Paper 3, Section I,
Part II, 2015
(a) Consider a particle of mass that undergoes periodic motion in a one-dimensional potential . Write down the Hamiltonian for the system. Explain what is meant by the angle-action variables of the system and write down the integral expression for the action variable .
(b) For and fixed total energy , describe the shape of the trajectories in phase-space. By using the expression for the area enclosed by the trajectory, or otherwise, find the action variable in terms of and . Hence describe how changes with if varies slowly with time. Justify your answer.