# All Questions

267 views

### Do virtual particles actually physically exist?

I have heard virtual particles pop in and out of existence all the time, most notable being the pairs that pop out beside black holes and while one gets pulled away. But wouldn't this actually violate ...
31 views

### Question about force in transverse waves on a string

In deriving wave equation or power transmission of wave transmitted by a string, it is usually stated (with some assumptions) that the transverse force on a point of the string is proportional to the ...
109 views

### Gravitational time dilatation calculation

I'm proving an example case from Kip Thorne's book, Science of Interstellar for time dilatation at a Kerr black hole with the following data: \begin{align} a & = 0.998, \\ r & = ...
168 views

### Rayleigh-Taylor Instability dependence on acceleration direction

I'm trying to bolster my understanding of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and I've gotten stuck on the point of which fluid (more or less dense) is being accelerated into the other. Cases of uniform ...
19 views

### How redshift-space distortions affects baryonic acoustic oscillations

I have a question with BAO (baryonic acoustic oscillations) and RSD (redshift-space distortions). On large scales, Kaiser effect makes the observed radial separation of galaxies smaller then ...
117 views

### Can the Sun's core be treated as an ideal gas?

I know that a gas behaves more like an ideal gas at higher temperature, and that is very well achieved in the Sun's core. But also low pressure is needed for a gas to behave like an ideal gas, and the ...
76 views

### How to find the distribution of charge on two spheres connected by a conducting wire?

A solid metal sphere of radius $R$ has charge $+2Q$. A hollow spherical shell of radius $3R$, concentric with the first sphere, has net charge $-Q$. What would be the final distribution of the charge ...
47 views

### Raychauduri equation for Milne universe

I am trying to solve this kind of problem: Consider the Milne model, i.e., the empty $\kappa = −1$ Friedmann model. Verify by a direct calculation that the expansion $\Theta$ of the unit ...
39 views

### Transforms in physics? [on hold]

In my studies I have heard of two types of transformations in the physical science 1) the Fourier transform for diffraction and 2) the Legendre transform for thermodynamic potentials. While ...
22 views

### cosmology - Hubble parameter equation [duplicate]

I have a question. We know that the Hubble constant in the space is a constant, is the same everywhere, but it changes in time, so we don't talk of H0 but H(t). Is there a way, a formula to compute ...
50 views

### Symmetry of extrinsic curvature tensor

I am trying to solve following problem: In a spacetime of signature (+, −, −, −), let $$u^au_a = 1, \quad A_{ab} = \nabla_cu_dh^c_{\; a}h^d_{\; b}, \quad h_{ab} = g_{ab} - u_au_b$$ Show that ...
58 views

### Are perpendicular components special in vectors?

We can split a vector (velocity/displacement vector) along any two directions as long as the resultant of the oblique components of the vector is same as my original vector. Similarly if we have to ...
23 views

### How much UV light do we have on the ground? [on hold]

We cannot see it. But suppose each UV photon is replaced by a red light photon, does it make the world look as bright as it is just before the sunrise?
44 views

### Can we observe two different events occuring at the same point?

I was wondering a situation. Suppose a train is moving with a certain acceleration. It turns on its front light at a certain time, and it's back light say t s after. But to a inertial, or non ...
58 views

### Cleaning a dirty jar

I would like to wash the inside of an almost empty cylindric jar on whose walls there are remains of a sticky substance such as peanut butter. I do this by filling it up with water and then shaking ...
76 views

### Kinematics equations of motion find x position in 2D from height

I have a question and I thought of 2 possible ways to answer it however the resulting answers are different which means I must be doing something wrong in my calculations. All the below happens 2 ...
32 views

### Cosmological Bulk Viscosity - is the universe a fluid?

I was trying to make heads of tails of both this paper and the press release about it. The scientists have used bulk viscosity (as opposed to shear viscosity) and popped it into a model and somehow ...
20 views

### Expansion in Pauli matrices - coefficient set equal to zero

Lets say you want to calculate the gap parameter $\Delta$ for a superconductor. One approach that is often used is the self-consistency approach for the self energy. Details can be found in this paper ...
25 views

### Can a Space tether be made from AmSteel (Samson Rope’s Dynameen)?

AmSteel is a high strength poly-ethylene fiber. Its strength passes that of stainless 316/8 and is considerably less mass per foot. A 4 inch piece could support a length of 160 miles if the ...
263 views

### The relation between spectral function and band structure

I am confused by the wavevector in spectral function A(k,w). How to understand this k for a periodic structure? And how is it related to the k (in first Brillouin Zone) we use in the band structure? ...
76 views

### Fourier transformation and commutators

Sorry as this is a rather trivial question, but I'm stuck with a certain implication. I'm working on exercise 1.7 from Polchinski where we are given an open string with boundary conditions ...
86 views

### Where will a sparkling (CO$_2$) water bottle have more bubbles when opened [closed]

If you take an unopened sparkling water bottle to higher altitude (7000 feet) or under sea level (-8 feet), and then open it, in which location will it bubble more?
89 views

### Lorentz transformation of Gamma matrices $\gamma^{\mu}$

From my understanding, gamma matrices transforms under Lorentz transformation $\Lambda$ as \gamma^{\mu} \rightarrow S[\Lambda]\gamma^{\mu}S[\Lambda]^{-1} = ...
78 views

### What exactly is the Action? (Learning lagrangian)

I have been trying to wrap my head around lagrangian mechanics but I find some parts confusing. For example, what exactly is action and why is it defined by the Kinetic energy minus the potential ...
24 views

### Force acting on a dipole placed in a non-uniform electric field

Why does the net force acts in the direction of increasing electric field when an electric dipole is placed in a non-uniform electric field?
258 views

The adiabatic approximation for solid state systems is rather radical. I was wondering in which cases it breaks down. As it is based on the idea of the nuclii being much heavier than the electrons I ...
69 views

### What's the smallest height difference over which gravitational time dilation has been experimentally observed?

In a famous experiment, reported in Optical Clocks and Relativity. CW Chou, DB Hume, T Rosenband and DJ Wineland. Science 329 no. 5999 pp. 1630-1633 (2010); NIST eprint. and nicely described in ...
70 views

### Axion strings and spontaneously broken symmetry

I have two question about axion strings: Why their appearance is connected with spontaneously broken symmetry? How to demonstrate that? Why they are stable topological configurations (look to the ...
154 views

### Quasi-particle and quasi-hole excitations of Laughlin states and generalization of Laughlin states

The Laughlin wave function at filling fraction $\nu=\frac{1}{m}$ is $$\Psi_m=\prod_{i<j}(z_i-z_j)^m e^{-\sum|z_i|^2/4l_B^2}$$ It is claimed in section 7.2.3 of Wen's ...
542 views

### How much choice did Einstein have in choosing his GR equations?

General relativity was summarised by Wheeler as "Spacetime tells matter how to move; Matter tells spacetime how to curve". I have a fairly good mental picture of how the first part works. However, I ...
74 views

### Particle annihilation - mathematical description, equations governing it? [duplicate]

I was wondering about this and I would like to know an explanation why do particles and antiparticles annihilate? I would be interested in phenomenological, but most importantly mathematic explanation ...
28 views

### Open string interactions implies closed string

I am currently reading Polchinski page 81, and am not 100% clear with the explanation given regarding why any open string theory necessarily contains closed strings. It is stated, quoted from page ...
905 views

### What Exactly is a Shock Wave?

The Wikipedia defintion of a shock wave pretty much sums up all I've found online about what a shock wave is: A shock wave is a type of propagating disturbance. Like an ordinary wave, it carries ...
90 views

### Bose Einstein condensation and macroscopic occupation

If have been thought, that Bose Einstein condensation occurs of the ground-state is occupied macroscopically, so $n_0\in \mathcal{O}(N)$ when performing the thermodynamic limit. So naively, this ...
15 views

### Mixture of Gases in kg-mol; Find Temperature [on hold]

A one cubic container contains a mixture of gases composed of 0.02 kg-mol of oxygen and 0.04 kg-mol of helium at a pressure of 220 kPa. What is the temperature of this ideal gas mixture in degrees ...
87 views

### Why can't gravitons be created in traditional particle accelerators?

I've heard that it is incredibly difficult to detect a graviton, but I don't quite understand why. With all of the knowledge I have at the present time it seems like it should be possible to create a ...
116 views

### Perfect fluid and Cauchy momentum equation

The stress-energy tensor of a perfect fluid is given by $$T^{\mu\nu}=\left(\rho+pc^{-2}\right)u^\mu u^\nu+pg^{\mu\nu}$$ The divergence of the stress-energy tensor is zero: $\nabla_\mu T^{\mu\nu}=0$. ...
46 views

### Reaction of uranium and neutrons emits neutrons, or is it photons?

So we had this test in nuclears physics today, and part of one of the quesitons was the following: When $\rm U^{235}_{92}$ nuclides are bombarded with one neutron, they can decompose to krypton ...
24 views

### Superconductor in a parallel vs perpendicular magnetic field

My question concern's the huge difference in critical fields regarding a thin superconductor(SC) which is surrounded by a magnetic field. lets imagine the SC is a thin film in the x-y Plane: Applying ...
13 views

### why is clear electron saturation not obtained in a Langmuir probe experiment?

I recently conducted an experiment to study the I-V characteristics of a Debye sheath, but I can't obtain electron saturation. Why does it happen?
36 views

### QED renormalization: mass and dirac field

Why the mass renormalization $Z_m$ and the field renormalization $Z_\psi$ in QED (MS-renormalized) does not contribute to the beta function computation? From Ward identity, I know that $Z_A=Z_e^{-1}$, ...
36 views

### Is the Cauchy Horizon of Anti deSitter spacetime stable?

The Cosmic Censorship Conjecture are two mathematical conjectures about the structure of spacetime. In particular the so called Strong Cosmic Conjecture asserts heuristically that generically, ...
110 views

### Measured voltage on coil

I have a simple circuit of coil with inductance L $$u_c(t)= -L\frac{di}{dt}$$ and AC source with output voltage $u_s$ What is actually measured by the voltmeter ($u_c$, $u_s$ or $u_s - u_c$)? If ...
39 views

### Kinetic Energy and reference frame

Two space ships A and B moving through space in the same direction. Space ship A moves 2m/s faster than B, its weight is 1kg and it has a 2 Watt engine. It is accelerating with full power for one ...
638 views

### Relation between frequency and intensity of light

I was going through a question in photoelectric effect and it was a true/false which says that the intensity of the incident light gets doubled on doubling the frequency. The answer is given as true ...
51 views

### Deriving Gravitational Potential Energy using Vectors

Here is my attempt at derivation: First you must find a vector function for the gravitational force. By the inverse square law, the magnitude of gravitational force between two bodies of mass $m$ ...
228 views

### Wave Packet in Curved Spacetime

It is known that the classical equation of motion for a scalar field wave packet on a curved spacetime background gives the geodesic trajectory (the e.o.m. is $(\nabla_\mu \nabla^\mu + m^2) \Phi=0$). ...
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### If we were to observe a cluster of planets from a star's magnetic north, which direction would they appear to orbit? Clockwise or counter clockwise?

I have a question, and it's been a topic of great discussion amongst my peers. If we look at galaxies or clusters of planets around stars, they appear to be moving both clockwise and counter ...