Written exam, FYTB14, Classical Mechanics and Special
Relativity,
April 29, 2021, 14.15–19.00.
Total of 30 points, 15 will be required to pass.
Note! The problems are not ordered in difficulty. Read the text of each problem carefully before
starting to solve it and make sure to motivate all steps and assumptions carefully and never use a
formula without motivating why it applies. Even a correct answer without a derivation/motivation will
not get you full points.
Do NOT write your name/ID number on your solutions: your submission will be treated anonymously
by Canvas.
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1. Two colliding particles [4p]
In a laboratory (inertial frame S) a proton and a neutron are approaching each other in
a straight line. The speed of the proton is 0.4c and the speed of the neutron is also 0.4c
(but in the opposite direction). At the moment the proton passes the origin, the neutron
passes point A, which is still a distance L away from the proton.
Consider the inertial frame S 0 to be the frame in which the proton is at rest (and located
at the origin).
When the proton passes the origin of S, the clocks in both S and S 0 show exactly t = t0 = 0.
a) [1p] Determine the velocity of the neutron in the S 0 frame.
b) [1p] At which time does the neutron pass point A according to an observer in S 0 ?
c) [1p] When and where do the particles collide in S?
d) [1p] When and where do the particles collide in S 0 ?
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2. A particle on a tilting surface [6p]
A point mass m is free to move without friction on a surface. Someone is tilting the
surface such that the angle θ the surface makes with the horizontal is increasing linearly
with time, θ(t) = ωt. The distance between the point mass and the point of rotation is
r. There is a constant gravitational force in the vertical direction.
g m
r
!
O
We only consider only the situation in which 0◦ ≤ θ ≤ 90◦ , and the point mass can only
move in the 2-dimensional surface of the figure above.
a) [0.5p] Determine the number of degrees of freedom of the point mass.
b) [1.5p] Determine the Lagrange function for the situation.
(Hint: Note that T 6= 12 mṙ2 .)
c) [1.5p] Derive the equations of motion for the point mass.
d) [1p] Given the boundary conditions, r(t = 0) = r0 and ṙ(t = 0) = 0, show that
g g
r(t) = r0 cosh(ωt) − 2
sinh(ωt) + 2 sin(ωt)
2ω 2ω
is the solution to the equations of motion.
e) [1.5p] Determine the Hamiltonian and write it in terms of the generalised coordinates
and corresponding momenta. Is its value constant in time? What does this imply for the
total energy of the system?
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3. A mass hanging from a ceiling [7p]
!
",l
Consider an ideal spring with rest length l0 and spring constant α hanging from a ceiling.
We carefully hang a point mass m on it, such that the spring extends to l0 + mg/α under
the gravitational force. If we give the mass a small kick, the spring can not only increase
and decrease its length, but also swing back and forth around the point to which it is
attached to the ceiling.
a) [1.5p] Determine the Lagrange function of the problem in terms of φ (the angle with
the vertical) and l (the length of the spring).
b) [1p] Calculate the generalised momenta and derive the equations of motion.
For the rest of this question, consider only small perturbations around φ = 0 and l =
l0 + mg/α.
c) [3.5p] determine the normal frequencies and sketch for each frequency the corresponding
movement of the mass.
d) [1p] Are there solutions to the equations of motion that are periodic? Are there also
solutions that are non-periodic?
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4. Scattering of a photon by an electron [7p]
Consider an electron, with mass me and three-momentum pe,1 , being hit elastically by an
incoming photon with energy Eγ,1 and three-momentum pγ,1 . The electron is initially at
rest. After the collision, the photon is scattered and makes an angle θ w.r.t. its original
direction. It has energy Eγ,2 and three-momentum pγ,2 . The electron takes the recoil and
has now a three-momentum equal to pe,2 and goes off in an angle φ w.r.t. to the direction
defined by the incoming photon (i.e., the same direction as to which θ is defined).
a) [0.5p] Give a sketch of the situation before and after the collision. Express the four-
momentum of the outgoing electron pµe,2 in terms of the other three (pµe,1 , pµγ,1 , and pµγ,2 ).
b) [0.5p] Using the expression for p2e,2 , show that:
pγ,1 · pγ,2 = pe,1 · (pγ,1 − pγ,2 )
c) [1p] Use the relation of b) and the relation between the momentum and the wavelength
of a photon, |pγ | = h/λ, to show that
∆λ ≡ λ2 − λ1 = λe (1 − cos θ),
with λe = mhe c , i.e., the wavelength of radiation such that the photon energy is equal to
the rest energy of the electron (λe ' 2.4 · 10−12 m). h is Planck’s constant.
d) [2p] Using the expression for pµe,2 obtained from 4-momentum conservation, derive that
cot 21 θ
tan φ = .
1 + λe /λ1
Hence, the electron will always scatter in the forward direction.
e) [1p] Explicitly check that for very energetic incoming photons, the backward scattered
photons (θ ' 180◦ ) have an energy that is approximately equal to half the rest energy of
the electron, i.e., λ2 ' 2λe .
Suppose that photons are not massless, but have a tiny mass µ, which is much smaller
than the mass of an electron and much smaller than |pγ,1 |/c.
f) [2p] Neglecting terms higher than quadratic in µ, show that ∆λ is modified to
2 2
1 µ λ1 2
∆λ = λ2 − λ1 = λe (1 − cos θ) + (1 − cos θ) + (λ1 + λe )(1 − cos θ) .
2 me λe
(Hint: The momentum and wavelength of a massive photon are also related by |pγ | =
h/λ.)
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5. A canonical transformation [6p]
a) [1.5p] Consider a system with one degree of freedom and the Hamiltonian H = H(q, p).
Let a new pair of coordinates Q and P be defined such that
√ √
q = 2P sin Q and p = 2P cos Q.
Proof that if ∂H/∂q = −ṗ and ∂H/∂p = q̇ it automatically follows that ∂H/∂Q = −Ṗ
and ∂H/∂P = Q̇.
b) [1p] Show that the Hamiltonian of a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator with mass
m = 1 and force constant k = 1 is H = 21 (q 2 + p2 ).
c) [1.5p] Show that if you rewrite this Hamiltonian in terms of Q and P , then Q is cyclic.
To what does P correspond?
d) [2p] Solve the Hamiltonian equation for Q(t) and verify that, when rewritten in terms
of q, your solution gives the expected behaviour.