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Classical Mechanics (Goldstein)
''Classical Mechanics'' is a textbook written by Herbert Goldstein, a professor at Columbia University. Intended for advanced undergraduate education, undergraduate and beginning Postgraduate education, graduate students, it has been one of the standard references on its subject around the world since its first publication in 1950. Overview In the second edition, Goldstein corrected all the errors that had been pointed out, added a new chapter on perturbation theory, a new section on Bertrand's theorem, and another on Noether's theorem. Other arguments and proofs were simplified and supplemented. Before the death of its primary author in 2005, a new (third) edition of the book was released, with the collaboration of Charles P. Poole and John L. Safko from the University of South Carolina. In the third edition, the book discusses at length various mathematically sophisticated reformations of Newtonian mechanics, namely analytical mechanics, as applied to particles, rigid bodies a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Goldstein
Herbert Goldstein (June 26, 1922 – January 12, 2005) was an American physicist and the author of the standard graduate textbook ''Classical Mechanics (Goldstein book), Classical Mechanics''. Life and work Goldstein, long recognized for his scholarship in classical mechanics and reactor shielding, was the author of the graduate textbook, Classical Mechanics. The book has been a standard text since it first appeared in 1950 and has been translated into nine languages. He received a B.S. from City College of New York in 1940 and a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1943. From 1942 to 1946, Goldstein was a staff member of the wartime Radiation Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.I.T., where he engaged in research on the theory of waveguides and Cavity Magnetron, magnetrons and on the characteristics of radar echoes. He was an instructor in the physics department at Harvard University from 1946 to 1949. In 1949–50 he was an United States Atomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaos Theory
Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of Scientific method, scientific study and branch of mathematics. It focuses on underlying patterns and Deterministic system, deterministic Scientific law, laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. These were once thought to have completely random states of disorder and irregularities. Chaos theory states that within the apparent randomness of chaotic complex systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnection, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals and self-organization. The butterfly effect, an underlying principle of chaos, describes how a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state (meaning there is sensitive dependence on initial conditions). A metaphor for this behavior is that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can cause or prevent a tornado in Texas. Text was copied from this source, which is avai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action-angle Coordinates
In classical mechanics, action-angle variables are a set of canonical coordinates that are useful in characterizing the nature of commuting flows in integrable systems when the conserved energy level set is compact, and the commuting flows are complete. Action-angle variables are also important in obtaining the frequencies of oscillatory or rotational motion without solving the equations of motion. They only exist, providing a key characterization of the dynamics, when the system is completely integrable, i.e., the number of independent Poisson commuting invariants is maximal and the conserved energy surface is compact. This is usually of practical calculational value when the Hamilton–Jacobi equation is completely separable, and the separation constants can be solved for, as functions on the phase space. Action-angle variables define a foliation by invariant Lagrangian tori because the flows induced by the Poisson commuting invariants remain within their joint level sets, while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamilton–Jacobi Equation
In physics, the Hamilton–Jacobi equation, named after William Rowan Hamilton and Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, is an alternative formulation of classical mechanics, equivalent to other formulations such as Newton's laws of motion, Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics. The Hamilton–Jacobi equation is a formulation of mechanics in which the motion of a particle can be represented as a wave. In this sense, it fulfilled a long-held goal of theoretical physics (dating at least to Johann Bernoulli in the eighteenth century) of finding an analogy between the propagation of light and the motion of a particle. The wave equation followed by mechanical systems is similar to, but not identical with, the Schrödinger equation, as described below; for this reason, the Hamilton–Jacobi equation is considered the "closest approach" of classical mechanics to quantum mechanics. (particularly the discussion beginning in the last paragraph of page 491) The qualitative form of this conne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canonical Transformation
In Hamiltonian mechanics, a canonical transformation is a change of canonical coordinates that preserves the form of Hamilton's equations. This is sometimes known as ''form invariance''. Although Hamilton's equations are preserved, it need not preserve the explicit form of the Hamiltonian itself. Canonical transformations are useful in their own right, and also form the basis for the Hamilton–Jacobi equations (a useful method for calculating conserved quantities) and Liouville's theorem (itself the basis for classical statistical mechanics). Since Lagrangian mechanics is based on generalized coordinates, transformations of the coordinates do not affect the form of Lagrange's equations and, hence, do not affect the form of Hamilton's equations if the momentum is simultaneously changed by a Legendre transformation into P_i = \frac\ , where \left\ are the new co‑ordinates, grouped in canonical conjugate pairs of momenta P_i and corresponding positions Q_i, for i = 1, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamilton's Equations
In physics, Hamiltonian mechanics is a reformulation of Lagrangian mechanics that emerged in 1833. Introduced by Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Hamiltonian mechanics replaces (generalized) velocities \dot q^i used in Lagrangian mechanics with (generalized) ''momenta''. Both theories provide interpretations of classical mechanics and describe the same physical phenomena. Hamiltonian mechanics has a close relationship with geometry (notably, symplectic geometry and Poisson structures) and serves as a link between classical and quantum mechanics. Overview Phase space coordinates (''p'', ''q'') and Hamiltonian ''H'' Let (M, \mathcal L) be a mechanical system with configuration space M and smooth Lagrangian \mathcal L. Select a standard coordinate system (\boldsymbol,\boldsymbol) on M. The quantities \textstyle p_i(\boldsymbol,\boldsymbol,t) ~\stackrel~ / are called ''momenta''. (Also ''generalized momenta'', ''conjugate momenta'', and ''canonical momenta''). For a time inst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Theory Of Relativity
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory of the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", the theory is presented as being based on just two postulates: # The laws of physics are invariant (identical) in all inertial frames of reference (that is, frames of reference with no acceleration). This is known as the principle of relativity. # The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of light source or observer. This is known as the principle of light constancy, or the principle of light speed invariance. The first postulate was first formulated by Galileo Galilei (see '' Galilean invariance''). Background Special relativity builds upon important physics ideas. The non-technical ideas include: * speed or velocity, how the relative distance between an object and a reference point changes with time. * speed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigid Body Motion
In physics, a rigid body, also known as a rigid object, is a solid body in which deformation is zero or negligible, when a deforming pressure or deforming force is applied on it. The distance between any two given points on a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external forces or moments exerted on it. A rigid body is usually considered as a continuous distribution of mass. Mechanics of rigid bodies is a field within mechanics where motions and forces of objects are studied without considering effects that can cause deformation (as opposed to mechanics of materials, where deformable objects are considered). In the study of special relativity, a perfectly rigid body does not exist; and objects can only be assumed to be rigid if they are not moving near the speed of light, where the mass is infinitely large. In quantum mechanics, a rigid body is usually thought of as a collection of point masses. For instance, molecules (consisting of the point masses: electron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinematics
In physics, kinematics studies the geometrical aspects of motion of physical objects independent of forces that set them in motion. Constrained motion such as linked machine parts are also described as kinematics. Kinematics is concerned with systems of specification of objects' positions and velocities and mathematical transformations between such systems. These systems may be rectangular like Cartesian coordinate system, cartesian, Curvilinear coordinates like polar coordinates or other systems. The object trajectories may be specified with respect to other objects which may themselve be in motion relative to a standard reference. Rotating systems may also be used. Numerous practical problems in kinematics involve constraints, such as mechanical linkages, ropes, or rolling disks. Overview Kinematics is a subfield of physics and mathematics, developed in classical mechanics, that describes the motion of points, Physical object, bodies (objects), and systems of bodies (group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Central-force Problem
In classical mechanics, the central-force problem is to determine the motion of a particle in a single central force, central potential field. A central force is a force (possibly negative) that points from the particle directly towards a fixed point in space, the center, and whose magnitude only depends on the distance of the object to the center. In a few important cases, the problem can be solved analytically, i.e., in terms of well-studied functions such as trigonometric functions. The solution of this problem is important to classical mechanics, since many naturally occurring forces are central. Examples include gravity and electromagnetism as described by Newton's law of universal gravitation and Coulomb's law, respectively. The problem is also important because some more complicated problems in classical physics (such as the two-body problem with forces along the line connecting the two bodies) can be reduced to a central-force problem. Finally, the solution to the centra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagrange's Equations
In physics, Lagrangian mechanics is a formulation of classical mechanics founded on the d'Alembert principle of virtual work. It was introduced by the Italian-French mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange in his presentation to the Turin Academy of Science in 1760 culminating in his 1788 grand opus, '' Mécanique analytique''. Lagrangian mechanics describes a mechanical system as a pair consisting of a configuration space ''M'' and a smooth function L within that space called a ''Lagrangian''. For many systems, , where ''T'' and ''V'' are the kinetic and potential energy of the system, respectively. The stationary action principle requires that the action functional of the system derived from ''L'' must remain at a stationary point (specifically, a maximum, minimum, or saddle point) throughout the time evolution of the system. This constraint allows the calculation of the equations of motion of the system using Lagrange's equations. Introduction Newton's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variational Principle
A variational principle is a mathematical procedure that renders a physical problem solvable by the calculus of variations, which concerns finding functions that optimize the values of quantities that depend on those functions. For example, the problem of determining the shape of a hanging chain suspended at both ends—a catenary—can be solved using variational calculus, and in this case, the variational principle is the following: The solution is a function that minimizes the gravitational potential energy of the chain. History Physics The history of the variational principle in classical mechanics started with Maupertuis's principle in the 18th century. Math Felix Klein's 1872 Erlangen program attempted to identify invariants under a group of transformations. Examples In mathematics * Ekeland's variational principle in mathematical optimization * The finite element method * The variation principle relating topological entropy and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy. In physics * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
