Geometrization of Newtonian Dynamics

Abstract

Riemann’s principle “force equals geometry” provided the basis for Einstein’s General Relativity - the geometric theory of gravitation. In this paper, we follow this principle to derive the dynamics for any conservative force. We introduce the relativity of spacetime : an object lives in its own spacetime, whose geometry is determined by all of the forces affecting it. We also introduce the Generalized Principle of Inertia which unifies Newton’s first and second laws and states that: An inanimate object moves freely, that is, with zero acceleration, in its own spacetime. We derive the metric of an object’s spacetime in two ways. The first way uses conservation of energy to derive a Newtonian metric. We reveal a physical deficiency of this metric (responsible for the inability of Newtonian dynamics to account for relativistic behavior), and remove it. The dynamics defined by the corrected Newtonian metric leads to a new Relativistic Newtonian Dynamics (RND) for both massive objects and massless particles moving in any static, conservative force field, not necessarily gravitational. In the case of the gravitational field of a static, spherically symmetric mass distribution, this metric turns out to be the Schwarzschild metric. This dynamics reduces in the weak field, low velocity limit to classical Newtonian dynamics and also exactly reproduces the classical tests of General Relativity. In the second way, we obtain the RND metric directly, without first obtaining a Newtonian metric. Instead of conservation of energy, we use conservation of angular momentum, a carefully defined Newtonian limit and Tangherlini’s condition. The non-static case is handled by applying Lorentz covariance to the static case.