Making the Relativistic Dynamics Equation Covariant: Explicit Solutions for Motion under a Constant Force
Abstract
We derive a 4D covariant Relativistic Dynamics Equation. This equation canonically extends the 3D relativistic dynamics equation , where is the 3D force and is the 3D relativistic momentum. The standard 4D equation is only partially covariant. To achieve full Lorentz covariance, we replace the four-force by a rank 2 antisymmetric tensor acting on the four-velocity. By taking this tensor to be constant, we obtain a covariant definition of uniformly accelerated motion. This solves a problem of Einstein and Planck. We compute explicit solutions for uniformly accelerated motion. The solutions are divided into four Lorentz-invariant types: null, linear, rotational, and general. For null acceleration, the worldline is cubic in the time. Linear acceleration covariantly extends 1D hyperbolic motion, while rotational acceleration covariantly extends pure rotational motion.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1212.2959,
title = {Making the Relativistic Dynamics Equation Covariant: Explicit Solutions for Motion under a Constant Force},
author = {Yaakov Friedman and Tzvi Scarr},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1212.2959},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
16 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1105.0492