Paper 1, Section I, D
Part II, 2010
A system with coordinates , has the Lagrangian . Define the energy .
Consider a charged particle, of mass and charge , moving with velocity in the presence of a magnetic field . The usual vector equation of motion can be derived from the Lagrangian
where is the vector potential.
The particle moves in the presence of a field such that
referred to cylindrical polar coordinates . Obtain two constants of the motion, and write down the Lagrangian equations of motion obtained by variation of and .
Show that, if the particle is projected from the point with velocity , it will describe a circular orbit provided that .