Help with translation of terminology concerning the spinning top

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the translation of terminology related to the motion of the free symmetric top, specifically the cones described in German as "Nutationskegel," "Rastpolkegel," and "Gangpolkegel." The Nutationskegel is referred to as the nutation cone, the Rastpolkegel as the trace cone, and the Gangpolkegel as the pole cone in the English translation of Greiner's Theoretical Physics, Volume 2. The original German terms are not widely found in English literature, highlighting a gap in terminology translation within the field of theoretical physics.

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  • Understanding of rotational dynamics and rigid body motion
  • Familiarity with the concepts of precession and angular momentum
  • Knowledge of theoretical physics terminology in both German and English
  • Basic comprehension of Euler's equations of motion
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The discussion is beneficial for physicists, students of theoretical physics, and translators specializing in scientific literature, particularly those focusing on dynamics and motion in rigid bodies.

vanhees71
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Has anybody a translation for the various cones describing the motion of the free symmetric top?

The German expressions are "Nutationskegel" (space-fixed cone via the precession of the body-fixed symmetry axis ##\vec{e}_3'##) , and "Rastpolkegel" (space-fixed cone via the precession of the angular velocity ##\vec{\omega}## around the constant angular momentum), and "Gangpolkegel" (body-fixed cone via the precession of ##\vec{\omega}## around ##\vec{e}_3'##) as nicely depicted in the German Wikipedia:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler-Kreisel#Beschreibung_der_Bewegung
Kreiselkegel.png

Surprisingly, I couldn't find a similar figure nor the names of these cones in the English-speaking literature.
 
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I've checked now the English translation of Greiner's Theoretical physics vol. 2. There he calls the Nutationskegel nutation cone, the Gangpolkegel pole cone, and the Rastpolkegel trace cone.
 

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