# All Questions

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### How do you travel in a circular orbit around a massive body?

I am trying to figure out how an object could achieve a perfectly circular orbit. Given a mass for the planet or other body the object is orbiting and a distance from the center of mass, how fast ...
110 views

### Charge above a conductor; effects due to Lorentz force law for moving charges

Currently working through a practice preliminary examination problem. I have your standard charge situated a distance d from a infinite conductor(lets say in the $\hat{z}$ direction and neglecting ...
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### What is canonical momentum?

What does the canonical momentum $\textbf{p}=m\textbf{v}+e\textbf{A}$ mean? Is it just momentum accounting for electromagnetic effects?
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### Is the beta barium borate crystal an observer in the delayed choice quantum eraser double split experiment?

I'm a little confused about the top answer to this question: Variation of delayed choice quantum eraser He says "if you simply detect all signal photons and make no distinction between them, there ...
428 views

### Why does a breeze of wind make us feel cooler? [duplicate]

In my Astronomy class, I learned that temperature results from the speed of air molecules colliding into your skin. Thus, if the air molecules in the room have a high kinetic energy and thus collide ...
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### Gauge fixing and degrees of freedom

Today, my friend (@Will) posed a very intriguing question - Consider a complex scalar field theory with a $U(1)$ gauge field $(A_\mu, \phi, \phi^*)$. The idea of gauge freedom is that two solutions ...
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### How to measure the altitude of an object in the sky?

If I use a telescope to observe a plane in the sky, how can I find the altitude of the plane(altitude of the plane with respect to the ground)?
146 views

### Quantum Mechanics Basics: product space

Consider a coupled harmonic oscillator with their position given by $x_1$ and $x_2$. Say the normal coordinates $x_{\pm}={1\over\sqrt{2}} (x_1\pm x_2)$, in which the harmonic oscillators decouple, ...
243 views

### Calculating an expression for the trace of generators of two Lie algebra

Suppose we have $$[Q^a,Q^b]=if^c_{ab}Q^c$$ where Q's are generators of a Lie algebra associated a SU(N) group. So Q's are traceless. Also we have $$[P^a,P^b]=0$$ where P's are generators of a Lie ...
127 views

### Can relativistic energy transformation be explained by time dilation and E=h f?

Can one explain the relativistic energy transformation formula: $$E = \gamma\ E',$$ where the primed frame has a velocity $v$ relative to the unprimed frame, in terms of relativistic time dilation ...
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### Where else in physics does one encounter Reynolds averaging?

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) is one of the approaches to turbulence description. Physical quantities, like for example velocity $u_i$, are represented as a sum of a mean and a ...
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### If time stops for an object, does that object feel gravity?

As far as I understand The GTR, it is said that Mass bends space-time which causes gravity. So every Mass in this universe is flowing through space-time example earth is moving along with space-time ...
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### Escape from gravitational field

Why total energy of a spacecraft must be non-negative if we want spacecraft to escape from the Earth's gravitational field?
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### Neutrons in nucleus

When I asked here why neutrons in nucleus (with protons) don't decay I was told that it would require energy for the neutron to decay, it wouldn't give energy. And since that wasn't really what I ...
140 views

### classical understanding of an atom [duplicate]

A problem in Bohr's day was understanding why an orbiting electron does not continuously radiate an EM field. An orbiting electron is a moving charge and according to Maxwell, this should generate an ...
170 views

### Motion of block on wedge

there is some confusion to me in the case of "motion of block on a frictionless wedge" Below is a simple diagram! Let us consider a situation as above in which there is a block of mass $m$ moving ...
78 views

### nuclear physics- Energetics and Mechanics of Nuclear Reaction Homework

A sample of $^{24}_{12}\mathrm{Mg}$ is bombarded by a monoenergetic proton. If the resulting nucleus in a $^{24}_{12}\mathrm{Mg}(p,\gamma)$ reaction; $^{24}_{12}\mathrm{Mg}(p,\gamma)$ has its ...
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### How does one show using QED that same/opposite electric charges repel/attract each other, respectively?

Why do same charges repel each other and opposite charges attract each other (please explain the phenomenon using real laws of nature (QED) not with the approximation model)?
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### Velocity of a spacecraft in a circular orbit

What is a formula for velocity of a spacecraft in a circular orbit? Actually, is there a formula or I can find it from equation of motion?
189 views

### Converting indices of refraction

If I know that the index of refraction of a given substance is 1.4 for the average wavelength (say 550 nm), and I would like to know what is the index of refraction with a wavelength of 832 nm, how ...
759 views

### Potential energy of the dipole-dipole interaction for two parallel dipole moments

I am looking for an equation that gives me the potential energy of the interaction between two parallel dipoles.
240 views

### What is the friction between cylinder and wall (ground)?

A hollow cylinder (radius $R$) is rolling against the wall at angular speed $\omega$. The coefficient of friction between the cylinder and the wall(ground) is $\mu$. After how many rotations the ...
110 views

### Negative mass dirac equation -> Propagator?

There are two types of dirac equations: $(p_\mu\gamma^\mu - m)\Psi(x) = 0$ and $(p_\mu\gamma^\mu + m)\Psi(x) = 0$. Here $p$ are the momentum operators. The fermion propagator is defined in the ...
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### Intuition behind Hamiltonian

I am reading this paper by Das et al. which converts Deutsch's algorithm into an adiabatic quantum algorithm. I don't get the intuition behind the initial and final Hamiltonians. If defines the ...
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### Entropy and Big Bang aren't mutually exclusible? [closed]

There are some principles in entropy im having trouble understanding. If Entropy requires that the energy in the universe must always been constant, shouldnt in theory 'Heat Death' have occurred since ...
148 views

### Does the particle vibrate in 3D space? [closed]

As far as I know, particles vibrate with a frequency and wavelength determined by their energy level. Is this vibration in 3D space?
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This is a question about an historical theory of gravitation, studied by Einstein quite a bit before he settled on General Relativity. At that time, Einstein did not know that gravity was a ...
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### Electric field screening for arbitrarily formed charge

if I have a not necessarily homogenous electric field of a charge distribution in an electrolyte and i want to find out what the electric field at some position in the electrolyte is. is there any ...
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### Why is it not possible to distinguish left from right by means of a coil?

Why is it not possible to explain to an alien "at the phone" which side is left and which is the right side by defining a simple experimental setup using induction? Defining for instance downwards ...
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### How far from a spacecraft would it's exhaust cool to BR temperatures?

Just a thought that came to mind ... The rockets on interplanetary scouts fire to impart motive/braking force to the craft. This force, I understand, is simply a reaction engine - the exhaust ...

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