On the Role of Constraints and Degrees of Freedom in the Hamiltonian Formalism

Abstract

Unfortunately, the Hamiltonian mechanics of degenerate Lagrangian systems is usually presented as a mere recipe of Dirac, with no explanation as to how it works. It then comes to discussing conjectures of whether all primary constraints correspond to gauge symmetries, and it goes all the way to absolutely wrong claims such as the statement that electrodynamics or gravity only have two physical components each, with others being spurious. One has to be very careful because non-dynamical, or constrained, does not mean unphysical. In this article, I give a pedagogical introduction to the degenerate Hamiltonian systems, showing both very simple mechanical examples and general arguments about how it works. For the familiar field theory models, I explain why the gauge freedom there “hits twice” in the sense of producing twice as many first-class constraints as gauge symmetries, and why primary, and only primary, constraints should be put into the total Hamiltonian.