Angular Momentum - Angular Momentum in Relativistic Mechanics

Angular Momentum in Relativistic Mechanics

In modern (late 20th century) theoretical physics, angular momentum is described using a different formalism. Under this formalism, angular momentum is the 2-form Noether charge associated with rotational invariance (As a result, angular momentum is not conserved for general curved spacetimes, unless it happens to be asymptotically rotationally invariant). For a system of point particles without any intrinsic angular momentum (see below), it turns out to be

(Here, the wedge product is used.).

In the language of four-vectors and tensors the angular momentum of a particle in relativistic mechanics is expressed as an antisymmetric tensor of second order

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