What is Action Mechanics?

Around the beginning of the 20th century, Max Planck demonstrated that radiant energy is transferred as individual quanta (meaning the smallest possible unit).  The action of quanta can be considered an impulse that interacts with atoms. Action refers to the ability make a change in Nature. Energy and time are considered the basic requirements to make change. Think about using a hammer to drive a nail into wood. The rate at which the nail moves will depend on the size of the hammer and how quickly the nail is struck - as well as range of other variable in the system. A series or packet of quanta are generally referred to as a quantum. A series of impulses are required for chemical and physical processes.

Planck's constant (h), a quantum of action, is the smallest individual packet of radiant energy. Planck's constant is a fundamental universal constant that defines the quantum nature of energy and relates the energy of a photon to its frequency. The constant value for quanta is 6.62607015×10^-34 Joule-sec. This is considered the smallest unit for energy transfer. A change in action refers to changing (or sustaining) of material and motion from waves of energy at an atomic scale. Therefore, change in atoms (and therefore everything else) is driven by a series of small impulses. This is the basis of the scientific field of quantum mechanics and can be used more broadly in what we call 'Action Mechanics'. 

Because action is somewhat abstract (or difficult to observe directly), historically scientific analysis has focused on the result of action, which is the observable state of matter or the change of state from one time to another. Action Mechanics aims to make it easier to understand and apply the concept of action. We think that a focus on inaction in matter and materials has limited the ability to truly understand 'how things work' - which is the intended meaning of 'ackle', understood to be an English colloquialism.

What sets matter in motion or be in observable forms has largely been ignored, i.e. the action field. If we accept the validity of Planck's quantum of action, then it follows that there must be an almost infinite number of quanta within the universe. These quanta that make up a field, also known as Gibbs energy, are in varying spectrums of frequencies and magnitudes and acting on and in all systems. Action Mechanics is a study of how these quanta arrange, rearrange, and interact with and within material systems.

Within the @ckle community, which is a scientific society, we differentiate action mechanics from quantum mechanics, making the approach more universal. By revisiting action and through practical application we believe we can offer society a better understanding of how systems work at both an atomic level and in complex systems such as our environment. 

We have three working conventions within the @ckle community:  

1. Action mechanics simplifies understanding by using universal methods based on action principles. (Science loses utility when it gets too diverse and complex.)

2. Analyses of any system using action mechanics should consider both the action state of matter and the source of the Gibbs quantum field of energy that sustains it.

3. Everything developed in action mechanics must be a hypothesis that can be validated by testing. (And should only be proposed with experiments that can validate assumptions or provide confident predictions, unlike the current climate science models).

Action Mechanics can be applied directly, by calculating the magnitude of the action field and quantum states of simple systems. The same thinking, using Action Mechanics principles rather than direct calculation of quantum states, can also be used indirectly on a larger scale.

 Already published are the following examples:

(i) Estimating the entropy and Gibbs energy of atmospheric gases as functions of

quantum states (https://doi.org/10.3390/e21050454), based on reviews of classical

statistical mechanics. This data can be used to explain climate science from

atmospheric properties.

(ii) Understanding the Carnot heat engine cycle and how doing work at high

temperature requires heat for a Gibbs field of quanta supporting the pressure of

the working fluid allowing expansion, followed by rejection of less heat at lower

temperature during restoration of original kinetic conditions by compression.

(iii) Showing vortical cyclic motions of anticyclones and cyclones also store quanta in

Gibbs fields. This enables heating of the boundary layer by turbulent surface

friction in the greenhouse cycle, rather than radiation from a cooler atmosphere.

(iv) Understanding how the least action principle of classical mechanics can be

applied to the thermodynamics of the troposphere and the power of tropical

cyclones.

(v) A new way to estimate power in horizontal wind turbines using action impulses

to generate torques supporting rotation (https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewAAES32021330 ).

(vi) Showing how variation of temperature and pH may affect the seasonal and long

term oscillations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

We show that the principle of least action can explain all three laws of thermodynamics, the conservation of total energy, its spontaneous dispersion while doing work and increasing entropy and the inevitable increase in action and entropy from zero at absolute zero Kelvin.

Whilst Action Mechanics is based on established scientific principles there are new concepts to be considered. These include awareness of dual fields of action, rather than focusing only on the change of states of molecules in a system. We must consider the physical dimensions of analysis, given we're operating in a universal system. We don't use Cartesian coordinates, but rather spherical or radial and angular coordinates as they turn out to be simpler for calculation. This and more are explained in greater detail in our Introduction to Action Mechanics 101 Course (Coming soon).