Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2024 / ib / Paper 3 / 4C / Solution

For a general Lagrangian,Along an Euler-Lagrange trajectory,so energy is conserved when $L$ has no explicit time dependence.

For the given Lagrangian, write $v=|\dot{x}|$. At points where $v\ne 0$,The Euler-Lagrange equation is thereforeIn expanded form its left-hand side isThe momentum has fixed magnitude,so this is constant without needing to solve the equation of motion. The Hamiltonian is

The singular Legendre transform of a degree-one velocity Lagrangian applies here: $p$ determines only the direction of $\dot{x}$, not its magnitude, and the velocity Hessian is not invertible. Thus the usual inverse Legendre transform cannot reconstruct the Lagrangian from this Hamiltonian.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.