Retarded Central Force Problem in Classical Physics

In summary, the conversation discusses the lack of a classical treatment for the retarded central force problem, specifically with potentials of type V(|x-x'|) and the special case V(|x-x'|)=1/|x-x'|. The person is looking for recommendations for books or articles on this topic, but not the Lienard-Wiechert potentials in classical electromagnetism. The person also mentions Spivak's Mechanics for Mathematicians and the difficulty in finding a full treatment of the retarded two-body problem due to its highly non-linear nature. They express interest in any findings on this topic.
  • #1
fermi
76
5
There are many good treatments of the classical central force problem in many undergraduate and graduate textbooks. But I was unable to find a similar treatment of the retarded central force problem. I am looking for the classical treatment of the potentials of type:
[tex] \delta(t'-t + |\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{x}'|/c) V({|\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{x}'|}) [/tex]
I will be also happy with the treatment of a special case with:
[tex]V({|\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{x}'|}) = \frac{1}{|\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{x}'|} [/tex]
Can anybody recommend a good book or a published article?

Thank you. :smile:

PS: Please do not refer me to the Lienard-Wiechert potentials in classical electromagnetism. They only treat the case when one of the particle's position (path) is given (and unaltered by the other particle.) I am looking for the dynamic interaction of a two-body-system.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
I just finished Spivak's Mechanics for Mathematicians, and there was a good treatment of central force / two-body problems, and of wave propagation (presumably you mean this central "force" is derivable from a central potential that propagates from sources as a wave?)...but as far as the full retarded two-body problem goes, I don't think I have seen any treatments of that (even neglecting energy loss through radiation)...my understanding is it would be a highly non-linear equation, if an analytic solution could even be derived.

In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen a full treatment of the retarded *one* body problem; when researching another question here I did track down a long-OOP textbook on Google books that gave a pictorial analysis of what it would look like, and showed how the self-field forces would cancel for a rigid sphere with zero jerk, but nothing like an equation of motion.

I would be really interested in hearing if you find anything, though (provided I properly understand the question).
 
Back
Top