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Kepler Problem
In classical mechanics, the Kepler problem is a special case of the two-body problem, in which the two bodies interact by a central force ''F'' that varies in strength as the inverse square of the distance ''r'' between them. The force may be either attractive or repulsive. The problem is to find the position or speed of the two bodies over time given their masses, positions, and velocities. Using classical mechanics, the solution can be expressed as a Kepler orbit using six orbital elements. The Kepler problem is named after Johannes Kepler, who proposed Kepler's laws of planetary motion (which are part of classical mechanics and solved the problem for the orbits of the planets) and investigated the types of forces that would result in orbits obeying those laws (called ''Kepler's inverse problem''). For a discussion of the Kepler problem specific to radial orbits, see Radial trajectory. General relativity provides more accurate solutions to the two-body problem, especiall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-body Problem
In classical mechanics, the two-body problem is to predict the motion of two massive objects which are abstractly viewed as point particles. The problem assumes that the two objects interact only with one another; the only force affecting each object arises from the other one, and all other objects are ignored. The most prominent case of the classical two-body problem is the gravitational case (see also Kepler problem), arising in astronomy for predicting the orbits (or escapes from orbit) of objects such as satellites, planets, and stars. A two-point-particle model of such a system nearly always describes its behavior well enough to provide useful insights and predictions. A simpler "one body" model, the " central-force problem", treats one object as the immobile source of a force acting on the other. One then seeks to predict the motion of the single remaining mobile object. Such an approximation can give useful results when one object is much more massive than the other (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gravitation
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the strong interaction, 1036 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 1029 times weaker than the weak interaction. As a result, it has no significant influence at the level of subatomic particles. However, gravity is the most significant interaction between objects at the macroscopic scale, and it determines the motion of planets, stars, galaxies, and even light. On Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects, and the Moon's gravity is responsible for sublunar tides in the oceans (the corresponding antipodal tide is caused by the inertia of the Earth and Moon orbiting one another). Gravity also has many important biological functions, helping to guide the growth of plants through the process of gravitropism and influencing th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplace–Runge–Lenz Vector
In classical mechanics, the Laplace–Runge–Lenz (LRL) vector is a vector used chiefly to describe the shape and orientation of the orbit of one astronomical body around another, such as a binary star or a planet revolving around a star. For two bodies interacting by Newtonian gravity, the LRL vector is a constant of motion, meaning that it is the same no matter where it is calculated on the orbit; equivalently, the LRL vector is said to be '' conserved''. More generally, the LRL vector is conserved in all problems in which two bodies interact by a central force that varies as the inverse square of the distance between them; such problems are called Kepler problems. The hydrogen atom is a Kepler problem, since it comprises two charged particles interacting by Coulomb's law of electrostatics, another inverse-square central force. The LRL vector was essential in the first quantum mechanical derivation of the spectrum of the hydrogen atom, before the development of the Schr� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action-angle Coordinates
In classical mechanics, action-angle coordinates are a set of canonical coordinates useful in solving many integrable systems. The method of action-angles is useful for obtaining the frequencies of oscillatory or rotational motion without solving the equations of motion. Action-angle coordinates are chiefly used when the Hamilton–Jacobi equations are completely separable. (Hence, the Hamiltonian does not depend explicitly on time, i.e., the energy is conserved.) Action-angle variables define an invariant torus, so called because holding the action constant defines the surface of a torus, while the angle variables parameterize the coordinates on the torus. The Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization conditions, used to develop quantum mechanics before the advent of wave mechanics, state that the action must be an integral multiple of Planck's constant; similarly, Einstein's insight into EBK quantization and the difficulty of quantizing non-integrable systems was expressed in term ... [...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 particularly useful in identifying conserved quantities for mechanical systems, which may be possible even when the mechanical problem itself cannot be solved completely. The Hamilton–Jacobi equation is also the only 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, Schrödinger's equation, as described below; for this reason, the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamiltonian Mechanics
Hamiltonian mechanics emerged in 1833 as a reformulation of Lagrangian mechanics. 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 the configuration space M and the 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 instant t, the Legendre transfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagrangian Mechanics
In physics, Lagrangian mechanics is a formulation of classical mechanics founded on the stationary-action principle (also known as the principle of least action). It was introduced by the Italian-French mathematician and astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange in his 1788 work, ''Mécanique analytique''. Lagrangian mechanics describes a mechanical system as a pair (M,L) consisting of a configuration space M and a smooth function L within that space called a ''Lagrangian''. By convention, L = T - V, 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 (a maximum, minimum, or saddle) 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 Suppose there exists a bead sliding around on a wire, or a swinging simple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bertrand's Theorem
In classical mechanics, Bertrand's theorem states that among central-force potentials with bound orbits, there are only two types of central-force (radial) scalar potentials with the property that all bound orbits are also closed orbits. The first such potential is an inverse-square central force such as the gravitational or electrostatic potential: : V(r) = -\frac with force f(r) = -\frac = -\frac. The second is the radial harmonic oscillator potential: : V(r) = \frac kr^2 with force f(r) = -\frac = -kr. The theorem is named after its discoverer, Joseph Bertrand. Derivation All attractive central forces can produce circular orbits, which are naturally closed orbits. The only requirement is that the central force exactly equals the centripetal force, which determines the required angular velocity for a given circular radius. Non-central forces (i.e., those that depend on the angular variables as well as the radius) are ignored here, since they do not produce cir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simple Harmonic Oscillator
In mechanics and physics, simple harmonic motion (sometimes abbreviated ) is a special type of periodic motion of a body resulting from a dynamic equilibrium between an inertial force, proportional to the acceleration of the body away from the static equilibrium position and a restoring force on the moving object that is directly proportional to the magnitude of the object's displacement and acts towards the object's equilibrium position. It results in an oscillation, described by a sinusoid which continues indefinitely, if uninhibited by friction or any other dissipation of energy. Simple harmonic motion can serve as a mathematical model for a variety of motions, but is typified by the oscillation of a mass on a spring when it is subject to the linear elastic restoring force given by Hooke's law. The motion is sinusoidal in time and demonstrates a single resonant frequency. Other phenomena can be modeled by simple harmonic motion, including the motion of a simple pendulum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muonium
Muonium is an exotic atom made up of an antimuon and an electron, which was discovered in 1960 by Vernon W. Hughes and is given the chemical symbol Mu. During the muon's lifetime, muonium can undergo chemical reactions. Due to the mass difference between the antimuon and the electron, muonium () is more similar to atomic hydrogen () than positronium (). Its Bohr radius and ionization energy are within 0.5% of hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium, and thus it can usefully be considered as an exotic light isotope of hydrogen. Although muonium is short-lived, physical chemists study it using muon spin spectroscopy (μSR), a magnetic resonance technique analogous to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. Like ESR, μSR is useful for the analysis of chemical transformations and the structure of compounds with novel or potentially valuable electronic properties. Muonium is usually studied by muon spin rotation, in which the Mu atom's spin p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Positronium
Positronium (Ps) is a system consisting of an electron and its anti-particle, a positron, bound together into an exotic atom, specifically an onium. Unlike hydrogen, the system has no protons. The system is unstable: the two particles annihilate each other to predominantly produce two or three gamma-rays, depending on the relative spin states. The energy levels of the two particles are similar to that of the hydrogen atom (which is a bound state of a proton and an electron). However, because of the reduced mass, the frequencies of the spectral lines are less than half of those for the corresponding hydrogen lines. States The mass of positronium is 1.022 MeV, which is twice the electron mass minus the binding energy of a few eV. The lowest energy orbital state of positronium is 1S, and like with hydrogen, it has a hyperfine structure arising from the relative orientations of the spins of the electron and the positron. The ''singlet'' state, , with antiparallel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and highly combustible. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe, constituting roughly 75% of all normal matter.However, most of the universe's mass is not in the form of baryons or chemical elements. See dark matter and dark energy. Stars such as the Sun are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. Most of the hydrogen on Earth exists in molecular forms such as water and organic compounds. For the most common isotope of hydrogen (symbol 1H) each atom has one proton, one electron, and no neutrons. In the early universe, the formation of protons, the nuclei of hydrogen, occurred during the first second after the Big Bang. The emergence of neutral hydrogen atoms throughout the universe occurre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
