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In physics, Lagrangian mechanics is a formulation of classical mechanics founded on the stationary-action principle (also known as the principle of least action). It was introduced by the Italian-French mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange in his presentation to the Turin Academy of Science in 1760 [ 1 ] culminating in his 1788 ...
In field theory, the independent variable is replaced by an event in spacetime (x, y, z, t), or more generally still by a point s on a Riemannian manifold.The dependent variables are replaced by the value of a field at that point in spacetime (,,,) so that the equations of motion are obtained by means of an action principle, written as: =, where the action, , is a functional of the dependent ...
[4] [5] Joseph-Louis Lagrange studied the equations of motion in connection to the principle of least action in 1760, later in a treaty of fluid mechanics in 1781, [6] and thirdly in his book Mécanique analytique. [5] In this book Lagrange starts with the Lagrangian specification but later converts them into the Eulerian specification. [5]
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.
Replace the ball with an electron: classical mechanics fails but stationary action continues to work. [4] The energy difference in the simple action definition, kinetic minus potential energy, is generalized and called the Lagrangian for more complex cases.
A Lagrangian density L (or, simply, a Lagrangian) of order r is defined as an n-form, n = dim X, on the r-order jet manifold J r Y of Y. A Lagrangian L can be introduced as an element of the variational bicomplex of the differential graded algebra O ∗ ∞ ( Y ) of exterior forms on jet manifolds of Y → X .
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.
Lagrangian mechanics, a formulation of classical mechanics; Lagrangian (field theory), a formalism in classical field theory; Lagrangian point, a position in an orbital configuration of two large bodies; Lagrangian coordinates, a way of describing the motions of particles of a solid or fluid in continuum mechanics; Lagrangian coherent structure ...