Adiabatic invariant in light of Hamilton’s principle

Adiabatic invariants are specific physical quantities which do not change appreciably even after a very long time when the Hamiltonian of a mechanical system undergoes a slow change in time. Existing proofs of this nice feature range from sophistication, and typically resort to a sort of averaging principle using Hamilton’s equations of motion. We show that a much simpler argument based directly on Hamilton’s principle per se is possible. Furthermore, this approach readily reveals an interesting local recurrent property of the adiabatic invariants that is rarely emphasized in the existing literature. We also show how our simpler approach can be easily generalized to derive the time dependence of the adiabatic invariant.     

Hamilton’s equations of motion of a vortex filament in the rotating Bose–Einstein condensate and their “soliton” solutions

The equation of motion of a quantized vortex filament in a trapped Bose–Einstein condensate [A. A. Svidzinsky and A. L. Fetter, Phys. Rev. A 62, 063617 (2000)] has been generalized to the case of an arbitrary anharmonic anisotropic rotating trap and presented in the variational form. For condensate density profiles of the form ρ = f(x² + y² + ReΨ(x + iy)) in the presence of the plane of symmetry y = 0, the solutions x(z) describing stationary vortices of U and S types coming to the surface and solitary waves have been found in quadratures. Analogous three-dimensional configurations of the vortex filament uniformly moving along the z axis have also been found in strictly cylindrical geometry. The dependence of solutions on the form of the function f(q) has been analyzed.     

Nordström’s scalar theory of gravity and the equivalence principle

General Relativity obeys the three equivalence principles, the “weak” one (all test bodies fall the same way in a given gravitational field), the “Einstein” one (gravity is locally effaced in a freely falling reference frame) and the “strong” one (the gravitational mass of a system equals its inertial mass to which all forms of energy, including gravitational energy, contribute). The first principle holds because matter is minimally coupled to the metric of a curved spacetime so that test bodies follow geodesics. The second holds because Minkowskian coordinates can be used in the vicinity of any event. The fact that the latter, strong, principle holds is ultimately due to the existence of superpotentials which allow to define the inertial mass of a gravitating system by means of its asymptotic gravitational field, that is, in terms of its gravitational mass. Nordström’s theory of gravity, which describes gravity by a scalar field in flat spacetime, is observationally ruled out. It is however the only theory of gravity with General Relativity to obey the strong equivalence principle. I show in this paper that this remarkable property is true beyond post-newtonian level and can be related to the existence of a “Nordström-Katz” superpotential.     

Mach’s principle and hidden matter

According to the Einstein-Mayer theory of the Riemanniann space-time with Einstein-Cartan teleparallelism, the local Lorentz invariance is broken by the gravitational field defining Machian reference systems. This breaking of symmetry implies the occurrence of “hidden matter” in the Einstein equations of gravity. The hidden matter is described by the non-Lorentz-invariant energy-momentum tensor satisfying the relation . The tensor is formed from the Einstein-Cartan torsion field given by the anholonomy objects, F_Aik=2h_A[i,k], and appears together with Hilbert’s energy-momentum tensor T^* _ik and Poincaré’s pressure λg_ik on the right-hand side of Einstein’s equations so that one has

The main properties and peculiarities of the Earth’s motion relative to the center of mass

The methods of theoretical and celestial mechanics and mathematical statistics have been used to prove that the Earth’s motion relative to the center of mass, the polar wobble, in the principal approximation is a combination of two circumferences with a slow trend in the mean position corresponding to the annual and Chandler components. It has been established that the parameters (amplitude and phase shift) of the annual wobble are stable, while those of the Chandler component are less stable and undergo significant variations over the observed time intervals. It has been proven that the behavior of these polar motion parameters is attributable to the gravitational-tidal mechanisms of their excitation.     

High-Order Hamilton＇s Principle and the Hamilton＇s Principle of High-Order Lagrangian Function

In this paper, based on the theorem of the high-order velocity energy, integration and variation principle, the high-order Hamilton＇s principle of general holonomic systems is given. Then, three-order Lagrangian equations and four-order Lagrangian equations are obtained from the high-order Hamilton＇s principle. Finally, the Hamilton＇s principle of high-order Lagrangian function is given.     

Hamilton’s theory of turns revisited

We present a new approach to Hamilton’s theory of turns for the groups SO(3) and SU(2) which renders their properties, in particular their composition law, nearly trivial and immediately evident upon inspection. We show that the entire construction can be based on binary rotations rather than mirror reflections.     

Double-slit experiment and Bogoliubov’s causality principle

In the Bogoliubov approach the causality principle is the basic constructive element of quantum field theory. At the same time, this principle has obvious classical interpretation. On the other hand, it is well-known Feynman statement that the double-slit experiment is “impossible, absolutely impossible to explain in classical way, and has in it the heart of quantum mechanics. We describe how taking into account of infrared singularities allows to give quite evident interpretation to double-slit experiment. And this interpretation agrees with the Bogoliubov’s causality principle.     

Non-contemporaneous variations and Hölder’s principle

In the process of deducing the Hölder principle, a key step is to use the concept of non-contemporaneous variations. In this paper, whether starting from analytic method or from graphic solution method, the authors prove that the expression formula of non-contemporaneous variations is incorrect when the variable functions have zero-order nearness degree, and obtain a new expression. From the view of calculus of variations and differential calculus, the non-contemporaneous variations are studied. The study result shows that the concept of non-contemporaneous variations is a combination of the concept of variations and the concept of differentiation. The authors prove that the new expression is correct and obtain an equivalent expression of it. By means of this equivalent expression, this paper proves that the above expression formula of non-contemporaneous variations is correct when the variable functions have one-order nearness degree. Further study shows that, in the process of deducing Hölder’s principle, there is an implicit expression. Whether starting from analytic method or from graphic solution method, the authors discovered that the implicit expression of non-contemporaneous variations is incorrect when the variable functions have zero-order nearness degree and have one-order nearness degree. This paper proves that the implicit expression of non-contemporaneous variations is correct when the variable functions have two-order nearness degree. Further study shows that Hölder’s principle is tenable when the variable functions have two-order nearness degree.     

Penrose’s circles in the CMB and a test of inflation

We present a calculation of the angular size of the circles in the CMB predicted by Penrose on the basis of his conformal cyclic cosmology. If these circles are detected, the existence of an upper limit on their angular radius would provide a challenge for inflation.     

Babinet’s principle in scalar theory of diffraction

In this work, we present an original proof of Babinet’s principle within the framework of the scalar theory of diffraction. The proof is derived in the case of the Fraunhofer diffraction, directly from the Fresnel-Kirchhoff formula, using properties of Fourier analysis and integral calculus, without considering Babinet’s principle itself for scalar waves. From the same proof, we also mathematically verify that, in the case of Fresnel diffraction, Babinet’s principle is fulfilled but in its more general scalar version.     

ESR in the Earth’s magnetic field as a cause of dislocation motion in NaCl crystals

The resonance displacements of the dislocations, l ∼ 100 μm, in NaCl crystals placed in the crossed Earth’s magnetic field B _Earth and the ac field $ \tilde B $ \tilde B ≈ 3 μT of the variable frequency ν ∼ 10⁶ Hz have been discovered in the absence of any other impact on the crystals. Two peaks of the mean dislocation path l(ν) with the maxima at ν₁ = 1.3 MHz and ν₂ = 3 MHz have been observed for the field $ \tilde B $ \tilde B oriented along the vertical and horizontal components of B _Earth, respectively. The effect is explained by the depinning of the dislocations from the impurity centers after their structural transformation due to the ESR in the dislocation-impurity system in the crossed fields. The subsequent motion of the dislocations proceeds under the action of internal stress in the crystals. A physical model has been proposed to explain the strong anisotropy of the effect with respect to the mutual orientation of the dislocation lines and magnetic fields.     

Republication of: On Hamilton’s canonical equations

This is an English translation of a paper by Władysław Ślebodziński, first published in French in 1931, in which he introduced the general definition of what is today called the Lie derivative of tensors (strangely enough, he gave no name to this object). The paper has been selected by the Editors of General Relativity and Gravitation for re-publication in the Golden Oldies series of the journal. This republication is accompanied by an editorial note written by Andrzej Trautman and Ślebodziński’s brief biography written by Witold Roter.     

Pryce’s mass-center operators and the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron

In the present work, we develop a method to derive the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron. From Dirac equation, the relationships among the expectation values of the Pryce’s mass-center operator, the position operator, the spin operator and the canonical momentum operator are investigated. By requiring that the center of mass for a classical spinning electron is related to the expectation value of Pryce’s mass-center operator, one can obtain a classical expression for the position of the electron. With the classical equations of motion, the anomalous velocity of a spinning electron can be easily obtained. It is shown that two factors contribute to the anomalous velocity: one is dependent on the selection of Pryce’s mass-center operators and the other is a type-independent velocity expressed by the rotational velocity and the Lorentz force.     

Asymptotic approach to the description of nonclassical transport processes. Fermat’s principle

A method has been proposed to calculate the concentration distribution at asymptotically long distances from a source of impurity in a medium including long-scale heterogeneities. It has been found that the exponent Γ ? 1 in an expression for the concentration satisfies a nonlinear equation with first-order partial derivatives. This has allowed using the variational principle to calculate the function Γ. The pre-exponential factor in the expression for the concentration has been determined in the leading approximation in the small parameter Γ^?1. An analogy with geometrical optics and semiclassical approximation in quantum mechanics has been demonstrated.