Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The general results presented above for Hamilton's principle can be applied to optics using the Lagrangian defined in Fermat's principle.The Euler-Lagrange equations with parameter σ =x 3 and N=2 applied to Fermat's principle result in ˙ = with k = 1, 2 and where L is the optical Lagrangian and ˙ = /.
Hamilton's optico-mechanical analogy is a conceptual parallel between trajectories in classical mechanics and wavefronts in optics, introduced by William Rowan Hamilton around 1831. [1] It may be viewed as linking Huygens' principle of optics with Maupertuis' principle of mechanics.
Hamilton's principle states that the true evolution q(t) of a system described by N generalized coordinates q = (q 1, q 2, ..., q N) between two specified states q 1 = q(t 1) and q 2 = q(t 2) at two specified times t 1 and t 2 is a stationary point (a point where the variation is zero) of the action functional [] = ((), ˙ (),) where (, ˙,) is the Lagrangian function for the system.
Action principles are "integral" approaches rather than the "differential" approach of Newtonian mechanics.[2]: 162 The core ideas are based on energy, paths, an energy function called the Lagrangian along paths, and selection of a path according to the "action", a continuous sum or integral of the Lagrangian along the path.
Hamilton's equations have another advantage over Lagrange's equations: if a system has a symmetry, so that some coordinate does not occur in the Hamiltonian (i.e. a cyclic coordinate), the corresponding momentum coordinate is conserved along each trajectory, and that coordinate can be reduced to a constant in the other equations of the set.
Art historians say Leonardo da Vinci hid an optical illusion in the Mona Lisa's face: she doesn't always appear to be smiling. There's question as to whether it was intentional, but new research ...
Numerous other concepts and objects in mechanics, such as Hamilton's principle, Hamilton's principal function, the Hamilton–Jacobi equation, Cayley-Hamilton theorem are named after Hamilton. The Hamiltonian is the name of both a function (classical) and an operator (quantum) in physics, and, in a different sense, a term from graph theory .
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!