Relativistic rocket motion via Minkowski's formalism
Abstract
A phenomenological analysis of the motion of particles with variable rest masses is presented, leading to a general equation of motion for such a physical system in Minkowski's formalism. The use of a general Lorentz transformation permits that equation to be written in quasilinear form; accordingly, approximate stepwise general solutions can be obtained in order to build an integration procedure for the general case. A completely linear four-vector differential equation is obtained when the rocket and exhaust gas velocities are colinear. In this case, reworking of the equation leads to Ackeret's (1947) equation of motion.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Guidance Control Dynamics
- Pub Date:
- August 1983
- DOI:
- 10.2514/3.19834
- Bibcode:
- 1983JGCD....6..311B
- Keywords:
-
- Equations Of Motion;
- Minkowski Space;
- Particle Motion;
- Phenomenology;
- Relativistic Velocity;
- Rocket Exhaust;
- Collinearity;
- Lorentz Transformations;
- Vector Analysis;
- Astrodynamics