Celestial Mechanics: from Antiquity to Modern Times - Alessandra Celletti
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The Celestial Mechanics of Newton
GENERAL I ARTICLE The Celestial Mechanics of Newton Dipankar Bhattacharya Newton's law of universal gravitation laid the physical foundation of celestial mechanics. This article reviews the steps towards the law of gravi tation, and highlights some applications to celes tial mechanics found in Newton's Principia. 1. Introduction Newton's Principia consists of three books; the third Dipankar Bhattacharya is at the Astrophysics Group dealing with the The System of the World puts forth of the Raman Research Newton's views on celestial mechanics. This third book Institute. His research is indeed the heart of Newton's "natural philosophy" interests cover all types of which draws heavily on the mathematical results derived cosmic explosions and in the first two books. Here he systematises his math their remnants. ematical findings and confronts them against a variety of observed phenomena culminating in a powerful and compelling development of the universal law of gravita tion. Newton lived in an era of exciting developments in Nat ural Philosophy. Some three decades before his birth J 0- hannes Kepler had announced his first two laws of plan etary motion (AD 1609), to be followed by the third law after a decade (AD 1619). These were empirical laws derived from accurate astronomical observations, and stirred the imagination of philosophers regarding their underlying cause. Mechanics of terrestrial bodies was also being developed around this time. Galileo's experiments were conducted in the early 17th century leading to the discovery of the Keywords laws of free fall and projectile motion. Galileo's Dialogue Celestial mechanics, astronomy, about the system of the world was published in 1632. -
Curriculum Overview Physics/Pre-AP 2018-2019 1St Nine Weeks
Curriculum Overview Physics/Pre-AP 2018-2019 1st Nine Weeks RESOURCES: Essential Physics (Ergopedia – online book) Physics Classroom http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ PHET Simulations https://phet.colorado.edu/ ONGOING TEKS: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2F, 2G, 2H, 2I, 2J,3E 1) SAFETY TEKS 1A, 1B Vocabulary Fume hood, fire blanket, fire extinguisher, goggle sanitizer, eye wash, safety shower, impact goggles, chemical safety goggles, fire exit, electrical safety cut off, apron, broken glass container, disposal alert, biological hazard, open flame alert, thermal safety, sharp object safety, fume safety, electrical safety, plant safety, animal safety, radioactive safety, clothing protection safety, fire safety, explosion safety, eye safety, poison safety, chemical safety Key Concepts The student will be able to determine if a situation in the physics lab is a safe practice and what appropriate safety equipment and safety warning signs may be needed in a physics lab. The student will be able to determine the proper disposal or recycling of materials in the physics lab. Essential Questions 1. How are safe practices in school, home or job applied? 2. What are the consequences for not using safety equipment or following safe practices? 2) SCIENCE OF PHYSICS: Glossary, Pages 35, 39 TEKS 2B, 2C Vocabulary Matter, energy, hypothesis, theory, objectivity, reproducibility, experiment, qualitative, quantitative, engineering, technology, science, pseudo-science, non-science Key Concepts The student will know that scientific hypotheses are tentative and testable statements that must be capable of being supported or not supported by observational evidence. The student will know that scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple independent researchers. -
Hints Into Kepler's Method
Stefano Gattei [email protected] Hints into Kepler’s method ABSTRACT The Italian Academy, Columbia University February 4, 2009 Some of Johannes Kepler’s works seem very different in character. His youthful Mysterium cosmographicum (1596) argues for heliocentrism on the basis of metaphysical, astronomical, astrological, numerological, and architectonic principles. By contrast, Astronomia nova (1609) is far more tightly argued on the basis of only a few dynamical principles. In the eyes of many, such a contrast embodies a transition from Renaissance to early modern science. However, Kepler did not subsequently abandon the broader approach of his early works: similar metaphysical arguments reappeared in Harmonices mundi libri V (1619), and he reissued the Mysterium cosmographicum in a second edition in 1621, in which he qualified only some of his youthful arguments. I claim that the conceptual and stylistic features of the Astronomia nova – as well as of other “minor” works, such as Strena seu De nive sexangula (1611) or Nova stereometria doliorum vinariorum (1615) – are intimately related and were purposely chosen because of the response he knew to expect from the astronomical community to the revolutionary changes in astronomy he was proposing. Far from being a stream-of-consciousness or merely rhetorical kind of narrative, as many scholars have argued, Kepler’s expository method was carefully calculated both to convince his readers and to engage them in a critical discussion in the joint effort to know God’s design. By abandoning the perspective of the inductivist philosophy of science, which is forced by its own standards to portray Kepler as a “sleepwalker,” I argue that the key lies in the examination of Kepler’s method: whether considering the functioning and structure of the heavens or the tiny geometry of the little snowflakes, he never hesitated to discuss his own intellectual journey, offering a rational reconstruction of the series of false starts, blind alleys, and failures he encountered. -
TOPICS in CELESTIAL MECHANICS 1. the Newtonian N-Body Problem
TOPICS IN CELESTIAL MECHANICS RICHARD MOECKEL 1. The Newtonian n-body Problem Celestial mechanics can be defined as the study of the solution of Newton's differ- ential equations formulated by Isaac Newton in 1686 in his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. The setting for celestial mechanics is three-dimensional space: 3 R = fq = (x; y; z): x; y; z 2 Rg with the Euclidean norm: p jqj = x2 + y2 + z2: A point particle is characterized by a position q 2 R3 and a mass m 2 R+. A motion of such a particle is described by a curve q(t) where t runs over some interval in R; the mass is assumed to be constant. Some remarks will be made below about why it is reasonable to model a celestial body by a point particle. For every motion of a point particle one can define: velocity: v(t) =q _(t) momentum: p(t) = mv(t): Newton formulated the following laws of motion: Lex.I. Corpus omne perservare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare 1 Lex.II. Mutationem motus proportionem esse vi motrici impressae et fieri secundem lineam qua vis illa imprimitur. 2 Lex.III Actioni contrarium semper et aequalem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse aequales et in partes contrarias dirigi. 3 The first law is statement of the principle of inertia. The second law asserts the existence of a force function F : R4 ! R3 such that: p_ = F (q; t) or mq¨ = F (q; t): In celestial mechanics, the dependence of F (q; t) on t is usually indirect; the force on one body depends on the positions of the other massive bodies which in turn depend on t. -
Perturbation Theory in Celestial Mechanics
Perturbation Theory in Celestial Mechanics Alessandra Celletti Dipartimento di Matematica Universit`adi Roma Tor Vergata Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma (Italy) ([email protected]) December 8, 2007 Contents 1 Glossary 2 2 Definition 2 3 Introduction 2 4 Classical perturbation theory 4 4.1 The classical theory . 4 4.2 The precession of the perihelion of Mercury . 6 4.2.1 Delaunay action–angle variables . 6 4.2.2 The restricted, planar, circular, three–body problem . 7 4.2.3 Expansion of the perturbing function . 7 4.2.4 Computation of the precession of the perihelion . 8 5 Resonant perturbation theory 9 5.1 The resonant theory . 9 5.2 Three–body resonance . 10 5.3 Degenerate perturbation theory . 11 5.4 The precession of the equinoxes . 12 6 Invariant tori 14 6.1 Invariant KAM surfaces . 14 6.2 Rotational tori for the spin–orbit problem . 15 6.3 Librational tori for the spin–orbit problem . 16 6.4 Rotational tori for the restricted three–body problem . 17 6.5 Planetary problem . 18 7 Periodic orbits 18 7.1 Construction of periodic orbits . 18 7.2 The libration in longitude of the Moon . 20 1 8 Future directions 20 9 Bibliography 21 9.1 Books and Reviews . 21 9.2 Primary Literature . 22 1 Glossary KAM theory: it provides the persistence of quasi–periodic motions under a small perturbation of an integrable system. KAM theory can be applied under quite general assumptions, i.e. a non– degeneracy of the integrable system and a diophantine condition of the frequency of motion. -
Classical Particle Trajectories‡
1 Variational approach to a theory of CLASSICAL PARTICLE TRAJECTORIES ‡ Introduction. The problem central to the classical mechanics of a particle is usually construed to be to discover the function x(t) that describes—relative to an inertial Cartesian reference frame—the positions assumed by the particle at successive times t. This is the problem addressed by Newton, according to whom our analytical task is to discover the solution of the differential equation d2x(t) m = F (x(t)) dt2 that conforms to prescribed initial data x(0) = x0, x˙ (0) = v0. Here I explore an alternative approach to the same physical problem, which we cleave into two parts: we look first for the trajectory traced by the particle, and then—as a separate exercise—for its rate of progress along that trajectory. The discussion will cast new light on (among other things) an important but frequently misinterpreted variational principle, and upon a curious relationship between the “motion of particles” and the “motion of photons”—the one being, when you think about it, hardly more abstract than the other. ‡ The following material is based upon notes from a Reed College Physics Seminar “Geometrical Mechanics: Remarks commemorative of Heinrich Hertz” that was presented February . 2 Classical trajectories 1. “Transit time” in 1-dimensional mechanics. To describe (relative to an inertial frame) the 1-dimensional motion of a mass point m we were taught by Newton to write mx¨ = F (x) − d If F (x) is “conservative” F (x)= dx U(x) (which in the 1-dimensional case is automatic) then, by a familiar line of argument, ≡ 1 2 ˙ E 2 mx˙ + U(x) is conserved: E =0 Therefore the speed of the particle when at x can be described 2 − v(x)= m E U(x) (1) and is determined (see the Figure 1) by the “local depth E − U(x) of the potential lake.” Several useful conclusions are immediate. -
Borromini and the Cultural Context of Kepler's Harmonices Mundi
Borromini and the Dr Valerie Shrimplin cultural context of [email protected] Kepler’sHarmonices om Mundi • • • • Francesco Borromini, S Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Rome (dome) Harmonices Mundi, Bk II, p. 64 Facsimile, Carnegie-Mellon University Francesco Borromini, S Ivo alla Sapienza Rome (dome) Harmonices Mundi, Bk IV, p. 137 • Vitruvius • Scriptures – cosmology and The Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms) cosmological • Early Christian - dome of heaven view of the • Byzantine - domed architecture universe and • Renaissance revival – religious art/architecture symbolism of centrally planned churches • Baroque (17th century) non-circular domes as related to Kepler’s views* *INSAP II, Malta 1999 Cosmas Indicopleustes, Universe 6th cent Last Judgment 6th century (VatGr699) Celestial domes Monastery at Daphne (Δάφνη) 11th century S Sophia, Constantinople (built 532-37) ‘hanging architecture’ Galla Placidia, 425 St Mark’s Venice, late 11th century Evidence of Michelangelo interests in Art and Cosmology (Last Judgment); Music/proportion and Mathematics Giacomo Vignola (1507-73) St Andrea in Via Flaminia 1550-1553 Church of San Giacomo in Augusta, in Rome, Italy, completed by Carlo Maderno 1600 [painting is 19th century] Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri, 1620’s (Borromini with Maderno) Leonardo da Vinci, Notebooks (318r Codex Atlanticus c 1510) Amboise Bachot, 1598 Following p. 52 Astronomia Nova Link between architecture and cosmology (as above) Ovals used as standard ellipse approximation Significant change/increase Revival of neoplatonic terms, geometrical bases in early 17th (ellipse, oval, equilateral triangle) century Fundamental in Harmonices Mundi where orbit of every planet is ellipse with sun at one of foci Borromini combined practical skills with scientific learning and culture • Formative years in Milan (stonemason) • ‘Artistic anarchist’ – innovation and disorder. -
The Celestial Mechanics Approach: Theoretical Foundations
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by RERO DOC Digital Library J Geod (2010) 84:605–624 DOI 10.1007/s00190-010-0401-7 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The celestial mechanics approach: theoretical foundations Gerhard Beutler · Adrian Jäggi · Leoš Mervart · Ulrich Meyer Received: 31 October 2009 / Accepted: 29 July 2010 / Published online: 24 August 2010 © Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Gravity field determination using the measure- of the CMA, in particular to the GRACE mission, may be ments of Global Positioning receivers onboard low Earth found in Beutler et al. (2010) and Jäggi et al. (2010b). orbiters and inter-satellite measurements in a constellation of The determination of the Earth’s global gravity field using satellites is a generalized orbit determination problem involv- the data of space missions is nowadays either based on ing all satellites of the constellation. The celestial mechanics approach (CMA) is comprehensive in the sense that it encom- 1. the observations of spaceborne Global Positioning (GPS) passes many different methods currently in use, in particular receivers onboard low Earth orbiters (LEOs) (see so-called short-arc methods, reduced-dynamic methods, and Reigber et al. 2004), pure dynamic methods. The method is very flexible because 2. or precise inter-satellite distance monitoring of a close the actual solution type may be selected just prior to the com- satellite constellation using microwave links (combined bination of the satellite-, arc- and technique-specific normal with the measurements of the GPS receivers on all space- equation systems. It is thus possible to generate ensembles crafts involved) (see Tapley et al. -
Failure of Engineering Artifacts: a Life Cycle Approach
Sci Eng Ethics DOI 10.1007/s11948-012-9360-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Failure of Engineering Artifacts: A Life Cycle Approach Luca Del Frate Received: 30 August 2011 / Accepted: 13 February 2012 Ó The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Failure is a central notion both in ethics of engineering and in engi- neering practice. Engineers devote considerable resources to assure their products will not fail and considerable progress has been made in the development of tools and methods for understanding and avoiding failure. Engineering ethics, on the other hand, is concerned with the moral and social aspects related to the causes and consequences of technological failures. But what is meant by failure, and what does it mean that a failure has occurred? The subject of this paper is how engineers use and define this notion. Although a traditional definition of failure can be identified that is shared by a large part of the engineering community, the literature shows that engineers are willing to consider as failures also events and circumstance that are at odds with this traditional definition. These cases violate one or more of three assumptions made by the traditional approach to failure. An alternative approach, inspired by the notion of product life cycle, is proposed which dispenses with these assumptions. Besides being able to address the traditional cases of failure, it can deal successfully with the problematic cases. The adoption of a life cycle perspective allows the introduction of a clearer notion of failure and allows a classification of failure phenomena that takes into account the roles of stakeholders involved in the various stages of a product life cycle. -
An Extended Trajectory Mechanics Approach for Calculating 10.1002/2017WR021360 the Path of a Pressure Transient: Derivation and Illustration
Water Resources Research RESEARCH ARTICLE An Extended Trajectory Mechanics Approach for Calculating 10.1002/2017WR021360 the Path of a Pressure Transient: Derivation and Illustration Key Points: D. W. Vasco1 The technique described in this paper is useful for visualization and 1Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA efficient inversion The trajectory-based approach is valid for an arbitrary porous medium Abstract Following an approach used in quantum dynamics, an exponential representation of the hydraulic head transforms the diffusion equation governing pressure propagation into an equivalent set of Correspondence to: ordinary differential equations. Using a reservoir simulator to determine one set of dependent variables D. W. Vasco, [email protected] leaves a reduced set of equations for the path of a pressure transient. Unlike the current approach for computing the path of a transient, based on a high-frequency asymptotic solution, the trajectories resulting Citation: from this new formulation are valid for arbitrary spatial variations in aquifer properties. For a medium Vasco, D. W. (2018). An extended containing interfaces and layers with sharp boundaries, the trajectory mechanics approach produces paths trajectory mechanics approach for that are compatible with travel time fields produced by a numerical simulator, while the asymptotic solution calculating the path of a pressure transient: Derivation and illustration. produces paths that bend too strongly into high permeability regions. The breakdown of the conventional Water Resources Research, 54. https:// asymptotic solution, due to the presence of sharp boundaries, has implications for model parameter doi.org/10.1002/2017WR021360 sensitivity calculations and the solution of the inverse problem. -
Classical and Celestial Mechanics, the Recife Lectures, Hildeberto Cabral and Florin Diacu (Editors), Princeton Univ
BULLETIN (New Series) OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY Volume 41, Number 1, Pages 121{125 S 0273-0979(03)00997-2 Article electronically published on October 2, 2003 Classical and celestial mechanics, the Recife lectures, Hildeberto Cabral and Florin Diacu (Editors), Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2002, xviii+385 pp., $49.50, ISBN 0-691-05022-8 The photographs of Recife which are scattered throughout this book reveal an eclectic mix of old colonial buildings and sleek, modern towers. A clear hot sun shines alike on sixteenth century churches and glistening yachts riding the tides of the harbor. The city of 1.5 million inhabitants is the capital of the Pernambuco state in northeastern Brazil and home of the Federal University of Pernambuco, where the lectures which comprise the body of the book were delivered. Each lecturer presented a focused mini-course on some aspect of contemporary classical mechanics research at a level accessible to graduate students and later provided a written version for the book. The lectures are as varied as their authors. Taken together they constitute an album of snapshots of an old but beautiful subject. Perhaps the mathematical study of mechanics should also be dated to the six- teenth century, when Galileo discovered the principle of inertia and the laws gov- erning the motion of falling bodies. It took the genius of Newton to provide a mathematical formulation of general principles of mechanics valid for systems as diverse as spinning tops, tidal waves and planets. Subsequently, the attempt to work out the consequences of these principles in specific examples served as a catalyst for the development of the modern theory of differential equations and dynamical systems. -
A New Celestial Mechanics Dynamics of Accelerated Systems
Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics, 2019, 7, 1732-1754 http://www.scirp.org/journal/jamp ISSN Online: 2327-4379 ISSN Print: 2327-4352 A New Celestial Mechanics Dynamics of Accelerated Systems Gabriel Barceló Dinamica Fundación, Madrid, Spain How to cite this paper: Barceló, G. (2019) Abstract A New Celestial Mechanics Dynamics of Accelerated Systems. Journal of Applied We present in this text the research carried out on the dynamic behavior of Mathematics and Physics, 7, 1732-1754. non-inertial systems, proposing new keys to better understand the mechanics https://doi.org/10.4236/jamp.2019.78119 of the universe. Applying the field theory to the dynamic magnitudes cir- Received: July 2, 2019 cumscribed to a body, our research has achieved a new conception of the Accepted: August 13, 2019 coupling of these magnitudes, to better understand the behavior of solid rigid Published: August 16, 2019 bodies, when subjected to multiple simultaneous, non-coaxial rotations. The results of the research are consistent with Einstein’s theories on rotation; Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. however, we propose a different mechanics and complementary to classical This work is licensed under the Creative mechanics, specifically for systems accelerated by rotations. These new con- Commons Attribution International cepts define the Theory of Dynamic Interactions (TDI), a new dynamic mod- License (CC BY 4.0). el for non-inertial systems with axial symmetry, which is based on the prin- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access ciples of conservation of measurable quantities: the notion of quantity, total mass and total energy.