# All Questions

260 views

### What's the worst thing about the tomographic approach to QM?

I saw a paper on arXiv that referenced this approach to an ontology of QM: Phys.Lett. A213 (1996) 1, S. Mancini, V. I. Man'ko, P.Tombesi Symplectic tomography as classical approach to quantum ...
627 views

### Paradoxical interaction between a massive charged sphere and a point charge

Suppose we have a sphere of radius $r$ and mass m and a negatively charged test particle at distance d from its center, $d\gg r$. If the sphere is electrically neutral, the particle will fall toward ...
3k views

### Where should a physicist go to learn chemistry?

I took an introductory chemistry course long ago, but the rules seemed arbitrary, and I've forgotten most of what I learned. Now that I have an undergraduate education in physics, I should be able to ...
3k views

### Best inflation pressure of car tire in the rain- higher, same, lower than normal?

If I am driving a car in the rain, and want to increase the available traction, should I: Increase pressure in the tires Decrease pressure Leave the pressure set to optimum dry pressure Increase or ...
480 views

### Building an Afocal Zoom System with only one stage

Can you build an afocal zoom system with only one stage. It looks like you would have to use more than three lenses. You would probably have to have all but one of the lenses be fixed; but it might ...
2k views

### Does $E = mc^2$ apply to photons?

Photons are massless, but if $m = 0$ and $E=mc^2$, then $E = 0c^2 = 0$. This would say that photons have no energy, which is not true. However, given the formula $E = ℎf$, a photon does have energy ...
429 views

### Fermi level in disordered amorphous and/or organic semiconductors

So, the Fermi level in crystals is pretty easy to understand. Been using it and talking about it in terms of the highest occupied level forever. However, I'm now reading about disordered systems. A ...
3k views

### Do two beams of light attract each other in general theory of relativity?

In general relativity, light is subject to gravitational pull. Does light generate gravitational pull, and do two beams of light attract each other?
472 views

### Explaining valence with quantum mechanics

Can anyone give me a quantum mechanical explanation of the theory of valence? (i.e. why atoms bond just enough to have a complete orbital) EDIT: To clarify, I already have an idea of why atoms bond, ...
293 views

### Simple kinematics excercise, throwing something upwards [closed]

I am trying to solve this simple excercise: Question You throw a small coin upwards with $4 \frac{m}{s}$ . How much time does it need to reach the height of $0.5 m$ ? Why do we get two results? ...
2k views

### How fast do electrons move through a conductor?

If I apply $1 \text{ V}$ across a $1 \text{ }\Omega$ resistance, I'd get $1 \text{ A}$ flowing. $1 \text{ A}$ is defined as $1 \frac{\text{C}}{\text{s}}$, and $1 \text{ C}$ is equivalent to ...
308 views

### If I take a handful of salt and wait for an infinite time will it become a single crystal?

That pretty much says it. Suppose I have some powder of $NaCl$. It is kept in contact with itself in vacuum. You are free to remove all the disturbances that bother you. Is that true that, well, ...
262 views

### Inflation and string theory in general relativity

How can we relate inflation and string theory? We study some inflationary cosmological model or some string cosmological model under some specific assumptions or conditions. Is their any relation or ...
3k views

### Quantum Hall effect for dummies

In the past few days I've become increasingly intrigued by the QHE, mainly thanks to very interesting questions and answers that have appeared here. Unfortunately, I am as of yet very confused by all ...
348 views

### How did these guys get the masses from Heim Theory?

How did these guys get the masses from Heim Theory? I won't even bother to ask about validity as I read the other post on this. So I know how we all feel about that. I hadn't even heard of it till ...
894 views

### Time Dilation - How does it know which Frame of Reference to age slower?

Okay, I'm asking a question similar to this one here: Time Dilation - what happens when you bring the observers back together?. Specifically, I am curious about a specific angle on the second part of ...
183 views

### Standing Wave: How to show that $\frac{\mathrm df}{f}=0.5\frac{\mathrm dF}{F}$ where $f$ is frequency and $F$ is tension of the string?

How to do this? Show that if the tension $F$ in a string is changed by a small amount $\mathrm dF$, the fractional change in frequency of a standing wave, $\frac{\mathrm df}{f}$ is given by: ...
900 views

### Special Relativistic Time Dilation — A computer in a very fast centrifuge

Ok, I've stumbled onto what I think is a bit of a paradox. First off, say you had some computer in a very fast(near light speed) centrifuge. You provide power to this computer via a metal plate on ...
136 views

### Neutron star references?

I'm looking for contemporary reviews on neutron stars. Seems like this area is pretty active, so even reviews from five or ten years ago are somewhat lacking, though certainly not worthless. Does ...
444 views

### Einstein's relation and osmotic pressure

How can I derive the Einstein's relation $D=k_{b}TB$, where $D$ is the diffusion coefficient and B is the mobility coefficient, from the concept of osmotic pressure?
8k views

### Comprehensive book on group theory for physicists?

I am looking for a good source on group theory aimed at physicists. I'd prefer one with a good general introduction to group theory, not just focusing on Lie groups or crystal groups but one that ...
227 views

### Is there a meaning to the E,B analogues of other gauge fields?

From the gauge field $A_\mu$ and the QED lagrangian we can derive maxwell's equations in terms of electric and magnetic fields. Are there any situations where similar derivations using the other gauge ...
164 views

### Chaos and continuous flow

What needs to be the case for a dynamical system with a continuous flow to exhibit chaos? It looks like 1D systems with a continuous flow can't exhibit chaos. Are two dimensions enough or do you need ...
828 views

### Reynolds number, turbulence regime, and drag force

I am trying to model a system in which cubes of about 2 cm in size are floating in a circular water thank of about 30 cm in diameter. The cubes move around under the influence of the fluid flow ...
4k views

### Arguments for and against Many Worlds?

I would like to hear the best arguments for and against the Many Worlds interpretation of QM.
3k views

### How does this thought experiment not rule out black holes?

How does the following brief thought experiment fail to show that general relativity (GR) has a major problem in regards to black holes? The full thought experiment is in my blog post. The post ...
734 views

### Dimensional reduction from $3+1$ to $2+1$ for $\cal{N}=2$ vector superfield

Let the supersymmetry transformations for the chiral multiplet $(z_k,\psi_{kL},f_k)$ be, $\delta z_k = 2i \bar{\alpha} \psi_{kL}$ $\delta \psi_{kL} = D_\mu z_k \gamma ^\mu \alpha_R + f_k \alpha_L$ ...
8k views

### Can I calculate the height of a cliff from weight of falling object and time taken?

I'm sure a simple question. I have a video of me jumping off a cliff into a river. I want to calculate how high it is. I know my weight, acceleration due to gravity of course, and I can get the ...
6k views

### Do we take gravity = 9.8 m/s² for all heights when solving problems? Why or why not?

Do we take gravity = 9.8 m/s² for all heights when solving problems?
22k views

### Recommendations for good Newtonian mechanics and kinematics books

What are some good books for learning the concepts of Kinematics, Newton laws, 2D Motion of Object etc.?
1k views

### How is the direction of a compass affected by a current in a wire?

If I place a compass over a wire(such that the wire is positioned north-south) with charge flowing through it, and it points northeast, how can I determine the direction of the electron current ...
5k views

### What does the quantum eraser experiment tells us?

I am a beginner in this quantum-mechanics stuff. I understand the quantum eraser only from an experimental view. So I didn't understand the formalism that describes the quantum eraser. But what does ...
3k views

### Starting a physics Ph.D. at 60?

Decades ago I was in a physics Ph.D. program, made a hash of things, and quite rightly was dropped from the program. Since then I've had a very satisfying career as a computer programmer, and picked ...
3k views

### Physics for mathematicians

How and from where does a mathematician learn physics from a mathematical stand point? I am reading the book by Spivak Elementary Mechanics from a mathematicians view point. The first couple of pages ...
758 views

### Expansion in spherical harmonics in cubic symmetry

suppose I have an electrostatic potential which I expand in spherical harmonics via $$\sum_{l,m} A^l_m r^n P_l^{|m|}(\cos \theta) e^{im\varphi}$$ and I know that the field has cubic symmetry. Is ...
487 views

### Size of a quantum computer to effectively calculate macroscopic reality from quantum mechanics

Assuming the correctness of QM: Would the size of such a computer be smaller than the observable universe? If it were to represent all available information in the universe it seems that it's minimal ...
377 views

### What is the spectral energy density of virtual photons around a unit charge at rest?

Given that my previous question, namely "What is the number density of virtual photons around a unit charge?" has no precise answer, here is a more precise wording: What is the virtual photon ...
1k views

### Projectiles problem solving

I've only learned about to use kinematics equation when solving projectile problems but today i came across the following equations. where does they come from? Distance travelled Time of flight ...
621 views

### How to calculate the upper limit on the number of days weather can be forecast reliably?

To put it bluntly, weather is described by the Navier-Stokes equation, which in turn exhibits turbulence, so eventually predictions will become unreliable. I am interested in a derivation of the ...
13k views

### Difference between current and voltage sources

I am confused about the current and voltage. My intuitive example would be that of a pipe of say water. The diameter of the pipe determines the amount of water flowing per second but the pressure is ...
2k views

### Will a CFL light bulb and an incandescent light bulb produce exactly the same amount of overall temperature increase over time?

Will a CFL light bulb and an incandescent light bulb, in separate respective closed systems, produce exactly the same amount of overall temperature increase over time? Assume you have two identical ...
174 views

### What is the name and value of the constant that relates to electrons and that coincidentally has the same exact value as the speed of light? [closed]

There's some constant relating to electrons that also has the same value as the speed of light. What is it, what is the value, and how are they related? EDIT: Is it the fine-structure constant?? Are ...
1k views

### Are elementary particles ultimate fate of black holes?

From the "no hair theorem" we know that black holes have only 3 characteristic external observables, mass, electric charge and angular momentum (except the possible exceptions in the higher ...
501 views

### Magnetic moment of relativistic rotating ring

Let's consider rotating charged ring. Theoretically mass of this ring has no limit as rotation speed increases. So what about magnetic moment of the ring? Is it limited by the value of speed of ...
2k views

### What percentage of physics PhDs leave physics? [closed]

What percentage of physics PhDs leave physics to become quantitative analysts, work in computer science/information technology or business? Is physics that bad that so many people leave? Was it worth ...
170 views

### Are Bloch equations empirical?

Are Bloch equations (which describe the evolution of macroscopic magnetization) empirical? If so, under what assumptions do they hold? \frac {d M_x(t)} {d t} = \gamma (\mathbf{M} (t) \times \mathbf ...
528 views

### Missing something basic about simple orbital mechanics

I seem to be missing something basic. I've been trying to get a simple orbital simulation working, and my two objects are Earth around the Sun. My problem is this. I placed the Earth at 93M miles ...
193 views

### Publication Authorship Credits

Many physics papers now have dozens of authors per paper. Experimental physics may have multi-organizational and multi-country contributing staffs, but I'd guess that most of the names don't ...