History of Classical Mechanics - Present

Present

By the end of the 20th century, classical mechanics in physics was no longer an independent theory. Along with classical electromagnetism, it has become imbedded in relativistic quantum mechanics or quantum field theory. It defines the non-relativistic, non-quantum mechanical limit for massive particles.

Classical mechanics has also been a source of inspiration for mathematicians. The realization that the phase space in classical mechanics admits a natural description as a symplectic manifold (indeed a cotangent bundle in most cases of physical interest), and symplectic topology, which can be thought of as the study of global issues of Hamiltonian mechanics, has been a fertile area of mathematics research since the 1980s.

Read more about this topic:  History Of Classical Mechanics

Famous quotes containing the word present:

    “What if this present were the world’s last night?
    Mark in my heart, O Soul, where thou dost dwell,
    The picture of Christ crucified, and tell
    Whether that countenance can thee affright,”
    —John Donne (1572–1631)

    “Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization.”
    —Victor Hugo (1802–1885)

    “The Sage of Toronto ... spent several decades marveling at the numerous freedoms created by a “global village” instantly and effortlessly accessible to all. Villages, unlike towns, have always been ruled by conformism, isolation, petty surveillance, boredom and repetitive malicious gossip about the same families. Which is a precise enough description of the global spectacle’s present vulgarity.”
    —Guy Debord (b. 1931)