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Bernard Cleyet wrote:
saying the angular momentum vector points at the ceiling is drawing a
diagram, or am I totally mixed up?
1) It is important in this context to call angular momentum
a pseudovector, not vector.
2) Saying that it points to the ceiling doesn't determine the
direction of rotation, unless we agree on what right-handed
means. Which begs the original question: Can we use the laws
of physics to define what we mean by right-handed?
The canonical answer is that you can't do that without using
weak nuclear interactions -- or using some shared artifact as
a reference.
Feynman _The Character of Physical Law_ has a long discussion
on this. Can I assume people have read or will read that?