On Failure of Determinism in Classical Mechanics

Authors

  • A. Krawietz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24352/UB.OVGU-2019-017

Abstract

Newtonian mechanics is generally considered to be deterministic: Once the initial conditions are known, all the future behaviour of a system can be predicted by solving the equations of motion. (That is the idea of Laplace’s demon.) But a simple example will reveal that the solution of the initial value problem need not be unique. A prediction thus becomes impossible. An effect can happen without a cause, so that causality is annulled.

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Published

2019-12-11

How to Cite

Krawietz, A. (2019) “On Failure of Determinism in Classical Mechanics”, Technische Mechanik - European Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 39(2), pp. 186–189. doi: 10.24352/UB.OVGU-2019-017.

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