QG Seminar: A Universal Variational Principle for Point Particle Classical Mechanics (Will Horowitz, University of Cape Town)

QG Seminar

Speaker: Will Horowitz (University of Cape Town)

Title: A Universal Variational Principle for Point Particle Classical Mechanics 

Abstract: 

We derive from Newton’s Second Law as an initial value problem initial—rather than boundary-value—action principles in configuration space and phase space for the classical motion of a point particle subject to any set of forces: conservative forces, holonomic and non-holonomic forces of constraint that do no virtual work, and general non-conservative forces. We provide explicit constructions of the actions given the arbitrary forces acting on the point particle. This work places action principles on equal footing with Newton’s Second Law in classical mechanics.