# All Questions

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### If the earth has gravity, why don't we all collapse to the center?

I'm sorry if the answer is obvious for you guys, but why don't we all (including buildings, road, people, the ground) collapse to the center of the earth because of gravity? Is it because we have ...
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### How would one detect antihydrogen in the universe?

Since the spectra of hydrogen and antihydrogen are the same, how do astronomers know which one they're detecting? Is, perhaps, the Lamb shift in antihydrogen different?
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### How to show that $(\xi\eta-\eta\xi)|A\rangle = 0$?

On page 49 of of Dirac's book, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, he states A state may be simultaneously an eigenstate of two observables. If the state corresponds to the ket vector ...
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### Symmetry Breaking And Phase transition

Is every phase transition associated with a symmetry breaking? If yes, what is the symmetry that a gaseous phase have but the liquid phase does not? What is the extra symmetry that normal $\bf He$ ...
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### Folding of wave-vector in Band Theory of Metals

In the Kronig-Penney model in the Band Theory of Metals, we derive the energy levels as function of wave vector as shown in the figure. But my professor showed that we represent the levels folded ...
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### Why do we believe in a “force” driven universe? [closed]

Why do we not believe in the potential for a "unified force field" universe, to the exclusion of the belief in the potential for a mechanical, gear driven universe, if the correct shape for the gear ...
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### What is the experimental support behind taking electrons as a revolving particles in E.Rutherford model?

From Rutherford we know that almost the entire mass and total positive charge in an atom are at the center of the atom and electrons in the atom revolve in orbit around this central core. But my ...
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### Vibrationing molecules/atoms and the effect

If the molecules/atoms of a solid object vibrate quickly enough, would the way a human eye perceives that object be changed? Would the object appear to "flicker" or have almost a transparent look to ...
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### Is phase defined for species undergoing diffusion?

If we have a gas diffusing through say a solid metal, or gas diffusing into a liquid, what phase is the diffusing molecules considered to be in (or is it even possible to define this)? Is it possible ...
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### How do I determine the electric charge on two (initially discharged) spheres after an impact with a charged sphere?

This is the first part of a problem on my book: Two identical conducting spheres, initially discharged, of mass $m = 0.5 \ kg$ come in contact, in consecutive moments, with another sphere, ...
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### I don't get the concept of “God plays with dice” - In what scenario is it proven that he does? [duplicate]

Does God Play With Dice? by Stephen Hawking I am no physicists, but I don't get the concept of God playing with dice. Logic shows me that the entire universe is calculated very precisely according ...
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### How many atoms exist within a continuum body?

Materials, such as solids, liquids and gases, are composed of molecules separated by "empty" space. On a microscopic scale, materials have cracks and discontinuities. However, certain physical ...
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### Sum of energy from torques of several disks in double rotation [closed]

Here the study: An external system (not drawn) give energy for rotate disks around themselves and around green axis. All disks have energy at start, at $t=0$ friction is ON and at $t=0$ external ...
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### What does negative absolute temperature mean? [duplicate]

I always understood that the concept of absolute temperature stems from the third law of thermodynamics and that the lowest theoretical possible temperature is zero degrees Kelvin. However, ...
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### When a body accelerates, it gains (relativistic) mass; after stopping, is the (relativistic) mass different from before it started accelerating?

When a body accelerates, it gains (relativistic) mass $m$ according to the relation $$m=\frac{m_0}{\sqrt{1-(v/c)^2}},$$ where $m_0$ is the (rest) mass. But after it stops is the gained (relativistic) ...
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### Colour of artifacts in a lens flare

I'm adding a lens flare to an illustration; which got me thinking: Are the colours of the artifacts (hexagonal/circular) which appear in a lens flares purely random, or much like a rainbow ...
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### Deconfinement at high T $\leftrightarrow$ spontaneous breaking of the center of the gauge group

I am reading Witten's "Anti-de Sitter Space, Thermal Phase Transitions, And Confinement In Gauge Theories" (see here), in which he connects the confinement-deconfinement transition in $\mathcal{N}=4$ ...
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### Proton 'Laser' ? could we get a laser-like effect? [closed]

This is a speculative question. question: Can we gain protons, by smashing a high speed proton into a hydrogen plasma? Background: I was thinking about how lasers repeatedly send the photons thru ...
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### Why can thermal shocks damage/break materials?

When an object is heated a lot and then brutally cooled down or vice-versa, it can crack or even break spectacularly. What happens inside that makes it do that? Is it only because the hot core swells ...
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### How the distance and diameter of the stars are experimentally measured?

How to measure the distance of a star and the diameter of it from earth based tools? Normally we can measure the angle between the stars edge. But diameter or distance needed to measure the other ...
629 views

### Relation between Black-Scholes equation and quantum mechanics

I am interested in the link between the Black & Scholes equation and quantum mechanics. I start from the Black & Scholes PDE  \frac{\partial C}{\partial t} = -\frac{1}{2}\sigma^2 S^2 ...
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### Time-independent probability amplitudes for time-independent $\hat H$

I've been trying to work the following problem: If a system has a time-independent Hamiltonian with spectrum $\{E_n\}$, prove that the probability of measuring the energy $E_k$ is also ...
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### Vibrational quantum notation

Reading articles on spectroscopy I often see this notation: 30001 <- 01101, 00011 <- 00001 in context of molecular ...
383 views

### Angular momentum in curved spacetime

It is known that the angular momentum components are also a representation of the $SU(2)$ generators. Given a non-trivial spacetime, say a black hole of some kind or AdS space, how can one define the ...
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### Can capillary forces be used to make hydro electricity?

Could a device with very thin columns of glass or something that attracts water more be used to pull water up and then release it to drive generator and perhaps add vacuum. I have been wondering ...
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### Why does intramolecular hydrogen bonding cause molecules to separate?

Today I learned about intramolecular hydrogen bonding, which occurs in molecules such as ortho-nitro-phenol. What I was told is that, in case of intramolecular bonding, the molecules separate from ...
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### Net work done on the body when we lift it and put it on the table is zero?

I'm little confused here. Work done on the body when we lift it and put it on the table is zero, because according to work energy theorem, change in kinetic energy of the body is zero. So, the net ...
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### What are some examples of non-Lambertian light scatters/radiators in everyday life?

What are some examples of non-Lambertian light scatters/radiators in everyday life? How to easily demonstrate their difference from Lambertian ones?