Lie symmetries, Jacobi last multipliers and new non-standard Lagrangians for dissipative dynamical systems

Abstract: We present a new method based on Lie symmetries and Jacobi last multipliers which allows one to find many non-standard Lagrangians for dissipative dynamical systems. In particular, it is demonstrated that for every non-standard Lagrangian one can generate a new non-standard Lagrangian associated to a new equation of motion. We point out that the knowledge of Lie symmetries for a given dynamical system generates Jacobi last multipliers which can be used to obtain new non-standard Lagrangians for dissipative dynamical systems in a simple and straightforward way. We exemplify the new method by applying it to the case of the free particle and the simple harmonic oscillator in order to obtain new non-standard Lagrangians for dissipative systems.