# All Questions

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### Why do the stars in the galaxy core move so fast?

There are a bunch of stars orbiting the black hole in the center of our galaxy. These stars move at huge speed. Why do we see this? Why do the black hole not impose any noticeable time dilation on ...
767 views

### How to find that a molecule has zero spin?

I read that Ne has $S=0$. How can this be found, knowing the electron configuration? Electrons, protons and neutrons all have 1/2 spin. The Pauli exclusion principle implies that the even number of ...
43k views

### Why does a glass rod when rubbed with silk cloth aquire positive charge and not negative charge?

I have read many times in the topic of induction that a glass rod when rubbed against a silk cloth acquires a positive charge. Why does it acquire positive charge only, and not negative charge? It ...
4k views

### Is the EmDrive, or “Relativity Drive” possible?

In 2006, New Scientist magazine published an article titled Relativity drive: The end of wings and wheels1 [1] about the EmDrive [Wikipedia] which stirred up a fair degree of controversy and some ...
1k views

### Which ferromagnetic material has the lowest Curie temperature?

It is hard to search for materials by their properties in general and I am trying to find a material with a very low Curie temperature. At the moment I am browsing different sites but can only find a ...
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### Where does the wave function of the universe live? Please describe its home

Where does the wave function of the universe live? Please describe its home. I think this is the Hilbert space of the universe. (Greater or lesser, depending on which church you belong to.) Or maybe ...
669 views

### Computer game with quantum optics/ information

Is there a computer game using principles of quantum optics or quantum information? By game I don't mean just a simulation or an interactive course, but something that can be played in an enjoyable ...
352 views

### Could the unobservable universe have curvature (be spherical)?

What prevents the unobservable universe from being a continuously enlarging sphere due to the inflating bubble universes? Our observable universe being close to flat could support such a scenario?
322 views

### Age of universe estimates

I was recently involved in a discussion on a sister site regarding how tightly coupled Physics is with the age of the Universe (and Earth). I believe that the Earth and the Universe are both billions ...
111 views

### Is it possible to be changed Energy Unit in future or it is strict reality in nature?

Could you pease tell me why energy unit must be $Energy=Mass . \frac{Distance^2} {Time^2}$? (I tried to write general form of Energy unit) What is the strong proof of that unit? Does it just depend ...
2k views

### Why did the microwave oven only heat my coffe half as much as expected?

A sticker on my microwave oven states its output effect to be 750W, which is 180 calories per second. This means that heating 250g of water by one degree celsius would take 250/180 = 1.4s. Now, my ...
196 views

### Understanding particle's space travel

Before the discovery of dark matter, the prevailing popular understanding of Space content is that of celestial bodies (planets, stars..etc) floating in 'void' and emitting particles and waves ...
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### Is the Lagrangian of a quantum field really a 'functional'?

Weinberg says, page 299, The quantum theory of fields, Vol 1, that The Lagrangian is, in general, a functional $L[\Psi(t),\dot{\Psi}(t)$], of a set of generic fields $\Psi[x,t]$ and their time ...
11k views

### 3d holograms - How are they created?

How do 3d holograms work exactly? I read that there is a laser in use, but how are the multiple perspectives generated and how is the light trapped? in a certain area to create the effect? ...
206 views

### Physical Significance for Duality Formula for Entropy

I am studying quantum statistical mechanics from the mathematician's perspective. I don't quite understand what the duality formula for entropy is really saying (or why there is a "duality"). If $A$ ...
632 views

### Why do books have dog ears?

I googled the question and found no explanation. It seems that dog ears are inevitable (for paperbacks, notably) even if you've always been careful. From my experience, they are about equally likely ...
130 views

### What are some ways that humans could have influence over what sequence a star was in?

How would a society go about either preventing our sun in its primary sequence from going into a Red Giant a billion years from now? Or perhaps, accelerating the process of going from main sequence ...
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### What makes the difference between ionic and covalent bonds?

Backstory: When I learned about chemical reactions, there were two types of molecular bonds: Ionic, where an atom or compound molecule with a low valence number loses those valence electron(s) to one ...
122 views

### Is this a correct addition to a pipe friction loss calculation?

I've been using this online calculator to work out the difference in pressure and flow between two ends of a pipe: Pipe Friction Calculation for Fluid Flow in a Pipe So far most of it makes sense, ...
378 views

### What is the position and orientation of the Earth as a function of time

I would like to know the position and orientation of the Earth, relative to the sun, as a function of time. I.e. select any coordinate system with the Sun at the origin so that the earth lies in the ...
10k views

### Is fire plasma?

Is Fire a Plasma? If not, what is it then? If yes why, don't we teach kids this basic example? UPDATE: I probably meant a regular commonplace fire of the usual temperature. That should simplify ...
5k views

### Magnetic flying engine [closed]

I invented a flying engine moving entirely by magnetic forces (such as the force related with magnetic field of the Earth). See http://porton.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/magnetic-vehicle/ The question ...
136 views

### sending information over a wire--mechanically [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Is it possible for information to be transmitted faster than light? I've thought about this since I was a little kid. I know it isn't exactly feasible, but it still ...
453 views

### Why is $L^2$ norm of the gradient called kinetic energy?

I'm reading Lieb-Loss's book 'Analysis', chapter 7. The authors refer to the following integral: $$\tag{1} \lVert \nabla f\rVert_2^2=\int_{\Omega}\lvert \nabla f(x)\rvert^2\, d^nx$$ as the kinetic ...
439 views

### Laws of aerodynamics after breaking the sound barrier

my knowledge of physics is not very extensive, so I hope my question isn't too stupid. I know that when (for instance) a plane breaks trough the sound barrier, the laws of the aerodynamics change. ...
486 views

### Why is the universe described in terms of Euclidean space and not Minkowski spacetime?

The universe is described as an infinite Euclidean space in cosmology. Why isn't it treated as Minkowski spacetime?
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### How can one describe electron motion around hydrogen atom?

I remember from introductory Quantum Mechanics, that hydrogen atom is one of those systems that we can solve without too much ( embarrassing ) approximations. After a number of postulates, QM ...
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### Water flushed down, water pumped up (in buildings)

I live in a tall building (20 floors) on a mountain. Because the water pressure from the water company is not enough, there is a water pump at the last floor which is activated each time someone is ...
147 views

### Why is neutrino beam not considered light?

I am trying to understand why physicists consider a neutrino beam not to be light. Here's the research that I did to find the answer: ...
1k views

### How did the inflaton field “add” energy to the universe?

How did inflation add energy to the universe? What mechanism did this occur by? In other words, where did that energy come from? Was it due to the quantum fluctuation (or that scalar field rolling ...
5k views

### How to combine measurement error with statistic error

We have to measure a period of an oscillation. We are to take the time it takes for 50 oscillations multiple times. I know that I will have a $\Delta t = 0.1 \, \mathrm s$ because of my reaction ...
338 views

### How to deal with the product of distributions by Renormalization or similar?

how can we deal for example with the product of distributions in physics ?? is there any mean to define with physics $\delta ^{2}(x)$ or to treat a product of two distributions within the ...
1k views

### Maximum efficiency for a counter-current heat exchanger (double flux controlled motorized ventilation)

I am not sure if I can explain the question correctly because I don't know the name of this mechanism in English. This is my explanation attempt: In a house, a tube is expelling the air from the ...
107 views

### Neutrino beam energy

Neutrino is one of the most mysterious particles in todays physics. Even when values of some parameters like for example mass associated with it are not known (or there is great range of possible ...
287 views

### Subjectivity of decoherence

I read that quantum decoherence is subjective, in the sense that two observers may not have the same "environment" and after each one has traced over those degrees of freedom they will end up with a ...
474 views

### Maximum speed of a water skier

Water skiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface. Consider an idealized case where the boat is moving at a ...
6k views

### Is there an upper frequency limit to ultrasound?

Wikipedia has this diagram of the acoustic frequency spectrum: Is there an upper limit to the frequencies you can transmit through the air? Are they absorbed more and more at higher frequencies, ...
390 views

### Why does inflation (the inflaton field) push Omega down closer to zero (flatten the universe)?

I know that in our particular case the inflaton field expanded the volume of the universe while simultaneously maintaining a mass-energy density close to the critical density all the while, thus the ...
570 views

### Potential of surface charge

I have a question about the $\hat{n}$ in this formula $\sigma = P \dot{}\hat{n}$. Why do sometime in my book they get $\sigma = P \cos{\theta}$ for a sphere. Isn't $\hat{n} = r$ ? And then in ...
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### shouldn't we add the oscillating terms into Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization formula

shouldn't be the quantization formula (in one dimension) equal to $N_{smooth}(E)+N_{osc}(E) = \oint_{C}p.dq$ ?? where the Oscillating term is just the correction from Gutzwiller trace formula or a ...
551 views

### Which is the biggest object which can interfere with itself?

I've heard that scientist proof that viruses of the Tobacco mosaic virus could interfere with themselves. I'm referring to quantum interference-- the same as photons. Unfortunately, I couldn't find ...
5k views

### Can anyone explain to me why light is not dispersed into a spectrum through a parallel glass slide, but only through a prism?

The question pretty much sums up what I need to know. Why is it that light only gets dispersed into a spectrum when travelling through two non-parallel sides(like a prism) and not through something ...
425 views

### Greenhouse gases

A post (below) on the Bishop Hill blog relating to climate change asserts that no warming effect can be attributed to $\mathrm{CO_2}$. I don't know whether the author is really a physicist but it ...
565 views

### Maximize Magnetic Self-Inductance Through a Wire

You are given a long length W of copper wire. How would you arrange it to obtain the maximum self-inductance? Why? I am trying to use the equation $$L=\mu_o n^2 l A$$ I try to solve it using a ...
2k views

### Physical interpretation of Parseval's theorem

I have read that Parseval's theorem, relating the norm of a function $f$ and the norm of its Fourier transform $g(k)$: $$\int |f(x)|^2 dx=\int|g(k)|^2 dk$$ has the ...
358 views

### Question about uncertainty

Are $3.43\pm 0.04$ $\frac{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{s}}$ and $3.48$ $\frac{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{s}}$ within expected range of values? The answer is yes, but I do not clearly see why this is so. I appreciate ...
837 views

### Textbook on group theory to be able to start QFT

I am very enthusiastic about learning QFT. How much group theory would I need to master? Please could you recommend me a textbook on group theory, which would help me to start QFT?
326 views

### Conceptual quantum field theory

Often papers and books give some bold(deep physical insight) statements in quantum field theory which are not backed by mathematics, and seldom by citing papers. Being a student I don't grasp the real ...