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Relativistic solar sails

Authors: J. Güémez, M. Fiolhais

Ref.: European Journal of Physics 39, 035601-(9pp) (2018)

Abstract: We apply the four-vector formalism of special relativity to describe various interaction processes of photons with a solar sail, in two cases: when the sail’s surface is a perfect mirror, and when it is a body coated with a totally absorbing material. We stress the pedagogical value of implementing simultaneously both the linear momentum and the energy conservation in a covariant fashion, as our formalism inherently does. It also allows for a straightforward change of the description of a certain process in different Q1 inertial reference frames.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/aaa341

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