Abstract
Newton’s third law states that any action is countered by a reaction of equal magnitude but opposite direction. The total force in a system not affected by external forces is, therefore, zero. However, according to the principles of relativity, a signal cannot propagate at speeds exceeding the speed of light. Hence, the action and reaction cannot be generated at the same time due to the relativity of simultaneity. Thus, the total force cannot be null at a given time. In a previous paper, we showed that Newton’s third law cannot strictly hold in a distributed system where the different parts are at a finite distance from each other. This analysis led to the suggestion of a relativistic engine. As the system is affected by a total force for a finite period, the system acquires mechanical momentum and energy. The subject of momentum conversation was discussed in another previous paper, while energy conservation was discussed in additional previous papers. In those works, we relied on the fact that the bodies were macroscopically natural. Here, we relax this assumption and study charged bodies, thus analyzing the consequences on a possible electric relativistic engine.
Highlights
Special relativity is a theory of the structure of space-time
It was introduced in Einstein’s famous 1905 paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” [1]. This theory was a consequence of empiric observations and the laws of electromagnetism, which were formulated in the middle of the nineteenth century by Maxwell in his famous four partial differential equations [2,3,4] which owe their current form to Oliver Heaviside [5]
We study some possible implementations of a charged relativistic engine, and discuss the engine limitations, which are due to the phenomena of dielectric breakdown and the maximal amount of current density that one can transfer through a wire, even if superconducting
Summary
Special relativity is a theory of the structure of space-time. It was introduced in Einstein’s famous 1905 paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” [1]. According to the theory of relativity, any object, message, signal (even if not electromagnetic), or field cannot travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum, retardation: if someone at a distance R from an observer changes something, the observer will not know about it for at least a retardation time of This means that action and its reaction cannot be generated simultaneously because of the signal finite propagation speed. The previous analysis relied on the fact that the bodies were macroscopically natural, which means that the number of electrons and ions is equal in every volume element We relax this assumption and study charged bodies, analyzing the consequences of charge on a possible electric relativistic engine. The above result is independent of the geometry of the charged bodies and is in complete agreement with Newton’s third law
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