The following functional derivative holds: δq(t)δq(t′) = δ(t−t′)
and δ˙q(t)δq(t′) = δ′(t−t′)
where ′ is d/dt.
Question: What is δq(t)δ˙q(t′)?
I'm asking this because in QFT, the lecturer defined the canonical momentum field to ϕ by π(x,t) := δL(t)δ˙ϕ(x,t),
where L is the Lagrangian, a functional of the field: L[ϕ,∂μϕ]=∫ddxL(ϕ,∂μϕ).
I know I should get π(x,t) = ∂L(x,t)∂˙ϕ(x,t).
(Note it's now a partial derivative with respect to the Lagrangian density.) But doing it I get: δL=∫ddx∂L∂ϕδϕ+∂L∂∂μϕδ∂μϕ.
So somehow we ignore the first term ∫ddx∂L∂ϕδϕ! Why is that?
It can't be that we are treating δϕ and δ˙ϕ as independent because if I were to take the functional derivative w.r.t. ϕ(x′), I would have to move the dot from δ˙ϕ over to ∂L∂˙ϕ which will give me
∫ddx(∂L∂ϕ−∂μ∂L∂∂μϕ)δϕ
i.e. the functional derivative gives the Euler-Lagrange equations.
So how to I take the functional derivative of a functional w.r.t to the derivative of a function?
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