4 ms·
Actually the lagrangian is not minimized, it is merely stationary. An example of this is the harmonic oscillator, the lagrangian is clearly not bounded from bel
by ravar 8y ago
Actually the lagrangian is not minimized, it is merely stationary. An example of this is the harmonic oscillator, the lagrangian is clearly not bounded from below.
- andrepd 8y agoYes, I realised that but I couldn't edit the post anymore :) I mean the action, not the Lagrangian, must have a minimum.
- ravar 8y agoThe action of a trajectory is not minimized either, it is usually at a saddle point, maximal relative to some trajectories and minimal to others. The linked paper has a detailed discussion of this. http://www.eftaylor.com/pub/Gray&TaylorAJP.pdf http://www.eftaylor.com/pub/Gray&TaylorAJP.pdf