Dynamics-dependent symmetries in Newtonian mechanics

Abstract

We exhibit two symmetries of one-dimensional Newtonian mechanics whereby a solution is built from the history of another solution via a generally nonlinear and complex potential-dependent transformation of the time. One symmetry intertwines the square roots of the kinetic and potential energies and connects solutions of the same dynamical problem (the potential is an invariant function). The other symmetry connects solutions of different dynamical problems (the potential is a scalar function). The existence of corresponding conserved quantities is examined using Noethers theorem and it is shown that the invariant-potential symmetry is correlated with energy conservation. In the Hamilton-Jacobi picture the invariant-potential transformation provides an example of a field-dependent symmetry in point mechanics. It is shown that this transformation is not a symmetry of the Schroedinger equation.