic.Arelaxedstringisfloppyandwillnotsupporttransversevibrations!

Toproducetransverserestoringforces,thespringsmustbestretchedwithtension inthe
equilibriumconfiguration.Ifthetransversedisplacementsaresmall,thenthetensionis
approximatelyconstant.Thepotentialenergyofthesystemiscalculatedfromtheworkdonein
movingthemassesawayfromequilibrium.

Whenthemasses and aremovedawayfromequilibrium,thespringconnectingthem

stretchesby

underapproximatelyconstanttension .Thepotentialenergystoredinthespringisequaltothe
workdone

Thisgivesapotentialenergy

whichhasthesameformasforlongitudinaloscillationifwereplacethelongitudinalforceconstant
by .

MathematicaDemoNormalModesonaBeadedString

Manipulate[
If[modes>beads,modes=beads];
With[{m=
Table[Sin[(modes)\[Pi]x/((beads+1))],{x,0,beads+1}]},
Show[ListLinePlot[Transpose@{Range[0,beads+1],m},
Epilog>{Red,Point@MapIndexed[{First@#21,#}&,m]},
PlotRange>{{0,beads+1},{1.4,1.4}},AxesOrigin>{0,0},
ImageSize>{500,300}],
Plot[Sin[modes\[Pi]x/(beads+1)],{x,0,beads+1},
PlotStyle>Dashed],Axes>{True,False},
Ticks>None]],{{beads,8},1,64,1,Appearance>"Labeled"},
{{modes,7},1,beads,1,Appearance>"Labeled"}]

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CoupledNonlinearOscillators
Inasystemoflinearlycoupledoscillators,thenormalmodesarecompletelyindependentofone
another.Theenergyofeachmodeisseparatelyconserved.

Howcansuchasystemcometothermalequilibriumatatemperature whereeachofthemodes
hasthesameaverageenergy accordingtoBoltzmann'sequipartitiontheorem.Thiscan't
happenwithanisolatedsystemoflinearoscillators,sothermalequilibriumisonlypossibleifthe
normalmodescanshareenergywithoneanotherthroughnonlinearinteractions.

Scholarpedia:FermiPastaUlamnonlinearlatticeoscillations.

Fermi,PastaandUlamstudiedthispossibilityusingoneofthefirstdigitalcomputers,theMANIACI
atLosAlamosNationalLaboratory,intheearly1950's.InareportStudiesofNonLinearProblems
publishedin1955,theyfoundthatoneexampleofsuchasystemnevercomestothermal
equilibrium!

WavePropagationonaString

2011RichardJ.Gonsalves

DepartmentofPhysics|UniversityatBuffalo

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