Lagrangian Mechanics

Just read a bunch of stuff to re-learn the principle of stationary action, Lagrangian mechanics, and the derivation of the Euler-Lagrange equations. After thinking about it for long enough, I think I understand it. Here are some links that helped:

The Wikipedia article is interesting, although it took a couple of stares to understand what was going on:

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Stationary-action_principle

An important thing to note is that at the classical mechanics level, the principle of least action doesn’t have an intuitive explanation (why do physical systems behave this way?). The true” explanation lies at the quantum electrodynamics level and is related to Feynman’s path integral. Look at this answer for more: https://qr.ae/prnzXu


uid: 202212292118 tags: #knowledge


Date
February 22, 2023