# All Questions

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### Topology of Fermi surface

In his book, Grigory Volovik related the stability of a fermi surface to topology of a green function. the He gave the example of fermi gas and said that green function for fermi gas has form ...
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### Infinite Resistive lattice problem

Ok so while there have been many discussions regarding the solution(say using the Fourier transform or the lattice Green's function approach) to the two-point resistance of an infinite-square ...
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### What is the direction of the magnetic vector potential in an electromagnetic plane wave?

The vector potential $A$ is perpendicular to $B = \nabla \times A$, by definition, and hence, in a plane wave, it is either in the direction of $E$ or the direction of propagation. I suspect it is in ...
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### Newton's Law problem with friction

I'm trying to answer the following question: A force of 50N acting at 37º above the horizontal pulls a block along the floor with constant velocity. If the coefficient of friction between the ...
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### In a Stern-Gerlach measurement, does passing particles through the B field influence their spin state?

This question is similar to this post and was influenced by this discussion as well. Assume a Stern-Gerlach apparatus oriented along the z-axis acts as a measurement on the basis of the z-component ...
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### Non-complex proof that the electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular in a plane wave

I'm looking for a proof that the electric and magnetic fields in a plane wave are perpendicular that doesn't invoke complex E and B fields. I haven't been able to find one. If the proof requires ...
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### Covariance of the Dirac Equation

i want to show that the following equation holds: $$\frac{1}{8}\left[\gamma^{\mu},\omega_{\mu \nu} [\gamma^{\mu},\gamma^{\nu} ] \right] = \omega^{\mu}_{~~~\nu}\,~ \gamma^{\nu}$$ $\gamma^{\mu}$ ...
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### Formulating a symplectic integrator for a non-local Hamiltonian

I recently asked two questions, Q. [1] and Q. [2], regarding reformulating non-local Lagrangians as Hamiltonians. In these questions, the Hamiltonian is formulated as an integral because of it's ...
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### General relation between power density of any engine and dissiapation rate and temperature

Many years ago ( before my university studies ) I read that renewable resources are fundamentally limited by laws of thermodynamics to produce energy very slowly (low specific power or power density) ...
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### Why should Conservative forces have their curl equal to zero?(intuition)

There are several conditions that must be met in order for a force to be conservative. One of them is that the curl of that force must be equal to zero? What is the physical intuition behind this? If ...
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### How can we prove this system is in a stationary state?

I'm having trouble using the given hint to solve the problem. The problem statement is as follows: At instant $t=0$, the probability distribution of a particle under a potential $V(x)$ is ...
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### Special relativity - twin paradox explored

A thought experiment. A person on the Earth has a clock. Another person who also has a clock is in a rocket ship passing the Earth travelling at 50% the speed of light. They synchronise watches as ...
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### Legendre transform for non-local Lagrangians, or Hamiltonian of non-local Lagrangian and their properties

This is sort of a multi-part question, mostly dealing with how to treat non-local Hamiltonians and how the corresponding properties of Hamiltonians work in a non-local framework. I proposed an example ...
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### Geodesic equation from Euler - Lagrange

There are several ways to derive the geodesic equation. One of which is the variational method which I seemed to understand it because it was written in great details. Then it was mentioned that the ...
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### Ricci tensor of Metric black holes with nils and solv geometries of Horizon

The metric of black holes with nils and solv geometries of the horizon is generically represented by $$\mathrm{d}s^2=-r^{2z}\mathrm{d}t^2+\frac{\mathrm{d}r^2}{r^2}+\sum_{I=1}^3 r^{2q_I}(w^I)^2$$ How ...
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### Why is tree-level interaction between neutral scalar and photons non-renormalizable?

I've read that the decay of a neutral scalar particle into two photons, i.e., $$S(p+q) \to \gamma(p) + \gamma(q)$$ can't happen via tree diagrams and instead is caused by loop diagrams (such as a ...
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### If a vehicle (bus, train) rapidly stops (or accelerates, or turns), why don't our hair or clothes move from the inertial force?

Many times I was sitting in a train, watching closely nearby people. If the vehicle changes it's movement rapidly (brakes, turns, etc), then obviously, people feel the inertial pseudo-force that ...
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### Condition on $U_{eff}$ for a mass to get trapped in orbit around a heavier mass

The wikipedia page on Effective Gravitational Potential states that $$U_{eff} \leq E$$ is a condition for a free mass getting trapped in an orbit around a heavier mass. But since \frac 1 2 m\dot r^2 ...
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### What are the mathematical models for force, acceleration and velocity?

In mechanics, the space can be described as a Riemann manifold. Forces, then, can be defined as vector fields of this manifold. Accelerations are linear functions of forces, so they are covector ...
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### What would it take to cause lightning to jump between the Moon and the Earth?

This question comes from @Floris' speculation at the end of his excellent answer about what it would take to kill everyone on the Earth with electricity. Doing all this in 1/10th of a second ...
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### Is it possible that every single isotope are radioactive, and isotopes which we call stable are actually unstable but have an extremely big half-life?

I've read that tellurium-128 has an half-life of $2.2 \times 10^{24}$ years, much bigger than the age of the universe. So I've thought that maybe every single isotope of every single atom are ...
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### How can one reasonably theoretically model polycrystalline materials?

Many techniques are taught in advanced solid state courses but they are almost all derived for perfectly crystalline materials. For example, band structure really only appears theoretically when you ...
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### Is there a friction or retarding force in creating spacetime?

As matter and energy expand with the big bang, they create spacetime (or so I've been told). Is there any evidence that this creation of spacetime has a retarding force on the expansion? If not, ...
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### Electric Field At Centre Of Non Uniform Ring

In the above solved example why only the cos components have been taken for calculation of electric field at centre ? Why not the sine components ? BTW in case you say that the sine components ...
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### Is density functional theory a mean-field theory?

Is density functional theory exact or just a mean-field theory?
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### Question about Hartle and Hawking's universal wavefunction?

My apologies in advance if this question is poorly worded or doesn't make any sense, however I have just finished reading into this theory and it seems as though Hawkings No Boundary Universe is ...
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### Does a source emitting visible light also emit infrared, microwave and radio waves?

I have a bulb which is hot enough to emit visible light and obviously it's hot enough to emit radiation which lies before the visible light temperature i.e. radio waves, microwaves, and infrared ...
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### When the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation cools, where does the energy go? [duplicate]

I understand how photons can change wavelength via gravitational redshifting, but that doesn't seem to be what's going on with the CMB radiation. I've heard it explained as happening because of the ...
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### Is the present state of our universe due to a bottom up or top down process, or both? [on hold]

Bottom up is the main stream science view. Most models of the universe are bottom-up, that is, you start from the well-defined initial conditions of the Big Bang and work forward. The other view is ...
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### In circular motion, with a constant distance, why does the mass of the orbitting object have no effect on its revolution at all?

Using Newton's universal equation and some circular motion equation, the orbiting object's mass cancels out. But can someone please explain why this is without using pure algebra?
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### Pressure in closed container [on hold]

I am wanting to figure out the pressures in my solar still so that I can figure out the volumetric flow rate(assuming no turbulence). For water to go 6 feet uphill it would require a lot of pressure ...
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### Why do my ice cubes stick together? [duplicate]

When I put ice cubes in a glass of water, I find that sometimes they will stick together and form a sort of "bridge" between them as they melt. There is usually a visible line where one ends and the ...
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### Metal Refractive index

I'm working on Fresnel equation for calculation of reflection of a light (532 nm) on Iron. I've got a question: Is metals refractive index always a real number or it can be a complex number?
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### Does the universe follow a general physical and computational principle of evolution?

Evolution is a principle in biology, whereby organisms evolve their ability to replicate and multiply in numbers over successive generations. From a computational point of view, the organisms employ a ...
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### $N>2$ gravitating masses can never reach equilibrium

If you have $N>2$ point masses, each attracted to each other by the force of gravity, how could you go about showing that they will never reach equilibrium?
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### Are there any research experiments concerning bending light around stars compared to bending light around large planets?

Concerning gravitational lensing: Are there any research experiments concerning bending light around stars compared to bending light around large planets? I want to compare, extraterrestrial, massive ...
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### Circular motion - is average velocity enough to tell?

If I knew the exact value of constant centripetal force and the average velocity of an object travelling around a circle for time $t$, would that be enough information to determine the final positon ...
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### Waves and (Another) Question about the Double Slit Experiment [on hold]

Apologies for posting yet another question about the Double Slit Experiment, however, there are a couple of things I wouldn't mind clearing up (if possible!). I don't really have much of a background ...
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### Propagation speed of photons when taking higher-order QFT corrections into account

In our group of experimental physicist who have nothing to do with and know very little about quantum field theory, we recently had a question concerning the propagation speed of photons in vacuum: ...
If a point charge $q\$ is embedded in a randomly shaped,finite, linear dielectric substance with dielectric constant $\kappa$, what will be the Electric displacement vector $D$ ? According to the ...