Scribd
Upload
146 views

Coupled Oscillations PDF

1) The document discusses using Lagrangian methods to analyze coupled oscillations and normal modes in a system of two coupled pendulums. 2) It derives the normal mode coordinates and shows that the Lagrangian decouples in this basis. 3) The normal modes correspond to the eigenvectors of the matrix formed from the equations of motion, allowing diagonalization of the Lagrangian.

Uploaded by

Shweta Sridhar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
146 views

Coupled Oscillations PDF

1) The document discusses using Lagrangian methods to analyze coupled oscillations and normal modes in a system of two coupled pendulums. 2) It derives the normal mode coordinates and shows that the Lagrangian decouples in this basis. 3) The normal modes correspond to the eigenvectors of the matrix formed from the equations of motion, allowing diagonalization of the Lagrangian.

Uploaded by

Shweta Sridhar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

PHYS20401 Lagrangian Dynamics Terry Wyatt

Summary of Coupled Oscillations and Normal Modes using Lagrangian


Methods (Lectures 1519)
1 Introduction
In the lectures we have considered a system of two identical pendulums (mass m and length l ) coupled by a
spring with spring constant k. This is a very simple example, but it has allowed us to develop most of the
essential results and techniques we need.
In terms of position coordinates x
1
, x
2
In terms of normal mode coordinates q
1
, q
2
q
1
=
1

2
(x
1
+ x2) , q
2
=
1

2
(x
1
x
2
)
L =
m
2
_
x
2
1
+ x
2
2
_

k
2
(x
1
x
2
)
2

mg
2l
_
x
2
1
+ x
2
2
_
L =
_
m
2
q
2
1

mg
2l
q
2
1
_
+
_
m
2
q
2
2

1
2
_
2k +
mg
l
_
q
2
2
_
L does not decouple into separate x
1
, x
2
terms Lagrangian decouples: L = L
1
(q
2
1
, q
2
1
) + L
2
(q
2
2
, q
2
2
)
Equations of motion:
m x
1
= k (x
1
x
2
)
mg
l
x
1
q
1
=
g
l
q
1
_
SHO with
2
1
=
g
l
_
m x
2
= k (x
1
x
2
)
mg
l
x
2
q
2
=
_
2k
m
+
g
l
_
q
2
_
SHO with
2
2
=
2k
m
+
g
l
_
When a system oscillates in a particular normal mode, i, all the masses, k, oscillate with the same angular
frequency,
i
. Therefore, we can write
x
k
= C
k
e
i
i
t
and x
k
=
2
i
C
k
e
i
i
t
=
2
i
x
k
. (1)
Substituting into the equations of motion for x
k
and x
k
from Equation 1 provides one general method for solving
the system.
2 Matrix Form
Another general method for solving systems is to write the equations of motion in matrix form
M

X = KX =
2
MX
or
M
1
KX =
2
X, (2)
where, for our example system we can write
M =
_

_
m 0
0 m
_

_
, K =
_

_
k +
mg
l
k
k k +
mg
l
_

_
, X =
_

_
x
1
x
2
_

_
, and M
1
=
adj M
det M
=
_

_
1
m
0
0
1
m
_

_
.
Equation 2 is an eigenvalue equation for the matrix
M
1
K =
_

_
k
m
+
g
l

k
m

k
m
k
m
+
g
l
_

_
.
We can associate the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the matrix M
1
K

2
1
=
g
l
,
2
2
=
2k
m
+
g
l
Q
1
=
1

2
_

_
1
1
_

_
, Q
2
=
1

2
_

_
1
1
_

_
with the normal mode frequencies and coordinates of the system.
The eigenvectors Q
i
are orthonormal: Q
T
j
Q
k
=
jk
.
The Lagrangian can be written in matrix form
L =
1
2

X
T
M

X
1
2
X
T
KX.
3 Transforming Matrix Form to the Normal Mode Basis
We can form a matrix, B, whose columns are the eigenvectors of the matrix M
1
K. For our example system this
is given by
B =
1

2
_

_
1 1
1 1
_

_
.
We shall also need the inverse matrix
B
1
=
adj B
det B
=
1

2
_

_
1 1
1 1
_

_
,
which in this particular case is identical to B.
We can use the matrix B to transform our matrix treatment from the x
1
, x
2
basis into the q
1
, q
2
basis
B
1
X =
1

2
_

_
1 1
1 1
_

_
_

_
x
1
x
2
_

_
=
_

_
1

2
[x
1
+ x
2
]
1

2
[x
1
x
2
]
_

_
=
_

_
q
1
q
2
_

_
= Q.
In this basis, all of the matrices and matrix equations have a very simple diagonal form
_
M
1
K
_

= B
1
_
M
1
K
_
B =
_

_
g
l
0
0
2k
m
+
g
l
_

_
, i.e., a diagonal matrix of the eigenvalues,
M

= B
1
MB = M =
_

_
m 0
0 m
_

_
, K

= B
1
KB =
_

_
mg
l
0
0 2k +
mg
l
_

_
.
Muliplying from the left by B
1
and inserting B B
1
= I (the unit matrix), the equations of motion become
B
1
_
M
1
K
_
B B
1
X =
2
B
1
X, or
_
M
1
K
_

Q =
2
Q,
or
_

_
g
l
0
0
2k
m
+
g
l
_

_
_

_
q
1
q
2
_

_
=
2
_

_
q
1
q
2
_

_
.
The Lagrangian can be rewritten in this basis in the following way
L =
1
2

X
T
M

X
1
2
X
T
KX =
1
2

X
T
BB
1
MBB
1

X
1
2
X
T
BB
1
KBB
1
X =
1
2

Q
T
M

Q
1
2
Q
T
K

Q,
or
L =
1
2
_
q
1
q
2
_
_

_
m 0
0 m
_

_
_

_
q
1
q
2
_

1
2
_
q
1
q
2
_
_

_
mg
l
0
0 2k +
mg
l
_

_
_

_
q
1
q
2
_

_
.

You might also like