Advanced Classical Physics, Autumn 2016 Problem Sheet 8

Please hand in the questions marked with (RF) to the Student Administration Office by 2pm on Mon-
day 5 December for marking. These questions will be covered in the Rapid Feedback session on
Friday 9 December.

1. (RF) A dynamical system is described by the differential equations

ẋ = x3 − x − y ,
ẏ = x3 − x + y .

(a) Find the critical points of the system and identify their geometry in the linearised limit.
(b) Sketch the phase portrait.

2. (RF) A damped, 1-dimensional simple harmonic oscillator is governed by the following equa-
tion
ẍ + γ ẋ + ω02 x = 0
Assuming the case ω0 = 1 and considering the linearised system about the origin;

(a) Determine the critical damping factor γ = γc for which the system is sub-critically (γ <
γc ) and over-critically damped (γ > γc ).
(b) Sketch the phase portrait of the oscillator for both cases.

3. (2014 Exam) A pendulum consists of a point mass m at the end of a light rigid rod of length `0 .

(a) Assuming the pendulum is restricted to oscillate only in the x direction, and using the
angle θ of the rod as the generalised coordinate, show that the Lagrangian is
1
L = m`20 θ̇2 + mg`0 cos θ.
2
[7 marks]
(b) Find the equation of motion for θ. [3 marks]
(c) Find the Hamiltonian for the pendulum. [5 marks]
(d) The rigid rod is replaced by a light spring with spring constant k, so that when the spring
is stretched to length `, its potential energy is
1
Vspring = k(` − `0 )2 .
2
Write down the Lagrangian, and find its normal frequencies. [10 marks]

[TOTAL 25 marks]