Abstract
Particles in rotating saddle potentials exhibit precessional motion which, up to now, has been explained by explicit computation. We show that this precession is due to a hidden gyroscopic force which, unlike the standard Coriolis force, is present in the inertial frame. We do so by finding a hodograph-like “guiding center” transformation using the method of normal form, which yields a simplified equation for the guiding
center of the trajectory that coincides with the equation of the Foucault’s pendulum. In this sense, a particle trapped in the symmetric rotating saddle trap is, effectively, a Foucault’s pendulum, but in the inertial frame.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 405 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2016 |
Event | 24th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ICTAM2016) - Montreal, Canada Duration: 1 Aug 2016 → … |
Conference
Conference | 24th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (ICTAM2016) |
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Period | 1/08/16 → … |