Why does momentum depend on inertia?
Affiliation
Department of Physics, The Applied Math Program, Department of Astronomy, The University of ArizonaIssue Date
2023-10-12Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
Walter de Gruyter GmbHCitation
Melia, Fulvio. "Why does momentum depend on inertia?" Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A, vol. 78, no. 12, 2023, pp. 1117-1121. https://doi.org/10.1515/zna-2023-0168Rights
© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Momentum is characterized in terms of inertial mass for particles moving at less than the speed of light, but entirely in terms of their energy for those lacking inertia. Does this difference suggest a physically distinct origin of momentum in the two cases and, if so, what is actually being conserved in interactions involving both types of particle? In this paper, we consider a recently proposed gravitational origin for rest-mass energy to demonstrate that a single definition of momentum applies to all particles, massless or otherwise. When introduced into this description, inertial mass is merely a surrogate for the particle's 'free' energy, but does not imply an origin of momentum different from that of particles without mass. © 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2023.Note
Open access articleISSN
0932-0784Version
Final Published VersionScopus Count
Collections
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.