# All Questions

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### $\pi$, $\sigma$ - atomic transitions with respect to the magnetic field axis

I am confused about the atomic transition with different polarized lights. I post the pictures as follows. There are four cases. In case 1, the right-handed circular polarized light ...
50 views

### Do zero gravitational-force points produce Naked singularities?

In between two singularities, does a particle experience gravity? If a particle is exactly at the midpoint between two singularities, will its net experience of the gravitational force (ignoring the ...
1k views

### Calculating diffraction patterns using FFT

I'm trying to write a piece of code that calculates a diffraction pattern similar to an X-ray experiment using a FFT. From my knowledge, the diffraction pattern for point particles can be calculated ...
109 views

### Laser cooling of atoms: more area or more power?

I want to optimise a Magneto-Optical trap. Laser beams come from the the x, y and z directions (positive and negative) and slow the atoms down. Would it be better to increase the beam spot-size ...
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### Quasi-static and Poly-tropic processes

can we say all quasi-static processes are poly-tropic process?. since in a quasi-static process a smooth graph can be drawn between pressure and volume therefore, can we conclude that all quasi-static ...
169 views

### What empirical evidence is there for displacement current?

I wonder what more or less direct measurements of the displacement current exist. I know that the existence of em waves demonstrates its existence, though somewhat indirectly. I also know that there ...
59 views

### What sorts of problems does asymptotically safe gravity face as a potential quantum gravity solution?

I've recently read an article by Ethan Siegel over at Forbes (he also blogs at Starts with a Bang) on asymptotically safe gravity as a possible alternative to string theory. I read the author's blog ...
42 views

### Does it take energy to destroy the surface of a liquid jet? [closed]

Imagine we have a collision of a liquid jet with an obstacle Does it take time for the surface of the jet to be destroyed while collision?? Or it'll be destroyed immediately?
53 views

### How can I prove that the covariant acceleration is normal to the velocity?

I'm trying to show that the covariant acceleration is normal to the velocity for a massive particle. I think that I understand why this has to happen because I understand the covariant acceleration as ...
212 views

### Can a vacuum make a turbulent flow laminar?

When a vacuum is generated next to a turbulence, does the flow towards the vacuum become laminar? Imagine a vacuum cleaner tube is put next to turbulent air movement, does the "suction" change the ...
35 views

### Frozen water cooler bottle [closed]

My water bottle for my water cooler is frozen. Should I place it onto the water cooler while it is frozen, wait till it thaws a bit, or wait till it thaws completely?
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### What is the coefficient of volumetric expansion of water? [closed]

What exactly is coefficient volumetric expansion? Is it $\gamma\,\Delta T$? Since water has maximum density at 4 C, is $\gamma=4\,{\rm C}^\circ$?
99 views

### What would be the capacitance of an unequal charged capacitor?

I searched for this question but I cannot get satisfactory answer. Say if we have a parallel plate or cylindrical capacitor and if I supply unequal charge to it how could I find its Capacitance. We ...
99 views

### How to calculate air flow from a pressurized tank?

I am writing an app that deals with simulated air brakes, and I need to simulate the release of air from one container of a given pressure into another container of a lower pressure. It doesn't have ...
470 views

### Compute convective heat transfer coefficient for a condensing steam

I have a question about convective heat transfer coefficients. I am trying to figure out how much steam I can condense in this specific heat exchanger. Steam at 9 MPa is condensed in a 1 shell pass, ...
185 views

### What allows us to assume spacetime is flat when no normal matter is present?

Dark matter causes a bend in spacetime. We see this through gravitational lensing. But what allows us to assume spacetime is flat when no normal matter is present? Why can't we say that dark matter ...
3k views

### Hole-and-nail paradox in special relativity

Yesterday we started relativity on our physics class, and my professor taught us a few concepts. We did some examples on how things changed by looking them from different reference systems, and a ...
5k views

### Can we create and destroy energy simultaneously at different points in a space?

Can we create an amount of energy at a point in space and destroy an equal amount of energy at another point in space, with both the processes occurring simultaneously? This will not violate energy ...
170 views

### Could a falling office tower cause the melting of its iron or steel support structure? [closed]

Discussion on META: Questions related to geopolitical events Suppose you have an office tower, weighing around 300,000 metric tons, and has a height of ...
150 views

### Why didn't the glass break?

In the figure below, a needle has been placed in each end of a broomstick, the tips of the needles resting on the edges of filled wine glasses. The experimenter strikes the broomstick a swift and ...
58 views

### Why can a left handed fermion transform into a right handed fermion and vice versa? [closed]

How (mathematically) can we show a left handed fermion turning into a right handed fermion?
94 views

### How does a charge distribution evolve with time? (in classical electrodynamics)

It is often stated that, in classical electrodynamics, the electric and magnetic fields determine uni vocally the dynamics of a charge distribution distribution (how it evolves in time). I can more or ...
121 views

### Diffeomorphism group vs. $GL(4,\mathbb{R})$ in General Relativity

I am quite confused with the groups Diff$(M)$ and $GL(4,\mathbb{R})$ in the context of general relativity. I understand that the symmetries of GR are the transformations that leave the equations ...
26 views

### Einstein-Infeld-Hoffman Equations generalized coordinates

There are three (heavy,fast) bodies in a Cartesian coordinate system with position vectors $\{\mathbf{r_1},\mathbf{r_2},\mathbf{r_3}\}$, velocities ...
272 views

### What symmetry is associated with conservation of Lipkin's zilch?

The 'zilch' of an electromagnetic field is the tensor $$Z^{\mu}_{\ \ \ \nu\rho}=^*\!\!F^{\mu\lambda}F_{\lambda\nu,\rho}-F^{\mu\lambda}\,{}^*\!F_{\lambda\nu,\rho} \tag1$$ given in terms of the ...
408 views

### Does steady flow imply laminar?

Most secondary school textbooks, in their chapter about fluid dynamics, seem to suggest that "steady flow" and "laminar flow" are synonyms. Though I never received any fluid mechanics course when I ...
73 views

### Lens combination

Suppose there are two lenses touching each other as shown in the diagram below. the focal length of the lenses are $f_1$ and $f_2$ respectively. Now by using the formula for lens combination I ...
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### Quantum Error Correction: Surface code vs. color code

Recently, two groups working on quantum computers published results on quantum error correction. The first was Rainer Blatt's group, who used trapped ions to perform a topologically encoded qubit ...
83 views

### Superposition State in Coin Toss

I was reading the following lines from Quantum Computation and Quantum Information by Nielsen and Chuang on page 278 of chapter 7. A coin has two states and makes a good bit but a poor qubit ...
28 views

### Is there any reason (other than convenience) to assume the universe is paracompact?

In this discussion on MathOverflow, it is mentioned that the universe, being a Riemannian manifold, must be paracompact. But is there any reason to assume the universe is globally 'small enough'? In ...
60 views

### Angular Momentum and Kepler's Second Law

Let me preface by saying that I get the gist of the conservation of angular momentum, at least qualitatively. To better illustrate my question, I will consider the case of a planet orbiting a star. ...