Related papers: The frame of fixed stars in Relational Mechanics
Relational mechanics is a reformulation of mechanics (classical or quantum) for which space is relational. This means that the configuration of an $N$-particle system is a shape, which is what remains when the effects of rotations,…
Absolute space is eliminated from the body of mechanics by gauging translations and rotations in the Lagrangian of a classical system. The procedure implies the addition of compensating terms to the kinetic energy, in such a way that the…
Relational particle mechanics are models in which there is, overall, no time, position, orientation (nor, sometimes, scale). They are useful for whole-universe modelling - the setting for quantum cosmology. This note concerns 3 particles in…
We present a fully relational definition of inertial systems based in the No Arbitrariness Principle, that eliminates the need for absolute inertial frames of reference or distinguished reference systems as the "fixed stars" in order to…
Classical non-relativistic mechanics in a general setting of time-dependent transformations and reference frame changes is formulated in the terms of fibre bundles over the time-axis R. Connections on fibre bundles are the main ingredient…
This paper elaborates on relationalism about space and time as motivated by a minimalist ontology of the physical world: there are only matter points that are individuated by the distance relations among them, with these relations changing.…
Based on the Bohr's correspondence principle it is shown that relativistic mechanics and quantum mechanics may be considered as generalizations of classical mechanics. A comparative description of relativistic and classical mechanics is…
Both relativistic mechanics and Newtonian mechanics are based on principles that have ontological implications. We propose a series of formalisms that rigorously define the ontology underlying mechanical theories, in order to clarify and…
We will prove that, in general, a system formed by several particles moving along relativistic trajectories can not be described by a mechanical system. The contradiction that leads to the previous assertion is due to the fact that a…
Relative motion of particles is examined in the context of relational space-time. It is shown that de Broglie waves may be derived as a representation of the coordinate maps between the rest-frames of these particles. Energy and momentum…
We present an axiomatic framework for what we call Mach's mechanics, inspired on the ideas by A. K. T. Assis and P. Graneau about relational mechanics. We show that contrarily to what is suggested by these authors, Mach's principle does not…
A relative mechanics with no absolute space is shown to be equivalent to Newtonian mechanics applied in a universe of zero net angular momentum. Closed spaces in General Relativity have no angular momentum and shrivel to one point as the…
This paper concerns the absolute versus relative motion debate. The Barbour and Bertotti 1982 work may be viewed as an indirectly set up relational formulation of a portion of Newtonian mechanics. I consider further direct formulations of…
An ontology of Leibnizian relationalism, consisting in distance relations among sparse matter points and their change only, is well recognized as a serious option in the context of classical mechanics. In this paper, we investigate how this…
Bohmian mechanics is a theory about point particles moving along trajectories. It has the property that in a world governed by Bohmian mechanics, observers see the same statistics for experimental results as predicted by quantum mechanics.…
I discuss the physical basis of classical mechanics, such as expressed commonly using the framework of Newton's Principia. Newton's formulation of the laws of motion is seen to have quite a few ambiguities and shortcomings. Therefore I…
A new approach to relativistic mechanics is proposed, suitable to describe dynamics of different kinds of relativistic particles. Mathematically it is based on an application of the recent geometric theory of nonholonomic systems on fibred…
Mach's principle fits into the wider "relational principle", advocating that not only inertia, but also space and time emerge from the interaction of matter. Concepts of a Machian/relational theory are proposed, where inertia and energy are…
The notion of microscopic state of the system at a given moment of time as a point in the phase space as well as a notion of trajectory is widely used in classical mechanics. However, it does not have an immediate physical meaning, since…
Most of the logical objections against the classical laws of motion, as they are usually presented in textbooks, centre on the fact that defining force in terms of mass and acceleration, the first two laws are mere assertions of concepts to…