Graduate Classical Physics: Unsolved Problems and Solutions

[ricky33]

We know that unsolved problems still exist in classical physics and scientists still make reasearches , can the scientists solve those problems without using other physics branches like quantum mechanics .. ? Can they solve these problems only with a full understanding of classical mechanics ?

 

[phyzguy]

I suspect it depends on the problem. Do you have a specific problem you were referring to?

 

[ricky33]

I suspect it depends on the problem. Do you have a specific problem you were referring to?

The problem is not with me it's with scientists they have many unsolved probkems in classical physics like turbulence

 

[Chestermiller]

What do you think the issue is in "solving" the problem of turbulence?

 

[phyzguy]

It depends on how you look at it. I think may aspects of turbulence can be studied with the classical equations of fluid mechanics, the Navier-Stokes equations. However, things like viscosity which are described in the equations depend on the interaction between the atoms of the fluid, which are inherently quantum mechanical. So if I study turbulence by running simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations, is this "purely classical"?

 

[DrDu]

I once heard a talk by Moser (best known for the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser theorem) on theorems about how many particles are necessary that classical particles separate to infinity in finite time. The proofs only involved classical mechanics, yet there were still many open questions.

 

[DrDu]

What do you think the issue is in "solving" the problem of turbulence?

As an engineer you won't believe it, but mathematicians are still struggling to show that the Navier-Stokes equations have solutions at all.

 

[ricky33]

What do you think the issue is in "solving" the problem of turbulence?

Search about the turbulence problem its unsolved till now

 

[ricky33]

I once heard a talk by Moser (best known for the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser theorem) on theorems about how many particles are necessary that classical particles separate to infinity in finite time. The proofs only involved classical mechanics, yet there were still many open questions.

So we have unsolved problems that can be solved with only classical mechanics ? Do you know any ?

 

[jbriggs444]

So we have unsolved problems that can be solved with only classical mechanics ? Do you know any ?

A quick google search finds the problem referred to by DrDu

https://www.math.washington.edu/~morrow/336_11/papers/loc.pdf

 

[Andy Resnick]

So we have unsolved problems that can be solved with only classical mechanics ? Do you know any ?

I don't know what you mean by *only* classical mechanics- presumably you mean something like "macroscopic, room-temperature, slow processes"? Just be aware that many of these problems also occur in microscopic, low-temperature, rapidly changing systems as well.

There's a bunch besides those already mentioned: wetting (contact line motion), the glass transition (dynamic heterogeneity), and nonequilibrium thermodynamics (for example, the dynamics of soft matter) complete my favorite 5.