Questions tagged [hamiltonian]

The central term in the hamiltonian formalism. Can be interpreted as an energy input, or "true" energy.

The Hamiltonian

The Euclidean Hamiltonian, which is used in Classical Mechanics is given by:

$$H = \frac{p^2}{2m} + U$$

The Euclidean Lagrangian, on the other hand, has a minus instead of a plus.

Notice that

$$L + H = p\frac{\text{d}x}{\text{d}t}$$

This shows that the two are related by a Legendre transformation.

The Poisson Bracket relations and the Dynamic Hamiltonian relations

The Poisson Bracket relations are algebraic relationships between phase space variables, and without the presence of any dynamical Lagrangian or Hamiltonian; they read $$ \begin{gathered} \{ {{p_i},{x_j}} \} = {\delta _{ij}} \\ \{ {{p_i},{p_j}} \} = 0 \\ \{ {{x_i},{x_j}} \} = 0 \\ \end{gathered} $$

The dynamical relations are

$$\begin{gathered} \frac{{\partial H}}{{\partial {\mathbf{x}}}} = - \frac{{{\text{d}}{\mathbf{p}}}}{{{\text{d}}t}} \\ \frac{{\partial H}}{{\partial {\mathbf{p}}}} = \frac{{{\text{d}}{\mathbf{x}}}}{{{\text{d}}t}} \\ \end{gathered} $$

Compare this to the Dynamical Lagrangian Relations:

\begin{gathered} \frac{{\partial L}}{{\partial {\mathbf{x}}}} = \frac{{{\text{d}}{\mathbf{p}}}}{{{\text{d}}t}} \\ \frac{{\partial L}}{{\partial {\mathbf{p}}}} = \frac{{{\text{d}}{\mathbf{x}}}}{{{\text{d}}t}} \\ \end{gathered}

The central equation of Hamiltonian Mechanics is the Hamilton Equation:

$$\frac{{{\text{d}}A}}{{{\text{d}}t}} = \{A,H \} $$

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Wilson Sommerfeld Method to solve for Energy

I have an example in my notes to find the quantum energy levels when the Hamiltonian is $H(p,q)={p^2}/{2m}+(mw^2q^2)/2$. However when given the Hamiltonian $H(p,q)={p^2}/{2m}$, I'm having difficulties as there is no q dependence and therefore…
Shaun
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Showing that Hamiltonian expectation value is time independent

I want to check that I am getting the concept right here, and my question is: if the expectation value of a Hamiltonian is the same whether you use the time dependent version or not. I thought I had it right initially -- maybe I did -- but I wanted…
Jesse
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Justification for Dropping Cross Terms in Transmon Hamiltonian

I am working through the "Introduction to Transmon Physics" page on Qiskit, and there is a part of the transmon Hamiltonian derivation that I am stuck on. The initial form of the transmon Hamiltonian used in the document is $$ \hat H_{tr} = 4E_c…
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Non-dissipative system attractors

I am currently learning about dynamical systems. I understand that dissipative systems have attractors but can not find anything online about whether or not non-dissipative systems have attractors. It may be that my understanding of attractors is…
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Hamiltonian of a shaped pulse

Is there a simple Hamiltonian describing a Lorentzian pulse of a given frequency, pulse length and linewidth? I want to act a Lorentzian pulse on a Bloch vector and model the result for both resonant and non-resonant pulses.
JJH
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Adding an external magnetic field to the Ising model Hamiltonian

If I take the evolution of the Hamiltonian of the Ising model in terms of the Pauli operators, i.e. $\exp(-it(\sigma^z_i\otimes\sigma^z_j)/\hbar)$ where $\sigma_i$, $\sigma_j$ are the Pauli operators for the spin of an electron and a nuclear spin…