Shankar Exercise 2.5.1 - Hamiltonion

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around Exercise 2.5.1 from Shankar's Principles of Quantum Mechanics, focusing on Hamiltonian mechanics and the relationship between kinetic energy and canonical momentum.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants inquire about the problem context and the use of TeX or LaTeX for formatting equations. There are requests for clarification on the problem statement and hints to get started. Some participants discuss the definitions of terms like kinetic energy and canonical momentum, while others express uncertainty about the completeness of the information provided.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants seeking clarification and hints. Some have provided definitions and attempted to engage with the problem, but there is no clear consensus or resolution yet.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of the need for context from Shankar's book to fully understand the exercises, indicating that some participants may not have access to the text.

ehrenfest
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Homework Statement



Could someone get me started with Exercise 2.5.1 in Shankar's Principles of Quantum Mechanics?
Does this forum support TeX or LaTeX?


Homework Equations






The Attempt at a Solution

 
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Post the text of the problem for those of us who don't have the book, but might be willing to help you.
 
Ad 2: Yes, use the [ tex] tag (without the space):
[tex]\left[-\frac{\hbar^2}{2 m} \nabla^2 + U(\mathbf{r}) \right] \psi (\mathbf{r}) = E \psi (\mathbf{r}).[/tex]
 
Show that if [tex]T = \sum_i\sum_jT_ij(q)q_i' q_j'[/tex], where [tex]q_i'[/tex]'s are generalized velocities, then [tex]\sum p_i q_i' = 2T[/tex].
 
And was does the rest stand for?

Work done so far? etc.
 
T is kinetic energy and pi is the canonical momentum conjugate. Also, the apostrophes are derivatives. Sorry.

There is not much work done so far. I wanted someone to give me a hint or just get me started.
 
By the way, does anyone have Shankar's book? For a lot of his exercises you really need the context, so I want to know if I should keep posting questions from his book.
 
ehrenfest said:
Show that if [tex]T = \sum_i\sum_jT_ij(q)q_i' q_j'[/tex], where [tex]q_i'[/tex]'s are generalized velocities, then [tex]\sum p_i q_i' = 2T[/tex].

Since [itex]p_{i}=\frac{\partial L}{\partial q^{i}}[/itex], i gues the result is pretty obvious, don't you think ?
 

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