On the Relativistic Harmonic Oscillator

In view of interest in relativistic harmonic oscillations in media, through which the speed of light is orders of magnitude smaller than in vacuum, the solution of the equation of motion is analyzed in the extreme- and weak-relativistic limits. Using scaled variables, it is shown rigorously how the equation of motion exhibits the characteristics of a boundary-layer problem in the extreme-relativistic limit: The solution differs from a sharp asymptotic pattern only around the turning points of oscillations over a vanishingly small fraction of the period. The sharp asymptotic pattern of the solution is a saw-tooth composed of linear segments. The velocity profile tends to a periodic step function and the phase-space plot tends to a rectangle. An expansion of the solution in terms of a small parameter that measures the proximity to the limit (v/c) → 1 yields an excellent approximation for the solution throughout the whole period of oscillations. In the weak-relativistic limit the same approach yields an approximation to the solution that is significantly better than in traditional asymptotic expansion procedures.

Non-stationary oscillations of an instantly loaded oscillator under conditions of nonlinear resistance

The motion of an oscillator instantaneously loaded with a constant force under conditions of nonlinear external resistance, the components of which are quadratic viscous resistance, dry and positional friction, are considered. Using the first integral of the equation of motion and the Lambert function, compact formulas for calculating the ranges of oscillations are derived. In order to simplify the search for the values of the Lambert function, asymptotic formulas are given that, with an error of less than one percent, express this special function in terms of elementary functions. It is shown that as a result of the action of the resistance force, including dry friction, the oscillation process has a finite number of cycles and is limited in time, since the oscillator enters the stagnation region, which is located in the vicinity of the static deviation of the oscillator caused by the applied external force. The system dynamic factor is less than two. Examples of calculations that illustrate the possibilities of the stated theory are considered. In addition to analytical research, numerical computer integration of the differential equation of motion was carried out. The complete convergence of the results obtained using the derived formulas and numerical integration is established, which confirms that using analytical solutions it is possible to determine the extreme displacements of the oscillator without numerical integration of the nonlinear differential equation. To simplify the calculations, the literature is also recommended, where tables of the Lambert function are printed, allowing you to find its value for interpolating tabular data. Under conditions of nonlinear external resistance, the components of which are quadratic viscous resistance, dry and positional friction, the process of oscillations of an instantly loaded oscillator has a limited number of cycles. The dependences obtained in this work using the Lambert function make it possible to determine the range of oscillations without numerical integration of the nonlinear differential equation of motion both for an oscillator with quadratic viscous resistance and dry friction, and for an oscillator with quadratic resistance and positional and dry friction. Keywords: nonlinear oscillator, instantaneous loading, quadratic viscous resistance, Lambert function, oscillation amplitude.

The radiation of a spin-free particle in the field of a plane electromagnetic wave

In this paper, we obtained a solution for the equation of motion of a charged spinless particle in the field of a plane electromagnetic wave. Relativistic expressions for the cross section of Compton scattering by a charged particle of spin 0 interacting with the field of a plane electromagnetic wave are calculated. Numerical simulation of the total probability of radiation as the function of the electromagnetic wave amplitude is carried out. The radiation probability is found to be consistent with the total cross section for Compton scattering by a charged particle of spin 0.

A roadmap for bootstrapping critical gauge theories: decoupling operators of conformal field theories in $d>2$ dimensions

We propose a roadmap for bootstrapping conformal field theories (CFTs) described by gauge theories in dimensions d>2d>2. In particular, we provide a simple and workable answer to the question of how to detect the gauge group in the bootstrap calculation. Our recipe is based on the notion of decoupling operator, which has a simple (gauge) group theoretical origin, and is reminiscent of the null operator of 2d2d Wess-Zumino-Witten CFTs in higher dimensions. Using the decoupling operator we can efficiently detect the rank (i.e. color number) of gauge groups, e.g., by imposing gap conditions in the CFT spectrum. We also discuss the physics of the equation of motion, which has interesting consequences in the CFT spectrum as well. As an application of our recipes, we study a prototypical critical gauge theory, namely the scalar QED which has a U(1)U(1) gauge field interacting with critical bosons. We show that the scalar QED can be solved by conformal bootstrap, namely we have obtained its kinks and islands in both d=3d=3 and d=2+\epsilond=2+ϵ dimensions.

Analytical expressions for real and complex Fano parameters in a simple classical harmonic oscillator system

We analytically study the Fano resonance in a simple coupled oscillator system. We demonstrate directly from the equation of motion that the resonance profile observed in this system is generally described by the Fano formula with a complex Fano parameter. The analytical expressions are derived for the resonance frequency, resonance width, and Fano parameter, and the conditions under which the Fano parameter becomes a real number are examined. These expressions for the simple system are also expected to be helpful for considering various other physical systems because the Fano resonance is a general wave phenomenon.

Shift-symmetric 𝖲𝖮(𝖭) multi-Galileon

A Poincarè invariant, local scalar field theory in which the Lagrangian and the equation of motion contain only up to second-order derivatives of the fields is called generalized Galileon. The covariant version of it in four dimensions is called Horndeski theory, and has been vigorously studied in applications to inflation and dark energy. In this paper, we study a class of multi-field extensions of the generalized Galileon theory. By imposing shift and SO(N) symmetries on all the currently known multi-Galileon terms in general dimensions, we find that the structure of the Lagrangian is uniquely determined and parameterized by a series of coupling constants. We also study tensor perturbation in the shift-symmetric SO(3) multi-Galileon theory in four dimensions. The tensor perturbations can obtain a mass term stemming from the same symmetry breaking pattern as the solid inflation. We also find that the shift-symmetric SO(3) multi-Galileon theory gives rise to new cubic interactions of the tensor modes, suggesting the existence of a new type of tensor primordial non-Gaussianity.

Should we teach free-body diagrams before or after Newton’s Laws?

There are two interesting lesson sequences for teaching force and motion in high-school physics. These are teaching free-body diagrams before Newton’s laws (FbN) and teaching Newton’s laws before free-body diagrams (NbF). Both sequences were found in physics textbooks. Different authors adopted the sequence that they believe it would affect student understanding better. However, some physics experts did not agree with this. It is therefore interesting to know if we should teach with the FbN or NbF sequence. This motivates us to study the effect of such lesson sequences on student understanding of force and motion. The sample group was grade-10 students from two physics courses in 2020. One course was taught with the FbN sequence (29 students) and the other with the NbF sequence (34 students). Their understanding was evaluated by using an assessment test which consisted of three parts including (1) Newtonian concept, (2) problem solving, and (3) free-body diagrams. The result shows that for the Newtonian concept part, the average scores are 11% for the FbN and 13% for the NbF sequence. The average scores of the problem-solving part are 13% and 9% and those of the free-body diagram part are 41% and 48% for the FbN and NbF sequences, respectively. The scores of all parts between the two sequences were not significantly different. In addition, student difficulties found in all parts were similar. However, a larger number of students who could provide the equation of motion (F = ma) in the problem-solving part was found in the FbN sequence. We might conclude that teaching free-body diagrams before or after Newton’s laws did not affect student understanding in the topic of force and motion. Detail of student difficulties in both sequences will be further discussed.

DISSIPATIVE OSCILLATORS’ POWER CHARACTERISTIC NON-SYMMETRY DYNAMIC EFFECT

The features of motion of a non-linear oscillator under the instantaneous force pulse loading are studied. The elastic characteristic of the oscillator is given by a polygonal chain consisting of two linear segments. The focus of the paper is on the influence of the dissipative forces on the possibility of occurrence of the elastic characteristic non-symmetry dynamic effect, studied previously without taking into account the influence of these forces. Four types of drag forces are considered, namely linear viscous friction, Coulomb dry friction, position friction, and quadratic viscous resistance. For the cases of linear viscous friction and Coulomb dry friction the analytical solutions of the differential equation of oscillations are found by the fitting method and the formulae for computing the swings are derived. The conditions on the parameters of the problem are determined for which the elastic characteristic non-symmetry dynamic effect occurs in the system. The conditions for the effect to occur in the system with the position friction are derived from the energy relations without solving the differential equation of motion. In the case of quadratic viscous friction the first integral of the differential equation of motion is given by the Lambert function of either positive or negative argument depending on the value of the initial velocity. The elastic characteristic non-symmetry dynamic effect is shown to occur for small initial velocities, whereas it is absent from the system when the initial velocities are sufficiently large. The values of the Lambert function are proposed to be computed by either linear interpolation of the known data or approximation of the Lambert function by elementary functions using asymptotic formulae which approximation error is less than 1%. The theoretical study presented in the paper is followed up by computational examples. The results of the computations by the formulae proposed in the paper are shown to be in perfect agreement with the results of numerical integration of the differential equation of motion of the oscillator using a computer.

Localized stationary seismic waves predicted using a nonlinear gradient elasticity model

This paper aims at investigating the existence of localized stationary waves in the shallow subsurface whose constitutive behavior is governed by the hyperbolic model, implying non-polynomial nonlinearity and strain-dependent shear modulus. To this end, we derive a novel equation of motion for a nonlinear gradient elasticity model, where the higher-order gradient terms capture the effect of small-scale soil heterogeneity/micro-structure. We also present a novel finite-difference scheme to solve the nonlinear equation of motion in space and time. Simulations of the propagation of arbitrary initial pulses clearly reveal the influence of the nonlinearity: strain-dependent speed in general and, as a result, sharpening of the pulses. Stationary solutions of the equation of motion are obtained by introducing the moving reference frame together with the stationarity assumption. Periodic (with and without a descending trend) as well as localized stationary waves are found by analyzing the obtained ordinary differential equation in the phase portrait and integrating it along the different trajectories. The localized stationary wave is in fact a kink wave and is obtained by integration along a homoclinic orbit. In general, the closer the trajectory lies to a homoclinic orbit, the sharper the edges of the corresponding periodic stationary wave and the larger its period. Finally, we find that the kink wave is in fact not a true soliton as the original shapes of two colliding kink waves are not recovered after interaction. However, it may have high amplitude and reach the surface depending on the damping mechanisms (which have not been considered). Therefore, seismic site response analyses should not a priori exclude the presence of such localized stationary waves.