An alternative formulation of classical mechanics based on an analogy with thermodynamics

We study new Legendre transforms in classical mechanics and investigate some of their general properties. The behaviour of the new functions is analysed under coordinate transformations. When invariance under different kinds of transformations is considered the new formulation is found to be complet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of physics 2013-11, Vol.34 (6), p.1589-1599, Article 1589
Main Author: Teruel, Ginés R Pérez
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analogies
Angular momentum
Classical mechanics
Equivalence
Formalism
Functions (mathematics)
Legendre transforms
Mathematical analysis
Thermodynamics
Transformations
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Summary:We study new Legendre transforms in classical mechanics and investigate some of their general properties. The behaviour of the new functions is analysed under coordinate transformations. When invariance under different kinds of transformations is considered the new formulation is found to be completely equivalent to the usual Lagrangian formulation, recovering well-established results such as conservation of angular momentum. Furthermore, a natural generalization of the Poisson bracket is found to be inherent to the formalism introduced. On the other hand, we find that with a convenient redefinition of the Lagrangian, , it is possible to establish an exact one-to-one mathematical correspondence between the thermodynamic potentials and the new potentials of classical mechanics.
ISSN:0143-0807
1361-6404
DOI:10.1088/0143-0807/34/6/1589