Separation of variables: Context of decelerating charged particle

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the separation of variables in the context of decelerating charged particles, specifically addressing the challenge of rewriting acceleration, a, in terms of dv/dt. The participant highlights the importance of the gamma factor as a function of velocity, v, and suggests using integration by parts, although it appears overly complex. A key insight is the multiplication of the equation -mγ³/α (dv/dt) = v by v, which simplifies the problem and leads to a clearer understanding of the relationship between the variables.

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Homework Statement
I have attached an image of my problem. I realise that I need to use separation of variables to go from my LHS to my RHS; however, I’m unable to derive my RHS
Relevant Equations
*Attached in photo*
Attempted rewriting acceleration, a, in terms of dv/dt and then separating variables to integrate. This didn’t work...

So then I remembered that my gamma factor is also a function of v (!), but then I think I would be required to play around with integration by parts, which seems overly complicated.

Any help would be appreciated as I’m sure it’s straightforward but I’m really missing something here! Thank you
 

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The dependent variable is v^2. (That is the only context in which \dots\,dt = \dots\,dv^2 makes sense.) Therefore try multiplying <br /> -\frac{m\gamma^3}{\alpha} \frac{dv}{dt} = v by v.
 
That’s perfect! I’ve never come across something where I’ve had to do it in that manner which is strange... But that makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much! I’ll post what I’ve done just to make sure I’ve got the right idea
 

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