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21. Extreme Physics
T Padmanabhan
x = a (µ ¡ sin µ ); y = a (1 ¡ co s µ ) ; (1 )
Figure 1.
µ ¶ µ ¶
2
¯ ¯ 2
¯
x = ® ¡ sin ; y = ® 1 ¡ co s ; (2 )
® ® ®
v 2 = 2 g y = x_2 + y_2 ; (3 )
w h ere ov erd o ts d en o te d i® eren tia tio n w ith resp ect to tim e, ca n n ow b e ex p ressed
in term s o f ¯_ a n d ®_ b y stra ig h tfo rw a rd a lg eb ra . T h is g iv es th e rela tio n
µ ¶2
¯ ¯
2 g y = 2 y ¯_ + 4 2 ® sin
2
¡ ¯ co s ®_ 2 : (4 )
2® 2®
p
T h e term in v o lv in g ®_ 2 is n o n -n eg a tiv e; fu rth er, sin ce y > 0 w e h av e ¯_ · g.
In teg ra tin g th is rela tio n b etw een t = 0 a n d t = T , w h ere T is th e tim e o f d escen t,
w e g et
ZT ZT
_ p p
¯ (T ) = ¯ dt · g dt = g T : (5 )
0 0
dv vdv
dt = ; dx = co t µ : (6 )
g sin µ g
W e a re n ow req u ired to m in im ize th e in tegra l ov er d t w h ile k eep in g th e in teg ra l
ov er d x ¯ x ed . In co rp o ra tin g th e la tter co n stra in t b y a L a g ra n g e m u ltip lier (¡ ¸ ),
w e see th a t w e n eed to m in im ize th e fo llo w in g in teg ra l
Z µ ¶
dv 1
I = ¡ ¸ v co t µ : (7 )
g sin µ
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Z z0 Z x (z )
z
F = 2¼ G m ½ dz x dx
(x + z 2 )3 = 2
2
Z0 z 0 µ0 ¶
3G M m z
= dz 1 ¡ : (1 3 )
2a3 0 (x 2 (z ) + z 2 )1 = 2
In a rriv in g a t th e la st ex p ressio n w e h av e ex p ressed th e d en sity a s ½ = 3 M = 4 ¼ a 3
so th a t th e v o lu m e o f th e p la n et is co n stra in ed b y th e co n d itio n
Z z0
2 4¼ a 3
V = ¼ d z x (z ) = : (1 4 )
0 3
Im p o sin g th is co n d itio n b y a L a g ra n g e m u ltip lier (¡ ¸ ), w e see th a t w e h av e to
essen tia lly ¯ n d th e ex trem u m o f th e in teg ra l ov er th e fu n ctio n
z
L = 1¡ 2 2 1 = 2
¡ ¸x2 : (1 5 )
(x + z )
T h is is stra ig h tfo rw a rd a n d w e g et
z 1
= 2 ¸ = ; (1 6 )
(x 2 + z 2 )3 = 2 z 02
w h ere th e la st eq u a lity d eterm in in g th e L a g ra n g e m u ltip lier fo llow s fro m th e
co n d itio n th a t x (z 0 ) = 0 . O u r co n stra in t o n th e to ta l v o lu m e b y (1 4 ) im p lies
th a t z 03 = 5 a 3 th ereb y co m p letely so lv in g th e p ro b lem . T h e p o la r eq u a tio n to
th e cu rv e is r 2 = 5 2 = 3 a 2 co s µ ; fo r co m p a riso n , a sp h ere w ith th e sa m e v o lu m e w ill
co rresp o n d to r = 2 a co s µ .
T h e sh a p e o f o u r w eird p la n et is sh ow n in F igu re 3 b y a th ick u n b ro k en cu rv e
(a lo n g w ith th a t co rresp o n d in g to a sp h ere o f sa m e v o lu m e). It h a s n o cu sp s a t
th e p o les a n d I a m n o t aw a re o f a n y sp eci¯ c n a m e fo r th is su rfa ce. T h e to ta l
fo rce ex erted b y th is p la n et a t th e o rig in h a p p en s to b e
µ ¶1 = 3
27 GM m G M m
F = 2
¼ 1 :0 3 (1 7 )
25 a a2
w h ich is n o t to o m u ch o f a g a in ov er a sp h ere. B u t th en , a s th ey say, it is th e
p rin cip le th a t m a tters.
T h ere is a m in o r su b tlety w e g lo ssed ov er w h ile d o in g th e va ria tio n in th is p ro b lem .
U n lik e th e u su a l va ria tio n a l p ro b lem s, th e en d p o in t z 0 is n o t g iv en to u s a s ¯ x ed
w h ile d o in g th e va ria tio n o f th e in teg ra ls in (1 3 ) a n d (1 4 ). It is p o ssib le to ta k e
B o x 1 . A B it o f H isto r y
One of the early investigations about the time of descent along a curve was by Galileo.
He, like many others, was interested in the time taken by a particle to perform an
oscillation on a circular track which, of course, is what a simple pendulum of length L
hanging from the ceiling will do. Today we could write down this period of oscillation as
s Z
¼ =2
L dµ
T = p ; (1)
g 0 1 ¡ k 2 sin2 µ
where k is related to the angular amplitude of the swing. Of course, in the days before
calculus, the expression would not have meant anything! Instead, Galileo used an in-
genious geometrical argument and { in fact { thought that he has proved the circle to
be the curve of fastest descent. It was, however, known to mathematicians of the 17th
century that Galileo's argument did not establish such a result.
The maj or development came when Bernoulli threw a challenge in 1697 in the form
of the brachistochrone problem to the mathematicians of that day with the interesting
announcement:
\I, Johann Bernoulli, greet the most clever mathematicians in the world. Nothing is
more attractive to intelligent people than an honest, challenging problem whose possible
solution will bestow fame and remain as a lasting monument. Following the example set
by Pascal, Fermat, etc., I hope to earn the gratitude of the entire scienti¯c community
by placing before the ¯nest mathematicians of our time a problem which will test their
methods and the strength of their intellect. If someone communicates to me the solution
of the proposed problem, I shall the publicly declare him worthy of praise" .
Bernoulli, of course, knew the answer and the problem was also solved by his brother
Jakob Bernoulli, Leibniz, Newton and L' Hospital. Newton is said to have received
Bernoulli's challenge at the Royal Society of London one afternoon and (according to
second hand sources, like John Conduit { the husband of Newton's niece) , Newton solved
the problem by night-fall. The \solution" , which was simply a description of how to con-
struct the relevent cycloid, was published anonymously in the P h ilo so p h ica l T ra n sa ctio n s
o f th e R o ya l S ociety of January 1697 (back dated by the editor Edmund Halley) . Newton
actually read aloud his solution in a Royal Society meeting only on 24 February 1697.
Legend has it that Bernoulli had immediately recognized Newton's style and exclaimed
\ta n qu a m ex u n gu e leo n em " meaning `the lion is known by its claw' !
[1] T Padmanabhan, See e.g., Planets move in circles! A different view of orbits, Resonance, Vol. 1, No.9, p.34, 1996
for a description of hodograph in the case of Kepler problem.
[2] W D Macmillan, Theory of the Potential, Dover Publications, 1958.
Address for Correspondence : T Padmanabhan, IUCAA, Post Bag 4, Pune University Campus Ganeshkhind
Pune 411 007, India. Email: paddy@iucaa.ernet.in, nabhan@iucaa.ernet.in