# All Questions

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### An electron falling into a black hole

If an electron falls into a black hole. How can the Heisenberg uncertainty principle hold? The electron has fallen into the singularity now so it has a well defined position which means that it ...
132 views

### Mutual Interaction of $N$-Particles in a Cartesian Plane

I am making a simulation of $N$-Particles in a cartesian plane and need help with understanding the basics. At anytime, in my particle system, I will have $N$ number of particles. I am treating the ...
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### The Effects of Moving Matter Across Light-Year distances

If I were to stand at one end of a light-year long metal pole, and another person were to stand one light-year away at the other end, and then I were to push on my end of the pole. How long would it ...
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### Can an electron be in two places at the same time?

So I've been reading a bit and watching some videos about the double slit experiment, and therefore the wave particle duality; I've also read this "implies" that a particle can be in two places at the ...
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### How electric currents can flow between 2 points at the same potential?

According to Ohm's law, if there is a potential difference, $V$, across a resistor then there is a current, $I$, flowing through it. Since we assume that points along the connecting wire are at the ...
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### Special relativity, spacetime, velocity and units

We all know that space and time are the fundamental units, means no mathematical expression can express their relation to other variable fundamentally. But as we know that moving rod has a contracted ...
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### Application of Noether's theorem

Consider one parameter transformation: $y = y ( \tilde{y}, \alpha)$ such that lagrangian satisfies: $\tilde{L}(\tilde{y}, \alpha) = L(y ( \tilde{y}, \alpha))$. We say that equation is invariant ...
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### Time Contraction

This is my first time posting on this site. I am a computer programmer that stumbled across a physics text book and have a question on special relativity. So firstly, I understand that there is no ...
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### Information loss

First time poster! I just burnt a piece of paper containing a 5 digit number I made up randomly and as far as I am concerned no one else will ever be able to retrieve the information contained on ...
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### Irreversibility and the Fermi golden rule

When a quantum system is perturbatively coupled to a continuum of states, one uses the Fermi's golden rule to compute the rate of transition form an initial state to a set of states contained in an ...
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### Velocity vs Time Bounce

Could someone please explain the trajectory of the ball that is bouncing in this picture... The vertical component of the velocity of a bouncing ball is shown in the graph below. The positive Y ...
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### Help an aspiring physicists what to self-study [closed]

This is probably not the kind of question you'll often encounter on this forum, but I think a bit of background is needed for this question to make sense and not seem like a duplicate: 2012 has been ...
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### What's the motivation behind the action principle? [closed]

What's the motivation behind the action principle? Why does the action principle lead to Newtonian law? If Newton's law of motion is more fundamental so why doesn't one derive Lagrangians and ...
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### Charge of an electrolytic capacitors

I can't understand the electrolytic capacitors, when a capacitor has a capacitance of 100 microfarads, does that mean that when it is charged with 100 volts will the charge of the plate be 0.01 ...
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### The Fraunhofer Measure

In a well known Maxwell paper he uses the units of wavelength which he calls the Fraunhofer Measure. He states it for the Fraunhofer D and F bands as $$\lambda_D = 2175 \text{ crazy units} = 589nm$$ ...
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### What is the physical interpretation of the S-matrix in QFT?

A few closely related questions regarding the physical interpretation of the S-matrix in QFT: I am interested in both heuristic and mathematically precise answers. Given a quantum field theory when ...
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### Can we have a black hole without a singularity?

Assuming we have a sufficiently small and massive object such that it's escape velocity is greater than the speed of light, isn't this a black hole? It has an event horizon that light cannot escape, ...
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### Uncertainty writing

This will sound like a silly question, but I don't recall that my professors ever though me what this means. For example: X=1.2345(6) units This is uncertainty, that much I do know, but does it ...
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### In a gauge theory, are two states related by a global phase transformation identified?

In a gauge theory (non-abelian for this question), I am told that two states $|\psi\rangle$ and $|\phi\rangle$ are to be identified if they are related by a gauge transformation $U(x)$ ...
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### Mass diffusion: is $D_{AB} \neq D_{BA}$ at high pressures? If so, why?

From [Takahashi][2], I validated some models I have for estimating diffusion coefficients (methods of Fuller modified by Riazi for high-pressures, all pulled from [Poling][3]). Here is the figure ...
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### BEC for holography?

I am spending some time reading about Bose-Einstein condensation. I want to know if it is possible to use atom lasers to realize the kind of holography traditionally associated with nano-fabrication. ...
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### Calculating restorative force with Hooke's Law [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Mass points of a Mass-spring model Say I have a spring like the one in the picture below: The point at the top is fixed to a ceiling. The red coloured arrow is the ...
900 views

### Electromagnetism for Mathematician

I am trying to find a book on electromagnetism for mathematician (so it has to be rigorous). Preferably a book that extensively uses Stoke's theorem for Maxwell's equations (unlike other books that on ...
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### What is the physical meaning of retarded time?

Consider this figure Now, when I measure a field produced by the charge $e$ at the point $\mathbf r$, at the time $t=t_1$, it means that the charge sent the signal field at the time $t=t_r$, where ...
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### Mass points of a Mass-spring model

Let's say I have a mass spring model like the one in the picture below: So, there are 3 parts of the spring joined together in an equilateral triangular manner. Each of the joints has a mass of ...
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### What is the real interpretation of Planck's constant and what are its origins?

In the physics texts I have read and from other online information, I gather that Planck's constant is the quantum of action or that it is a constant specifying the ratio of the energy of a particle ...
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### Finding Constant Angular Acceleration

The question is, "A centrifuge in a medical laboratory rotates at an angular speed of 3500 rev/min. When switched off, it rotates 46.0 times before coming to rest. Find the constant angular ...
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### In classical mechanics, are complex numbers unphysical? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Physics math without $\sqrt{-1}$ When I produce a complex final solution to a problem that began without complex coefficients at all, I have so far (with my limited ...
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### Does water have the same surface tension at same temperature but different volume?

I'm making an experiment and it is written in my older questions. Now, my question is - Does water have the same surface tension at same temperature but different volume?
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### Why do the drift and diffusion components cancel for each type of carrier if EHP generation plays such big role in p-n-junctions?

I have always argued to myself that drift and diffusion components of the current though a p-n-junction cancel for each type of carrier because any electron diffusing from n into p will sooner or ...
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### A doubt about fuchsian functions in physics?

I'm not sure if this is the right place (or math.stackexchange?) to ask the next What is the difference between fuchsian, theta-fuchsian, and kleinian functions? Please, suggest me an introductory ...
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### Why isn't Hydrogen's electron pulled into the nucleus? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Why do electrons occupy the space around nuclei, and not collide with them? Why don’t electrons crash into the nuclei they “orbit”? From what I learned in chemistry, ...
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### What is the relativistic action of a massive particle?

all Lorentz observers watching a particle move will compute the same value for the quantity $$ds^2 = -(c \, dt)^2 + dx^2 + dy^2 + dz^2,$$ $$ds^2 = g_{\mu\nu}dx^{\mu}dx^{\nu},$$ and ''ds/c'' is then ...
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### Idea of precursors of the electro-magnetic waves

The idea of the material Maxwell equation is almost clear. But I'm curious about the idea that except for material equation the pure Maxwell equation should work, but in harder sense: more currents ...
518 views

### exponential potential solution

let be the Schroedinguer equation $$- \frac{d^{2}}{dx^{2}}y(x)+ae^{cx}y(x)=E_{n}$$ (1) here a and c are constants. i know how to solve it from ...
6k views

### Does matter with negative mass exist?

Or does it exist mathematically? Is it really inconsistent with a common-sense, mathematics or known physical laws? As far as I understand, if it exists, it must be far away from the "positive" ...
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### Born rule and unitary evolution

Is the Born rule a fundamental postulate of quantum mechanics, or can it be inferred from unitary evolution?
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### Does Earth's Rotation Affect Its Shape?

The question I am working on is, "Consider the following. (a) Find the angular speed of Earth's rotation about its axis. rad/s (b) How does this rotation affect the shape of Earth?" I am fully ...
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### How to go from Quantum World to Classical World? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Is it possible to recover Classical Mechanics from Schrödinger’s equation? Classical Limit of the Feynman Path Integral In the quantum world we don't have ...
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Firstly, I'm aware that Hawking radiation can be derived in the "normal" way using the Bogoliubov transformation. However, I was intrigued by the heuristic explanation in terms of tunneling. The ...
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### Isn't it incorrect for the minimal gauge coupling and related calculations in Prof. Ezawa's book on quantum Hall effect?

He is CORRECT. I use $\mathbf{B}=\left(0,0,B_{\perp}\right)$ and he use $\mathbf{B}=\left(0,0,-B_{\perp}\right)$. $B_{\perp}>0$. Nov.28.2012 Basically I got mad with conventions. 1.Here is the ...
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### How does one come up with the Coulomb's law?

My teacher mentioned that field line density = no. of lines / area and the total area of a sphere is $4\pi r^2$ and so an electric force is inversely proportional to $r^2$. Actually, why can the total ...
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### Ball rolling down an inclined plane going in to a loop

I apologize if this question is not up to par. When I was doing exercises in basic mechanics I checked the answers and I can't seem to find what I'm doing wrong. Suppose we have a ball with mass $m$ ...
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### Rigid body dynamics of tossing of a coin

While tossing a coin, it is commonly experienced that you get a head, if you toss it up with the head side up, and a tails if you toss with the tails side up. Is there a mathematical proof of this ...
102 views

### Constraints on open strings absent at the perturbative level

Studying Disappearance of moduli for condensate of open strings and Negative open string norms after BRST cohomology? gave me a huge huge shock! Suppose we have N completely wrapped Dp-branes over a ...
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### What does the general solution of the Schrodinger equation represent for the particle in a box problem?

For the particle in an infinitely deep potential well, I have an intuitive picture of the separable solutions of the Schrodinger equation as being the wavefunctions for the different allowed energy ...
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### General relativity and the microscopic/macroscopic distinction

Here is Wikipedia's diagram of the stress-energy tensor in general relativity: I notice that all of its elements are what would be termed "macroscopic" quantities in thermodynamics. That is, in ...
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### Artificial planetary magnetic field

I wonder how difficult it is to create an artificial planetary magnetic field with generators? What power they would need? The question is inspired by thinking about possible colonization of ...