Paper 4, Section II, 15D
(a) Let be a set of canonical phase-space variables for a Hamiltonian system with degrees of freedom. Define the Poisson bracket of two functions and . Write down the canonical commutation relations that imply that a second set of phase-space variables is also canonical.
(b) Consider the near-identity transformation
where and are small. Determine the approximate forms of the canonical commutation relations, accurate to first order in and . Show that these are satisfied when
where is a small parameter and is some function of the phase-space variables.
(c) In the limit this near-identity transformation is called the infinitesimal canonical transformation generated by . Let be an autonomous Hamiltonian. Show that the change in the Hamiltonian induced by the infinitesimal canonical transformation is
Explain why is an integral of motion if and only if the Hamiltonian is invariant under the infinitesimal canonical transformation generated by .
(d) The Hamiltonian of the gravitational -body problem in three-dimensional space is
where and are the mass, position and momentum of body . Determine the form of and the infinitesimal canonical transformation that correspond to the translational symmetry of the system.