The extrema of an action principle for dissipative mechanical systems

Abstract

A least action principle for damping motion has been previously proposed with a Hamiltonian and a Lagrangian containing the energy dissipated by friction. Due to the space-time nonlocality of the Lagrangian, mathematical uncertainties persist about the appropriate variational calculus and the nature (maxima, minima and inflection) of the stationary action. The aim of this work is to make numerical simulation of damped motion and to compare the actions of different paths in order to get evidence of the existence and the nature of stationary action. The model is a small particle subject to conservative and friction forces. Two conservative forces and three friction forces are considered. The comparison of the actions of the perturbed paths with that of the Newtonian path reveals the existence of extrema of action which are minima for zero or very weak friction and shift to maxima when the motion is overdamped. In the intermediate case, the action of the Newtonian path is neither least nor most, meaning that the extreme feature of the Newtonian path is lost. In this situation, however, no reliable evidence of stationary action can be found from the simulation result.