Abstract
Abstract This chapter discusses point transformations in Lagrangian mechanics. Sometimes, when solving problems, it is useful to change coordinates in velocity phase space to better suit and simplify the system at hand; this is a requirement of any physical theory. This change is often motivated by some experimentally observed physicality of the system or may highlight new conserved quantities that might have been overlooked using the old description. In the Newtonian formalism, it was a bit of a hassle to change coordinates and the equations of motion will look quite different. In this chapter, point transformations in Lagrangian mechanics are developed and the Euler–Lagrange equation is found to be covariant. The chapter discusses coordinate transformations, parametrisation invariance and the Jacobian of the transform. Re-parametrisations are also included.
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