Power Expantion in Lagrangian Derivation

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the derivation of the Lagrangian in "Mechanics" by Landau-Lifgarbagez, specifically regarding the expansion of the integrand in the expression for the difference of two integrals. The leading terms of this expansion, involving the variables \(\delta q\) and \(\delta \dot q\), are confirmed to be first order. A Taylor expansion is suggested as the method for deriving these terms, specifically highlighting the contributions from the partial derivatives of the Lagrangian with respect to \(q\) and \(\dot q\).

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tharchin
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In Mechanics by Landau-Lifgarbagez there is a step during the derivation of the Lagrangian where..

\int_{t_1}^{t_2} L(q+\delta q, \dot q + \delta \dot q, t ) \, \mathrm{d}t - \int_{t_1}^{t_2} L(q, \dot q, t ) \, dt

then they write "when this difference is expanded in powers of \delta q and \delta \dot q in the integrand, the leading terms are of first order."

The don't show this expansion and I was hoping someone could point me to a reference where they do. Thanks.
 
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tharchin said:
In Mechanics by Landau-Lifgarbagez there is a step during the derivation of the Lagrangian where..

\int_{t_1}^{t_2} L(q+\delta q, \dot q + \delta \dot q, t ) \, \mathrm{d}t - \int_{t_1}^{t_2} L(q, \dot q, t ) \, dt

then they write "when this difference is expanded in powers of \delta q and \delta \dot q in the integrand, the leading terms are of first order."

The don't show this expansion and I was hoping someone could point me to a reference where they do. Thanks.

Hi tharchin,

I don't have the book at hand but he is probably just talking of a Taylor expansion of the integrand
L(q+\delta q, \dot q + \delta \dot q, t ) = L(q, \dot q, t ) + \frac{\partial L}{\partial q}\delta q +\frac{\partial L}{\partial \dot q}\delta \dot q
 

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