sci.physics.particle

On Mar 2, 1:53 am, Koobee Wublee wrote:
> On Feb 25, 7:47 am, Tom Roberts wrote:
>

> First, derive a set of geodesic equations a massed particle traveling
> at high speed near the sun. Then, gradually reducing the mass to zero
> and increasing the speed to c, do you see a discontinuity at mass = 0
> and speed = c?
>
> As you know, the geodesic equations are independent of mass. What
> does that tell you when the model predicts a 1x deflection traveling
> at speed just a hair below c and suddenly jumps to 2x deflection at
> speed = c?
It means you are taking the limit wrong. Mathematically, this could
occur in one or more ways. I suggest the problem here is that you are
taking your limit by changing both mass and speed of particle at the
same time in a way that violates some conservation law.
Okay, I don't know how to do this either and I am too lazy to
try. However, if you are interested, look into the following. Look at
both the longitudinal and transverse masses of your massive particle.
You see, the inertial mass in special relativity is actually
anistropic. The inertial mass in the direction of motion is the
longitudinal mass, and the inertial mass perpendicular to the motion
is the transverse mass. The gravitational mass is only supposed to be
proportional to the longitudinal mass, not to the tranverse mass.

This means that as you the particles speed approaches the speed of
light, the inertial mass is no longer a scalar quantity. It is a
tensor. So if your method of taking the limit used a scalar inertial
mass, it was wrong.