Hamiltonian formalism and symplectic matrices

This work consists of five sections. The first one introduces the Lagrangian formalism starting from the fundamental equation of the dynamics. The sections 2 to 4 are devoted to the Hamiltonian formalism and to symplectic matrices. Lie algebra and groups were avoided, although these notions are very useful if higher order effects have to be investigated. The paper is dealing with the properties of the transfer matrices describing different electromagnetic objects like, for instance: dipoles, quadrupoles, cyclotrons, electrostatic deflectors, spiral inflectors, etc. A remarkable property of the first order exact transfer matrices, is the symplecticity which in case of a 3-D object, described in 6-D phase space, provides 15 non-linear equations relating the matrix coefficients. The symplectic matrix ensemble forms an multiplication non-commuting group, consequently the product of n symplectic matrices is still a symplectic matrix. This permits the global description of a system of n objects. Thus, the notion symplecticity is fundamental for the selection of a given electromagnetic object, for its optimization and insertion in a line of beam transfer. The symplectic relations indicate actually that if a given beam characteristic is modified, then another characteristic will be affected and as a result the spurious effects can be limited when a line is to be adjusted. The last section is devoted to the application of the elaborated procedure to describe the drift of non-relativistic and relativistic particles, the dipole and the Muller inflector. Hopefully, this elementary Hamiltonian formalism will help in the familiarization with the symplectic matrices extensively utilized at GANIL