Introduction to Higher Order Classical Dynamics: Pais-Uhlenbeck Model and Coupled Oscillators

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Main Authors: de Melo, Cássius Anderson Miquele, de Souza, Ivan Francisco
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author de Melo, Cássius Anderson Miquele
de Souza, Ivan Francisco
author_facet de Melo, Cássius Anderson Miquele
de Souza, Ivan Francisco
contents Most of the laws of Nature involve derivatives up to the second order. Ostrogradski was the first to seek a formulation of the equations of higher-order derivatives. He extended Hamilton's equations by considering Lagrangians that depend on higher-order derivatives of generalized coordinates. The Hamilton-Ostrogradski formulation served as the basis for later studies with higher-order derivatives. However, the Hamilton-Ostrogradski formalism is rarely discussed in textbooks or the pedagogical literature. This motivated us to show how the Hamilton-Ostrogradski formalism can be applied it to the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator. We hope that the approach presented in this work can serve as a basis for discussion in advanced classical mechanics courses.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_20094
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Introduction to Higher Order Classical Dynamics: Pais-Uhlenbeck Model and Coupled Oscillators
de Melo, Cássius Anderson Miquele
de Souza, Ivan Francisco
Physics Education
High Energy Physics - Theory
Mathematical Physics
Classical Physics
Quantum Physics
Most of the laws of Nature involve derivatives up to the second order. Ostrogradski was the first to seek a formulation of the equations of higher-order derivatives. He extended Hamilton's equations by considering Lagrangians that depend on higher-order derivatives of generalized coordinates. The Hamilton-Ostrogradski formulation served as the basis for later studies with higher-order derivatives. However, the Hamilton-Ostrogradski formalism is rarely discussed in textbooks or the pedagogical literature. This motivated us to show how the Hamilton-Ostrogradski formalism can be applied it to the Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator. We hope that the approach presented in this work can serve as a basis for discussion in advanced classical mechanics courses.
title Introduction to Higher Order Classical Dynamics: Pais-Uhlenbeck Model and Coupled Oscillators
topic Physics Education
High Energy Physics - Theory
Mathematical Physics
Classical Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20094