Point symmetry group of the Lagrangian

The theory of finite point symmetry transformations is revisited within the frame of the general theory of transformations of Lagrangian mechanics. The point symmetry groupG(L) of a given Lagrangian functionL (i.e., the Noether group) is thus obtained, and its main features are briefly discussed. The explicit calculation of the Noether group is presented for two rather simple c-equivalent Lagrangian systems. The formalism affords an introduction to the Noether theory of infinitesimal point symmetry transformations in Lagrangian mechanics; however, it is also of interest in its own right.     

The Extended Cartan Homotopy Formula and a Subspace Separation Method for Chern–Simons Theory

In the context of Chern–Simons (CS) Theory, a subspace separation method for the Lagrangian is proposed. The method is based on the iterative use of the Extended Cartan Homotopy Formula, and allows one to (1) separate the action in bulk and boundary contributions, and (2) systematically split the Lagrangian in appropriate reflection of the subspace structure of the gauge algebra. In order to apply the method, one must regard CS forms as a particular case of more general objects known as transgression forms. Five-dimensional CS Supergravity is used as an example to illustrate the method.      

Generalized Noether theorems and applications

We generalize the first and second Noether theorems (Noether identities) to a constrained system in phase space. As an example, the conservation law deriving from Lagrange's formalism cannot be obtained fromH _E via the generalized first Noether theorem (GFNT); Dirac's conjecture regarding secondary first-class constraints (SFCC) is invalid in this example. A preliminary application of the generalized Noether identities (GNI) to nonrelativistic charged particles in an electromagnetic field shows that on the constrained hypersurface in phase space one obtains electric charge conservation. This conservation law is valid whether Dirac's conjecture holds true or not.     

Quantum Noether identities for non-local transformationsin higher-order derivatives theories

Based on the phase-space generating functional of the Green function for a system with a regular/singular higher-order Lagrangian, the quantum canonical Noether identities (NIs) under a local and non-local transformation in phase space have been deduced, respectively. For a singular higher-order Lagrangian, one must use an effective canonical action I_eff^P in quantum canonical NIs instead of the classical I^P in classical canonical NIs. The quantum NIs under a local and non-local transformation in configuration space for a gauge-invariant system with a higher-order Lagrangian have also been derived. The above results hold true whether or not the Jacobian of the transformation is equal to unity or not. It has been pointed out that in certain cases the quantum NIs may be converted to conservation laws at the quantum level. This algorithm to derive the quantum conservation laws is significantly different from the quantum first Noether theorem. The applications of our formulation to the Yang-Mills fields and non-Abelian Chern-Simons (CS) theories with higher-order derivatives are given, and the conserved quantities at the quantum level for local and non-local transformations are found, respectively.Received: 12 February 2002, Revised: 16 June 2003, Published online: 25 August 2003Z.-P. Li: Corresponding authorAddress for correspondence: Department of Applied Physics, Beijing Polytechnic University, Beijing 100022, P.R. China     

Noether-Symmetry Analysis using Alternative Lagrangian Representations

We have sought to work with an approach to Noether symmetry analysis which uses the properties of infinitesimal point transformations in the space-time (q, t) variable to establish the association between symmetries and conservation laws of a dynamical system. In this approach symmetries are expressed in the form of generators. We have studied the variational or Noether symmetries of two uncoupled Harmonic oscillators and two such oscillators coupled by an interaction. Both these systems can have alternative Lagrangian representations. We have studied in detail how the association between symmetries and conservation laws changes as one alters the analytic or Lagrangian representation. This analysis is carried out with a view to explicitly demonstrate that the correlation between symmetry transformation and corresponding invariant quantity depends crucially on the choice of the analytic representation. PACS 45.20.Jj, 45.20.df, 45.20.dh     

非定域量子Noether恒等式及应用

基于高阶微商奇异拉氏量系统的相空间生成泛函,导出了定域和非定域变换下的量子正则Noether恒等式;对高阶微商规范不变系统,导出了位形空间中定域和非定域变换下的量子Noether恒等式.指出在某些情形下,由量子Noether恒等式可导致系统的量子守恒律.这种求守恒律的程式与量子Noether(第一)定理不同.用于高阶微商非AbelChern-Simons(CS)理论,求出某些非定域等变换下的量子守恒量.     

高阶微商系统Dirac猜想的一个反例

由扩展正则作用量导出了高阶微商奇异Lagrange量系统的扩展正则Noether恒等式.从广义约束Hamilton系统相空间中对称性分析，给出高阶微商系统Dirac猜想的一个反例. 用正则Noether定理、 正则Noether恒等式和扩展正则Noether恒等式说明在此反例中Dirac猜想失效, 讨论中没有将约束线性化. 关键词： 高阶微商系统 约束Hamilton系统 正则对称性 Dirac猜想     

Lagrangian submanifolds and the Euler-Lagrange equations in higher-order mechanics

A direct construction of the Euler-Lagrange equations in higher-order mechanics as a submanifold of a higher-order tangent bundle is given, starting from the Lagrangian submanifold defined by the Lagrangian function. This construction uses higher-order tangent bundle geometry, derives the Euler-Lagrange equations as the constraint equations of a submanifold, and makes no assumptions about the regularity of the Lagrangian.     

APPROXIMATE PARTIAL NOETHER OPERATORS OF THE SCHWARZSCHILD SPACETIME

The objective of this paper is twofold: (a) to find a natural example of a perturbed Lagrangian that has different partial Noether operators with symmetries different from those of the underlying Lagrangian. First we regard the Schwarzschild spacetime as a perturbation of the Minkowski spacetime and investigate the approximate partial Noether operators for this perturbed spacetime. It is shown that the Minkowski spacetime has 12 partial Noether operators, 10 of which are different from the 17 Noether symmetries for this spacetime. It is found that for the perturbed Schwarzschild spacetime we recover the exact partial Noether operators as trivial first-order approximate partial Noether operators and there is no non-trivial approximate partial Noether operator as for the Noether case. As a consequence we state a conjecture. (b) Then we prove a conjecture that the approximate symmetries of a perturbed Lagrangian form a subalgebra of the approximate symmetries of the corresponding perturbed Euler–Lagrange equations and illustrate it by our examples. This is in contrast to approximate partial Noether operators.     

Quantization of the Schwarzschild Black Hole: A Noether Symmetry Approach

We study the canonical formalism of a spherically symmetric space-time. In the context of the 3+1 decomposition with respect to the radial coordinate r, we set up an effective Lagrangian in which a couple of metric functions play the role of independent variables. We show that the resulting r-Hamiltonian yields the correct classical solutions which can be identified with the space-time of a Schwarzschild black hole. The Noether symmetry of the model is then investigated by utilizing the behavior of the corresponding Lagrangian under the infinitesimal generators of the desired symmetry. According to the Noether symmetry approach, we also quantize the model and show that the existence of a Noether symmetry yields a general solution to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation which exhibits a good correlation with the classical regime. We use the resulting wave function in order to (qualitatively) investigate the possibility of the avoidance of classical singularities.     

The Theory of Equivalent Lagrangians Revisited: A Symplectic Approach

The existence of different Lagrangian functions for the same dynamical vector field is studied using the methods of symplectic mechanics. The concept of Lagrangeoid transformation is introduced and its relation with the theory of bi-Hamiltonian systems analyzed. The relation between equivalent (non-gauge equivalent) Lagrangian formulations in TQ and their associated Hamiltonian dynamical systems in T*Q is developed and, finally, the Noether theorem is considered.     

Batalin-Vilkovisky field-antifield quantisation of fluctuations around classical field configurations

The Lagrangian field-antifield formalism of Batalin and Vilkovisky (BV) is used to investigate the application of the collective coordinate method to soliton quantisation. In field theories with soliton solutions, the Gaussian fluctuation operator has zero modes due to the breakdown of global symmetries of the Lagrangian in the soliton solutions. It is shown how Noether identities and local symmetries of the Lagrangian arise when collective coordinates are introduced in order to avoid divergences related to these zero modes. This transformation to collective and fluctuation degrees of freedom is interpreted as a canonical transformation in the symplectic field-antifield space which induces a time-local gauge symmetry. Separating the corresponding Lagrangian path integral of the BV scheme in lowest order into harmonic quantum fluctuations and a free motion of the collective coordinate with the classical mass of the soliton, we show how the BV approach clarifies the relation between zero modes, collective coordinates, gauge invariance and the center-of-mass motion of classical solutions in quantum fields. Finally, we apply the procedure to the reduced nonlinear O(3) σ-model.     

Affine Hamiltonians in Higher Order Geometry

Affine Hamiltonians are defined in the paper and their study is based especially on the fact that in the hyperregular case they are dual objects of Lagrangians defined on affine bundles, by mean of natural Legendre maps. The variational problems for affine Hamiltonians and Lagrangians of order k≥2 are studied, relating them to a Hamilton equation. An Ostrogradski type theorem is proved: the Hamilton equation of an affine Hamiltonian h is equivalent with Euler–Lagrange equation of its dual Lagrangian L. Zermelo condition is also studied and some non-trivial examples are given. The authors were partially supported by the CNCSIS grant A No. 81/2005.     

On Dirac's Conjecture

The extended canonical Noether identities and canonical first Noether theorem derived from an extended action in phase space for a system with a singular Lagrangian are formulated. Using these canonical Noether identities, it can be shown that the constraint multipliers connected with the first-class constraints may not be independent, so a query to a conjecture of Dirac is presented. Based on the symmetry properties of the constrained Hamiltonian system in phase space, a counterexample to a conjecture of Dirac is given to show that Dirac's conjecture fails in such a system. We present here a different way rather than Cawley's examples and other's ones in that there is no linearization of constraints in the problem. This example has a feature that neither the primary first-class constraints nor secondary first-class constraints are generators of the gauge transformation.     

The Lanczos Potential for Weyl-Candidate Tensors Exists Only in Four Dimensions

We prove that a Lanczos potential L _abc for the Weyl candidate tensor W _abcd does not generally exist for dimensions higher than four. The technique is simply to assume the existence of such a potential in dimension n, and then check the integrability conditions for the assumed system of differential equations; if the integrability conditions yield another non-trivial differential system for L _abc and W _abcd, then this system's integrability conditions should be checked, and so on. When we find a non-trivial condition involving only W _abcd and its derivatives, then clearly Weyl candidate tensors failing to satisfy that condition cannot be written in terms of a Lanczos potential L _abc.     

Semiclassical Almost Isometry

Let (M , ω , J) be a compact and connected polarized Hodge manifold, an isodrastic leaf of half-weighted Bohr–Sommerfeld Lagrangian submanifolds. We study the relation between the Weinstein symplectic structure of and the asymptotics of the the pull-back of the Fubini–Study form under the projectivization of the so-called BPU maps on .     

First variation formula and conservation laws in several independent discrete variables

This paper sets the scene for discrete variational problems on an abstract cellular complex that serves as discrete model of R^p and for the discrete theory of partial differential operators that are common in the Calculus of Variations. A central result is the construction of a unique decomposition of certain partial difference operators into two components, one that is a vector bundle morphism and other one that leads to boundary terms. Application of this result to the differential of the discrete Lagrangian leads to unique discrete Euler and momentum forms not depending either on the choice of reference on the base lattice or on the choice of coordinates on the configuration manifold, and satisfying the corresponding discrete first variation formula. This formula leads to discrete Euler equations for critical points and to exact discrete conservation laws for infinitesimal symmetries of the Lagrangian density, with a clear physical interpretation.     

Static spherically symmetric solutions in <Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) gravity

A Lagrangian derivation of the Equations of Motion (EOM) for static spherically symmetric metrics in F(R) modified gravity is presented. For a large class of metrics, our approach permits one to reduce the EOM to a single equation and we show how it is possible to construct exact solutions in F(R)-gravity. All known exact solutions are recovered. We also exhibit a new non-trivial solution with non-constant Ricci scalar.     

Lagrange–Poincaré field equations

The Lagrange–Poincaré equations of classical mechanics are cast into a field theoretic context together with their associated constrained variational principle. An integrability/reconstruction condition is established that relates solutions of the original problem with those of the reduced problem. The Kelvin–Noether Theorem is formulated in this context. Applications to the isoperimetric problem, the Skyrme model for meson interaction, and molecular strands illustrate various aspects of the theory.     

n<Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">th</Emphasis></Superscript>-Order Approximate Lagrangians Induced by Perturbative Geometries

A family of perturbative Lagrangians that describe approximate and multidimensional Klein-Gordon equations are studied. We probe the existence of approximate Noether symmetries via generalized geometric conditions for a perturbation of any order. The knowledge of the geometric conditions uncovers that unlike exact symmetries, the approximate Noether symmetries of the Lagrangian which describes the motion of a particle in n-dimensional space under the action of an autonomous force, is inequivalent to the Noether symmetries admitted by the Klein-Gordon Lagrangian in general.