Dirac’s analysis and Ostrogradskii’s theorem for a class of second-order degenerate Lagrangians

Abstract

This paper analyzes the constraint structure of a class of degenerate second-order particle Lagrangian that includes chiral oscillator, noncommutative oscillator, and two examples from reduced topologically massive gravity. For even-dimensional configuration spaces with maximal nondegeneracy, Dirac bracket is defined solely by coefficient field of highest derivative whereas for odd dimensions almost all fields may contribute. Ostrogradskii’s theorem on energy instability is discussed. Results of Dirac analysis are used to identify ghost degrees of freedom. Translational symmetries are used to construct first-order variational formalisms for oscillator examples, thereby making them ghost-free.