Related papers: On Newton's Third Law
We prove the Lorentz invariance of the angular momentum conservation law and the helicity sum rule for relativistic composite systems in the light-front formulation. We explicitly show that $j^3$, the $z$-component of the angular momentum…
Newton's Principia is famous for its investigations of the inverse square force law for gravity. But in this book Newton also did something that remained little-known until fairly recently. He figured out what kind of central force exerted…
Einstein's relation E=Mc^2 between the energy E and the mass M is the cornerstone of the relativity theory. This relation is often derived in a context of the relativistic theory for closed systems which do not accelerate. By contrast,…
If the presence of a gravitational field breaks the Lorentz symmetry valid for special relativity, an "absolute motion" might be detectable. We summarize a scalar theory of gravity with a such "ether", which starts from a tentative…
Although the third law of thermodynamics was established almost a century ago, it is not yet universally considered to be a fundamental law of physics. A major problem is that there are many materials having residual entropy. Amorphous…
We present the principle of virtual action as a foundation of continuum mechanics. Used mainly in relativity, the method has a useful application in classical mechanics and places the notion of action as the basic concept of dynamics. The…
Despite its apparent simplicity, Newtonian Mechanics contains conceptual subtleties that may cause some confusion to the deep-thinking student. These subtleties concern fundamental issues such as, e.g., the number of independent laws needed…
Quantum buoyancy has been proposed as the mechanism protecting the generalized second law when an entropy--bearing object is slowly lowered towards a black hole and then dropped in. We point out that the original derivation of the buoyant…
The Lagrangian formulation of classical mechanics is widely applicable in solving a vast array of physics problems encountered in the undergraduate and graduate physics curriculum. Unfortunately, many treatments of the topic lack…
It is argued that, contrary to conventional wisdom, no trustworthy universal self-force/radiative corrections to the Lorentz force equation, can be derived from the basic tenets of classical electrodynamics. This concords with the apparent…
A covariant formula for conserved currents of energy, momentum and angular-momentum is derived from a general form of Noethers theorem applied directly to the Einstein-Hilbert action of classical general relativity. Energy conservation in a…
We discuss two applications of Riccati equation to Newton's laws of motion. The first one is the motion of a particle under the influence of a power law central potential $V(r)=k r^{\epsilon}$. For zero total energy we show that the…
The principle of stationary action is a cornerstone of modern physics, providing a powerful framework for investigating dynamical systems found in classical mechanics through to quantum field theory. However, computational neuroscience,…
It was proposed by Haisch, Rueda and Puthoff (Phys. Rev. A, 49, 678, 1994) that the inertia of matter could be interpreted at least in part as a reaction force originating in interactions between the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF)…
The subject of radiation reaction in classical electromagnetism remains controversial over 120 years after the pioneering work of Lorentz. We give a simple but rigorous treatment of the subject at the textbook level that explains the…
In textbooks on statistical mechanics, one finds often arguments based on classical mechanics, phase space and ergodicity in order to justify the second law of thermodynamics. However, the basic equations of motion of classical mechanics…
We introduce a relativistic action that provides a unified and physically meaningful description of particle dynamics in external fields. The proposed action is constructed to be Lorentz covariant and reduces to the standard classical…
Arguments of astronomers against equation of motion for arbitrarily shaped particle under action of electromagnetic radiation are discussed. Each of the arguments is commented in detail from the point of view of the required physics. It is…
We take the viewpoint that the physically acceptable solutions of the Lorentz--Dirac equation for radiation back-reaction are actually determined by a second order equation of motion, the self-force being given as a function of spacetime…
It is shown that a well-defined expression for the total electromagnetic force $f^{em}$ on a point charge source of the classical electromagnetic field can be extracted from the postulate of total momentum conservation whenever the…