Paper 1, Section II, A

Integrable Systems
Part II, 2017

Define a Lie point symmetry of the first order ordinary differential equation Δ[t,x,x˙]=\Delta[t, \mathbf{x}, \dot{\mathbf{x}}]= 0. Describe such a Lie point symmetry in terms of the vector field that generates it.

Consider the 2n2 n-dimensional Hamiltonian system (M,H)(M, H) governed by the differential equation

dxdt=JHx\frac{\mathrm{d} \mathbf{x}}{\mathrm{d} t}=J \frac{\partial H}{\partial \mathbf{x}}

Define the Poisson bracket {,}\{\cdot, \cdot\}. For smooth functions f,g:MRf, g: M \rightarrow \mathbf{R} show that the associated Hamiltonian vector fields Vf,VgV_{f}, V_{g} satisfy

[Vf,Vg]=V{f,g}.\left[V_{f}, V_{g}\right]=-V_{\{f, g\}} .

If F:MRF: M \rightarrow \mathbf{R} is a first integral of (M,H)(M, H), show that the Hamiltonian vector field VFV_{F} generates a Lie point symmetry of ()(\star). Prove the converse is also true if ()(\star) has a fixed point, i.e. a solution of the form x(t)=x0\mathbf{x}(t)=\mathbf{x}_{0}.