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
Todays 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 Hamiltons 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 2 V (x) = reduced velocity

Lets check if this works

L 1 2 mc i Space component
= mc = = p i
good. But no time
vi i 1 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 2 U (x, v) = mc 2 1 2 q + 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 2 V (x)

Energy function h is defined by conservative

L mc i vi mc 2
h = x i L =
i
+ mc 1 + V =
2 2
+V
x 1 2
1 2

This is total energy

Its 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 2 + eEx =0 e =V
Lagranges equation x
d L L d mc d eE
= eE = 0 =
dt v x dt 1 2 dt 1 2 mc

Integrate twice, assuming x = 0, v = 0 at t = 0
mc 2
( )
eE
t
= 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
= mc
x= 1 + ( mc
eE
t )2 1
1+ ( t) eE
mc
2
eE

eE eE 2
Low-velocity limit v = t x= t
m 2m
t limit 1 x ct
All as expected
Look at it in terms of energy
mc 2
x= ( 1) eEx = mc 2 ( 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 2 V V = 12 kx 2
x
Lets use energy conservation this time
mc 2 m 2 4
c
E= + V = const 2 = 1 >0
1 2
(E V ) 2

Solution exists only when

E V > mc 2 V ( x)
Oscillation between two E
points expected E mc 2
Whats the x
frequency? b b
Semi-Relativistic Oscillator
Integrate for of the cycle Oscillation period

1 dx m2c 4 b 1
= = 1 = dx
c dt ( E V )2 4 0
c 1 ( EmVc )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 + (b 2
x 2
)
mc 2mc
Approximate for V << mc2
E V 1 1 1 + 34
= 1+
1 (1 + ) 2 3 2
2 2
mc 2
Semi-Relativistic Oscillator
4 b 1 + 34 (b 2 x 2 ) 2 3 2 m 3kb 2
= dx = 1 + b = 2 1 + 2
c 0
2 (b x )
2 2
c 2 8 k 16mc

Period is longer than non-relativistic oscillator

3kb 2 3 Vmax
= = Wrong sign in textbook /
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 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
Lets 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 Hamiltons 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
Hamiltons principle I = Ldt = 0
We want the action integral to be Lorentz scalar
Integration should not be by t, but by a Lorentz-invariant
variable Proper time could be a good choice?
Lagrangian L must then be a Lorentz scalar
Lagranges equation should look like
L d L Symmetric for time and
=0
x
d u space components

Solution is not unique. None of them perfect

Lets look at one Goldstein Section 7.10 for more
Free Lagrangian
We try a force-free Lagrangian = 12 mu u
Looks like the non-relativistic kinetic energy
Lorentz scalar
d d (mu )
Lagranges equation would be = =0
d u d
Conservation of 4-momentum

Time component is conservation of energy

Energy function doesnt give total energy, though

1 1 2 Conserved,
h=u
= mu u = mc
u 2 2 but not energy
EM Force
We know only one force in 4-vector form EM
Potential was given by qu A
Lagrangian can be ( x , u ) = 12 mu u + qu A
Lagranges equations
d d A
= ( mu + qA ) qu = 0

d u x d x

d (mu ) A dA 4-force found

= qu = K
d x d last week

This looks promising

Limitations of Purist Approach
We dont 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
I = Ld
=0
x d 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 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 = 12 mu u + qu A
Done with special relativity
Next: Hamiltonian formalism