Mass in special relativity (including the kinetic energy of the gas) only when it is measured in the center of momentum frame. Just as is the case for single particles, the calculated "rest mass" of such a container of gas does not change when it is in motion, although its "relativistic mass" does change. The container may even be subjected to a force which gives it an overall velocity, or else (equivalently) it may be viewed from an inertial frame in which it has an overall velocity (that is, technically, a frame in which its center of mass has a velocity). In this case,
Relaxation (physics) test star has velocity "v". As the star moves along its orbit, its motion will be randomly perturbed by the gravitational field of nearby stars. The relaxation time can be shown to be where "ρ" is the mean density, "m" is the test-star mass, "σ" is the 1d velocity dispersion of the field stars, and ln "Λ" is the Coulomb logarithm. Various events occur on timescales relating to the relaxation time, including core collapse, energy equipartition, and formation of a Bahcall-Wolf cusp around a supermassive black hole. Relaxation (physics) In the physical sciences, relaxation usually means the return of a