English

Continuous body dynamics and the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2017-03-08 v1

Abstract

We show that an effective particle Lagrangian yields the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations. The spin of the effective particle is defined without any reference to a fixed body frame or angular velocity variable. We then demonstrate that a continuous body, defined by a congruence of world lines and described by a general action, can be rewritten as an effective particle. We analyze the gauge freedom of the body and show that a natural center of mass condition is related to a spin supplementary condition.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1701.01545,
  title  = {Continuous body dynamics and the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations},
  author = {S. P. Loomis and J. David Brown},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.01545},
  year   = {2017}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T17:42:37.189Z