Angular Momentum in Relativistic Mechanics
In modern (late 20th century) theoretical physics, angular momentum is described using a different formalism. Under this formalism, angular momentum is the 2-form Noether charge associated with rotational invariance (As a result, angular momentum is not conserved for general curved spacetimes, unless it happens to be asymptotically rotationally invariant). For a system of point particles without any intrinsic angular momentum (see below), it turns out to be
(Here, the wedge product is used.).
In the language of four-vectors and tensors the angular momentum of a particle in relativistic mechanics is expressed as an antisymmetric tensor of second order
Read more about this topic: Angular Momentum
Famous quotes containing the word mechanics:
“the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid’s geometry
And Newton’s mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)