Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Totorica, Samuel Richard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02119
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915320034230272
author Totorica, Samuel Richard
author_facet Totorica, Samuel Richard
contents Noether's theorem connects symmetries to invariants in continuous systems, however its extension to discrete systems has remained elusive. Recognizing the lowest-order finite difference as the foundation of local continuity, a viable method for obtaining discrete conservation laws is developed by working in exact analogy to the continuous Noether's theorem. A detailed application is given to electromagnetism, where energy-momentum conservation laws are rapidly obtained in highly generalized forms that disrupt conventional notions regarding conservative algorithms. Field-matter couplings and energy-momentum tensors with optional deviations at the discreteness scale properly reduce in the continuous limit. Nonlocal symmetries give rise to an additional conservation channel for each spacetime displacement, permitting generalized nonlocal couplings. Prescriptions for conservative particle integrators emerge directly from field-matter coupling terms, enabling the development of fully explicit, energy-conserving particle-in-cell algorithms. The demonstration of exact conservation laws in discrete spacetime that preserve canonical structure has deep implications for numerical algorithms and fundamental physics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_02119
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Symmetries and conservation laws in discrete spacetime
Totorica, Samuel Richard
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Plasma Physics
Noether's theorem connects symmetries to invariants in continuous systems, however its extension to discrete systems has remained elusive. Recognizing the lowest-order finite difference as the foundation of local continuity, a viable method for obtaining discrete conservation laws is developed by working in exact analogy to the continuous Noether's theorem. A detailed application is given to electromagnetism, where energy-momentum conservation laws are rapidly obtained in highly generalized forms that disrupt conventional notions regarding conservative algorithms. Field-matter couplings and energy-momentum tensors with optional deviations at the discreteness scale properly reduce in the continuous limit. Nonlocal symmetries give rise to an additional conservation channel for each spacetime displacement, permitting generalized nonlocal couplings. Prescriptions for conservative particle integrators emerge directly from field-matter coupling terms, enabling the development of fully explicit, energy-conserving particle-in-cell algorithms. The demonstration of exact conservation laws in discrete spacetime that preserve canonical structure has deep implications for numerical algorithms and fundamental physics.
title Symmetries and conservation laws in discrete spacetime
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02119