Application of Noethers to Lorentz force Lagrangian with boost

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SUMMARY

This discussion focuses on the application of Noether's theorem to the Lorentz force Lagrangian, particularly under Lorentz boosts. The user derives two key vector equations related to conserved quantities: one for boosts and another for spatial rotations. The equations involve terms such as the four-momentum and the electromagnetic vector potential, indicating the invariance of the Lagrangian under boosts. The user reflects on the complexity of their results, noting the interplay between spatial invariance and boost invariance.

PREREQUISITES
  • Noether's theorem
  • Lorentz force Lagrangian
  • Four-vector calculus
  • Electromagnetic field theory
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  • Study the implications of Noether's theorem in classical mechanics
  • Explore the derivation of the Lorentz force from the Lagrangian perspective
  • Investigate the relationship between boosts and spatial rotations in special relativity
  • Examine the mathematical framework of four-vectors and their applications in physics
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Physicists, particularly those specializing in classical mechanics, electromagnetism, and theoretical physics, will benefit from this discussion as it delves into advanced concepts of symmetries and conservation laws.

Peeter
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I've been slowly self studying Lagrangian topics, and have gotten to Noether's theorem.

I've tried application of a Lorentz boost to all the terms in the Lorentz force Lagrangian (which is invariant with respect to boost since it has only four vector dot products). Then using Noether's theorem to find the invariant with respect to the boost rapidity I eventually end up with the following pair of vector equations:

[tex] - ct \frac{d (\gamma \mathbf{p})}{dt} + \mathbf{x} \frac{d (m c \gamma)}{dt} = \frac{q}{c} \frac{d \left( -ct \mathbf{A} + \phi \mathbf{x} \right) }{dt}[/tex]
[tex] \mathbf{x} \times \frac{d( \gamma \mathbf{p} )}{dt} = \frac{q}{c} \frac{d}{dt} \left( \mathbf{x} \times \mathbf{A} \right)[/tex]

I've made up the exersize for myself so I have no back of the book solutions to check against.

Has anybody seen something like this before, and if so did I get the right result?
 
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okay, thanks (that ascii thread is hard to read but at least my result is similar). I'll have to massage things to match them up more closely.

What I didn't realize until I read that is that my rotation wasn't fixed as either hyperbolic or euclidean since I didn't actually specify the specific nature of the bivector for the rotational plane. So I ended up with results for both the spatial invariance and the boost invariance at the same time. Oops;)

Of the six equations that generated the above

[tex] x^\mu v^\nu - x^\nu v^\mu = \frac{q}{mc} \frac{d}{d\tau} \left( A^\mu x^\nu - A^\nu x^\mu \right)[/tex]

the first vector equation above (taking space time indexes) is the conserved quantity for a boost, and the second for purely spatial indexes is the conserved quantity for spatial rotation. That makes my result seem more reasonable since I didn't expect to get so much only considering boost.
 

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