# All Questions

143 views

### Flavour diagonal SUSY breaking

Because there is a single Yukawa matrix for the SM leptons, the lepton mass and flavour states can be aligned, by diagonalization, even if the Yukawa matrix had off-diagonal elements. SUSY breaking, ...
172 views

### Relation of color and frequency for the visible spectrum

In this question the OP is looking for a way to see light that is outside of the visible spectrum without using electronic sensors. This got me wondering about the visible spectrum itself. Typically ...
887 views

### Is there a way to see light frequencies invisible to the human eye without the use of electronic sensors?

I wonder if it's possible to be able to see light frequencies that cannot be normally seen by human eye, without using sensors designed specifically for detecting a certain spectrum range, but rather ...
456 views

### Many photons, one quantum field?

If a photon can be described as an excitation in a quantum field, is this the same field for all photons, or does each photon exist in its own field?
762 views

### Definition of the entropy

In physics, the word entropy has important physical implications as the amount of "disorder" of a system. In mathematics, a more abstract definition is used. The (Shannon) entropy of a variable $X$ is ...
110 views

### Would this be a metric?

would a matrix $M$ with diagonal entries not necessarily equal 1, i.e. diag $M = (a,1,1,1)$ be a metric if $a \neq 1$ or $\neq 0$? I.e. in this case would this be like some sort of more general ...
117 views

### Trying to understand EM wave and photon

When electrical fields and magnetic fields couple together, it forms electromagnetic waves. And we can "quantized" it and see each "package" of it as photon. So can electrical fields and magnetic ...
166 views

### Base quantities and charges

Is there an unit of color charge? I haven't found it, so I suppose that it doesn't exist, if this is right, why? Isn't it supposed that every measurable quantity can be expressed in terms of base ...
446 views

### Object on an inclined plane

I was solving a question about inclined planes, and it got me thinking: Imagine a scenario where, an object is on an inclined plane and the inclined plane is on a frictionless surface, and is itself ...
98 views

### Can one get clear ice crystals from a dirty suspension?

Euteictic freeze crystallization is a method where an electrolytic solution is cooled and separated into a stream of (relativly) clean, pure ice and a salty brine. I know anectdotally of wine ...
6k views

### Why metric system uses kilogram as a basic SI unit?

SI system uses all (that I know) measurement basic units as 1 (single) instance: meter, second, ampere, etc, except the KILOgram. It already defined with 1000 multiplier (kilo). It prevents from ...
2k views

### What is our estimated running speed on Moon's surface?

I was wondering if we have the chance to run on the Moon's surface, how would you expect it look like? I expect our velocity will increase for the same work we do on Earth, but not sure if this will ...
25k views

### What do people actually mean by “rolling without slipping”?

I have never understood what's the meaning of the sentence "rolling without slipping". Let me explain. I'll give an example. Yesterday my mechanics professor introduced some concepts of rotational ...
69 views

### What is the minimum non-integer dimension for which the XY model shows a phase transition? (if well-defined)

I know that XY statistical model for $d=2$ doesn't show a regular phase transition , while the $3d$ has, I was wondering what is the behaviour for $2< d < 3$. If it is simpler one could ...
241 views

### Table of matrix elements of powers of r for radial functions in H atom

Im looking for some references here. I hope it is the right place to ask. I need to find a table of (or a formula from which to extrapolate) the matrix elements of the radial functions of the ...
166 views

### Gauging discrete symmetries

I read somewhere what performing an orbifolding (i.e. imposing a discrete symmetry on what would otherwise be a compactification torus) is equivalent to "gauging the discrete symmetry". Can anybody ...
244 views

### How reliant is the Solar System on being exactly the way it is?

We know that all objects with mass exert forces on all other objects of mass such that $$F = \frac{GMm}{R^2}.$$ And as others have discussed the planets do interfere with each other ...
146 views

### Why doesn't one-photon-irreducible function have any pole at $q^2=0$?

I'm reading the QFT textbook by Weinberg. In volume one chapter 10 page 451, at the lower part of the page he says, Now, because $\Pi^*_{\mu\nu}(q)$ receives contributions only from ...
4k views

### Why can't supersonic planes “just fly higher” to go faster while maintaining cost?

First post to this site, and I've got at most a high school background in physics - I really appreciate any answer, but I may not be able to follow you if you're too advanced. I suppose this goes for ...
311 views

### For mesons, or baryons, do sea quarks contribute to the angular momentum of the bound state?

The total angular momentum of a bound state of quarks, such as a meson say, can be done by studying the spin and orbital angular momentum of the 2 valence quarks. What about the sea quarks why they ...
528 views

### Tension in a closed loop around an object, carrying stuff

Sorry when this sounds like a first year physics homework question, but it's actually not. It arose during a discussion regarding safe practices for rock climbing anchors... So here we go: Imagine ...
321 views

### What are the limitations of performing music in space?

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's song Space Oddity is making news around the world today. It makes me wonder: What are the limitations of performing music in space? Clearly, there is no point to ...
1k views

### Speakers and Static from Hands

Why is it that when you touch the a bare male end of a speaker feed that the speaker makes hissing noises? Is it just (eddy?) currents running through you?
216 views

### Absorption of Water

I was just watching the videos Chris Hadfield put on youtube from space, and was wondering why water doesn't get absorbed as well onto his toothbrush in space? And what characteristic of ...
69 views

811 views

### Geodesic equations

I am having trouble understanding how the following statement (taken from some old notes) is true: For a 2 dimensional space such that $$ds^2=\frac{1}{u^2}(-du^2+dv^2)$$ the timelike geodesics ...
2k views

### Einsteins train though experiment. What if the train is moving at the speed of light? (layman Q) [closed]

I understand einstein's train paradox. Where one man on a platform is passed by a man in a traincar, at the moment they meet a flash of light is given off in the middle of the train car. To the man on ...
194 views

### Mass spectrum of Type I string theory

I understand that the massless fields of the Type I string theory are the described by: [\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{\rm{Sector}}}&{{\rm{Massless fields}}}\\ {{\rm{R - R}}}&{{C_0}}\\ {{\rm{NS - ...

15 30 50 per page