# All Questions

1k views

### What is the easiest way to stop a star?

On long enough cosmological time scales, hydrogen and helium nucleii will become scarce in the Universe. It seems to me that any advanced civilisations that might exist in that epoch would have the ...
271 views

### Are probabilities really tangible physical real numbers?

Probabilities are usually considered to be a real number between 0 and 1. A real number has an infinite decimal expansion. Are probabilities really real numbers? Is the infinite decimal expansion ...
150 views

### Decomposition of deformation into bend, stretch and twist?

I'm wondering is there any way to decompose the deformation of an object into different components? For example, into stretching, bending and twisting part respectively? The decomposition could be ...
695 views

### how can galaxies collide if everything moving outwards

If the universe started from Big Bang and everything is expanding outwards and actually accelerating away from each other, than "How is it possible for two galaxies to collide as they all are moving ...
3k views

### Thermodynamics - Sign convention

I use the sign convention: Heat absorbed by the system = $q+$ (positive) Heat evolved by the system = $q-$ (negative) Work done on the system = $w +$ (positive) Work done by the system = $w -$ ...
73 views

### gravitational convergence of light

light has a non-zero energy-stress tensor, so a flux of radiation will slightly affect curvature of spacetime Question: assume a flux of radiation in the $z$ direction, in flat Minkowski space it ...
554 views

### What is the mass of a wave?

The slide called "QUANTA" here says that "One Quantum has a definite mass" and the picture shows a wave. So, What is meant by the mass of a wave?
941 views

### Do other planets have an effect in Earth's rotation and revolution?

Do Earth's rotation/revolution is regulated by other planets (and vice versa) in any way? How?
4k views

### Why is torque not measured in Joules?

Recently, I was doing my homework and I found out that Torque can be calculated using $\tau = rF$. This means the units of torque are Newton meters. Energy is also measured in Newton meters which are ...
665 views

### Finding $\psi(x,t)$ for a free particle starting from a Gaussian wave profile $\psi(x)$

Consider a free-particle with a Gaussian wavefunction, $$\psi(x)~=~\left(\frac{a}{\pi}\right)^{1/4}e^{-\frac12a x^2},$$ find $\psi(x,t)$. The wavefunction is already normalized, so the next thing to ...
697 views

I wanted to gain a better understanding of the Born rule to make my class on quantum mechanic feel less ad hoc. To do so I attempted to show that the version (1) given in my book is equivalent to the ...
186 views

### A good example of a nonlinear symplectomorphism?

What is a good example of a simple, physically useful nonlinear symplectomorphism $\kappa: \mathbb{R}^{2n} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{2n}$? I'm not much of a physicist, and all the examples I've worked ...
41 views

### Undergraduate Math Major Wanting to Learn Physics [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Book recommendations So I'm a Junior level math major. I've seen some abstract algebra, some differential geometry, and some lie theory. I'm currently working through ...
211 views

271 views

### Probability using Klein-Gordon Equation

I read somewhere that the Klein-Gordon equation doesn't allow for conservation of probability. Can someone prove this mathematically?
148 views

### Is quantum Hall current density local? (${\bf j}({\bf r}) = \sigma_H {\bf \hat n \times E}({\bf r})$)

The good old Ohm's law $${\bf j}({\bf r}) = \sigma_O {\bf E}({\bf r})$$ if translated into words would be "the local current density is proportional to a local electric field." In a quantum Hall ...
3k views

### Why can't light pass through walls but sound can?

when i sit in a room....i can hear voices coming from the adjacent room but the light in adjacent room does not enter my room i.e. sound waves travels through the wall but light waves can't.why?
468 views

### Are covariant vectors representable as row vectors and contravariant as column vectors

I would like to know what are the range of validity of the following statement: Covariant vectors are representable as row vectors. Contravariant vectors are representable as column vectors. ...
160 views

### Electrical Resistance and chemistry

Can some one describe or explain what happens when too much current is passed through lets say a copper wire, I am looking for an explanation to do with physics and chemistry. For instance we have ...
125 views

### On non-local physics

Recently I've encountered work by prof. B.V Alekseev, in which he claims that some physical problems can be easily solved if we consider non-local interactions in kinetic theory (interactions of ...
345 views

### Precession of angular velocity about the body-fixed axis

My textbook mentions that under force-free motion of a symmetric top, its angular velocity vector $\overrightarrow \omega$ precesses about the $z$-axis of the body-fixed coordinate system. This seems ...
160 views

### E and H fields created by fiber optics?

When an EM wave travels down a conductor, it creates and electric and magnetic field around (H) the wire and normal to (E) the wire. My question is, when light travels down an optical material such ...
176 views

### Misaligned Mirror on Michelson Inferometer

If one of the outer mirrors on a Michelson interferometer was to be misaligned by a small angle of theta, what would be the shape of the interference pattern in the detector plane? What would happen ...
378 views

### Maxwell equation boundary conditions on a conducting sheet

I'm having difficulties solving boundary conditions for an infinitely thin conducting layer in a presence of an alternating field. I use the Maxwell equations: $\nabla \cdot \mathbf B = 0$ \$\nabla ...
92 views

### what is universality (with respect to SUSY and neutral kaon oscillations)?

I'm having trouble putting the pieces together. In SM, neutral kaon oscillation is heavily constrained. This means, roughly, that the squark mass matrices have to be diagonal. And this is called ...
256 views

### Can a neutron be created from pure energy

Is it possible to create a neutron out of pure energy, i.e. not by bringing a bunch of already-existing quarks together? (A quick calculation using E = mc2 shows the energy required would be about 1.5 ...
135 views

### What is the fundamental reason for noise?

I have read that noise is a result of there being "no such thing as a perfect one-way valve". That energy transfer is never perfectly one-way; there will always (at some level) a finite flow of energy ...
339 views

### Bicycle Wheel Drag in Slipstream

I was recently driving behind a car that had a bicycle mounted on a carrier over the rear bumper. The bicycle wheels were not bound so they were rotating in the slip-stream of the car. I wonder, the ...
311 views

This question is in reference to this very famous paper of Witten. In general through the whole paper why is the author able to just focus on the scalar field propagating in the bulk and not need ...
621 views

### Is the expectation value always an eigenvalue?

Does the expectation value of an observable must be equal to an eigenvalue of the corresponding operator? I already know that 0 is not an eigenvalue, but is there any other examples?
436 views

### How many grams of explosive are equivalent to the energy in a battery?

In the movie Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Arnie's fuel cells were twice shown to be extremely devastating when their stored energy was released. In real life, how many grams of, say, gunpowder ...
113 views

### Cosmological relativistic effects : misunderstanding between cosmological and relativistic communities?

I would like to clarify something that mixes cosmology and relativistic effects. Maybe I'm not understanding something or maybe there a difference of vocabulary between the cosmological and the ...
682 views

### Why doesn't a fly fall off the wall?

Pretty simple question, but not an obvious answer at least not to me. I mean you can't just place a dead fly on the wall and expect it to stay there, he will fall off due to gravity. At first I ...
377 views

### Would string theory change everything? [closed]

Whilst I don't know anything except the definition of String theory and I'm a beginner, I'm curious about it. What I would like to know is: does string theory change a lot in Physics? If it's not ...
286 views

### Symmetrizing the Canonical Energy-Momentum Tensor

The Canonical energy momentum tensor is given by $$T_{\mu\nu} = \frac{\delta {\cal L}}{\delta (\partial^\mu \phi_s)} \partial_\nu \phi_s - g_{\mu\nu} {\cal L}$$ A priori, there is no reason to ...