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physics.hist-ph2019
Nonconservation of Energy and Loss of Determinism I. Infinitely Many Balls
David Atkinson, Porter Johnson
An infinite number of elastically colliding balls is considered in a classical, and then in a relativistic setting. Energy and momentum are not necessarily conserved globally, even…
physics.hist-ph2019
Nonconservation of Energy and Loss of Determinism II: Colliding with an Open Set
David Atkinson, Porter Johnson
An actual infinity of colliding balls can be in a configuration in which the laws of mechanics lead to logical inconsistency. It is argued that one should therefore limit the domai…