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Re: [Phys-l] velocity-dependent mass (or not)



On 06/20/2009 06:23 PM, carmelo@pacific.net.sg wrote:

You might take as a model the paper by Gary Oas
"On the Abuse and Use of Relativistic Mass"
http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0504110


Gary Oas reviewed 637 books/textbooks and found that 477 of which
still introduced relativistic mass. Interestingly, many argued that
this concept is no longer in use.

I reckon the argument is more complicated than that. There are at
least three or four major items to consider, regarding the notion
of velocity-dependent mass:
-- Should this notion be deprecated?
-- Has this notion in fact been deprecated by professional
relativists, for many many decades, i.e. throughout most of
the history of the subject?
-- Is this merely a question of taste, or is the vulgar notion
of velocity-dependent mass provably and quantitatively wrong,
especially when we consider something other than straight-line
motion?
-- How many more decades will it take before this trickles down
to the introductory-level textbooks?

To break Gary Oas' record of 637
books would also be interesting! :-)

Yeah.