# All Questions

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57 views

### Is the stress finite at the centre of a spherical continuous charge distribution?

At the centre of a spherical continuous charge distribution with no external electric fields, the electric field is zero from symmetry arguments. But does the stress at the centre remain finite?
550 views

### fun computational physics projects [closed]

I want to learn how to code in Java and am in need of some cool computational physics projects that would provide motivation to do so. I was wondering if you guys could list some medium-level ...
562 views

### Can $10^{23}$ stars be treated with methods of statistical mechanics?

Statistical mechanics is used to describe systems with large number of particles ~$10^{23}$. The observable universe contains between $10^{22}$ to $10^{24}$ stars. Can we treat those many stars as a ...
590 views

### How can Hilbert spaces be used to study the harmonics of vibrating strings?

The overtones of a vibrating string. These are eigenfunctions of an associated Sturm–Liouville problem. The eigenvalues 1,1/2,1/3,… form the (musical) harmonic series. How can Hilbert spaces be ...
3k views

### How to calculate Temperature Humidity Wind Index?

I would like to know how to calculate Temperature Humidity Wind Index (THW Index)? I know how to calculate Heat Index and Wind Chill. I am asking this because my weather station Davis Vantage Pro2 ...
862 views

### Is hydrogen the same everywhere?

Silly thought. Feel free to shoot it down Does a hydrogen atom undergo any kind of change subject to it's environment? If one were to study a hydrogen atom on the surface of Mercury, another above ...
872 views

### Should the term Watt's Law be used for $P = IV$?

I'm revising some electrical curriculum for a technical training program. In the curriculum students have to calculate values using Ohm's law and the equation $$\text{Power = Current * Voltage}$$ ...
4k views

### Doping of pentavalent atom with hexavalent atom

We know that a tetra valent element can be a semiconductor and doping of pentavalent and trivalent impurities would give a extrinsic semiconductor. I got a question now. Can we use an element of ...
5k views

### What happened to Apollo's Saturn-third-stage rockets?

I read recently the original Apollo 11 press release and it mentions that the Saturn V's third stage (used for Trans-Lunar Injection) was deployed into a solar orbit of some kind: (Source: Press Kit -...
2k views

### What isotope has the shortest half life?

Question: What isotope has the shortest half life?
573 views

### How do I calculate the Radiation length of a Molecule

I want to calculate the Radiation length in a Molecule with the Formula given on wikipedia. How do I calculate Z and A for a molecule to put it into the Formula?
14k views

### Is it theoretically possible to reach $0$ Kelvin?

I'm having a discussion with someone. I said that it is -even theoretically- impossible to reach $0$ K, because that would imply that all molecules in the substance would stand perfectly still. He ...
461 views

### Why do strings split in string theory?

In string theory, we are told strings can split and merge if the string coupling is nonzero, even while the worldsheet action remains Nambu-Goto or Polyakov plus a topological term. However, a ...
2k views

### Why does tension not do work in this pulley system? etc

I have a slight difficulty understanding the solution to the following problem: A light inextensible string with a mass $M$ at one end passes over a pulley at a distance $a$ from a vertically fixed ...
7k views

### PhD Research Areas in String Theory [closed]

I'm thinking of applying to do a PhD in String Theory, starting in September 2013. I'm gradually learning more about the subject through external reading, but still most papers are impenetrable! Could ...
284 views

### What role does memory robots play in the many worlds interpretation?

Ron Maimon gave a very interesting answer to a question about the many worlds interpretation here. He mentions the essential role of memory robots in MWI, which is something I have never ever heard ...
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### In electro-optic material, what is happening to the structure of the material for the index of refraction to change?

I apologize if electro-optic material is not the correct word. As I understand it, when an electric field is applied to an electro-optic material, the index of refraction changes in proportion to the ...
3k views

### motion in the body-fixed frame?

This is really basic, I'm sure: For rigid body motion, Euler's equations refer to $L_i$ and $\omega_i$ as measured in the fixed-body frame. But that frame is just that: fixed in the body. So how ...
461 views

### Taking the continuum limit of $U(N)$ gauge theories

I would like to draw your attention to appendix $C$ on page 38 of this paper. The equation $C.2$ there seems to be evaluating the sum $\sum_R \chi _R (U^m)$ in equation 3.16 of this paper. I ...
171 views

### Where is the critical moment where the microcanonical ensemble enters the justification for the equilibium state?

As explained in many books, for the microscopic justification of the second law of thermodynamics (lets formulate it as the total entropy takes maximum among all possible exchanges of two systems), ...
4k views

### Why is Gravitational force proportional to the masses?.

We know that two mass particles attract each other with a force $$F~=~\frac{G M_1 M_2}{r^2}.$$ But what is the reason behind that? Why does this happen?
506 views

### Poisson structure comes from hamiltonian?

I am interested in studying quantization, but it seems I am lacking the basics of classical mechanics. Any help would be appreciated. I would first like to ask what is necessary to have a sympletic/...
397 views

### Average Neighbouring Impurity Separation in a Random 1D chain [closed]

I have a finite and discrete 1D chain (edit: linear chain, i.e. a straight line) of atoms, with unit separation, with a set number of impurities randomly distributed in the place of these atoms in the ...
1k views

### Gas Cylinder Life

Say I have a gas cylinder filled with nitrogen to some volume at some pressure. On that cylinder I have a regulator so that I get a steady pressure out. I wish to discharge the cylinder. How many ...
565 views

### Conjugate Transpose of Hamiltonian Matrix

I read some notes saying, $$i\hbar \frac{dC_{i}(t)}{dt} = \sum_{j}^{} H_{ij}(t)C_{j}(t)\tag{1}$$ where $C_{i}(t) = \langle i|\psi(t)\rangle$ and $H_{ij}$ is hamiltonian matrix. However, what is ...
909 views

### Inner product of four-vectors in special relativity

Reference) "Feynman lectures on Physics Vol.3 , p.7-4 ." With four vectors $x_{\mu} = (t,x,y,z)\ , \ p_{\mu} = (E,p_{x},p_{y},p_{z})$ the inner product of these two four vectors is scalar invariant ...
1k views

### Probability vs. degree of belief in facts of nature (“Plausibility”)

I just came across a line in a paper: "Assume the probability that a Lagrangian parameter lies between $a$ and $a + da$ is $dP(a) =$ [...]." This reminded me again of my single biggest qualm I have ...
265 views

### Under what assumptions can we split a Hilbert space into subspaces?

I was thinking about an apparently simple question about quantum mechanics, if I am looking at a quantum system described by a Hilbert space $\cal{H}$ under what hypothesis can I define A and B as ...
86 views

### A problem concerning the change of temperature and spectrum of a filament

The spectrum of a filament has been given before, the left one having the lowest temperature, the middle with a medium temperature and the right one with the highest. My question is this: Why does the ...
215 views

### Charges of quarks and leptons

Are there any theoretical restrictions within the framework of QFT that fix the relative sign between charged leptons and up-type quarks? We know that in our universe, they have opposite signs -- ...
513 views

### Why does the water-pressure of my shower fall if I hold the shower head high?

I live in a very old house - build 1902 - in the 4th floor in the city of Karlsruhe (Germany). I have a shower and the gas-heater for the water is in it: If I hold the shower head over some height (...
3k views

### What does symplecticity imply?

Symplectic systems are a common object of studies in classical physics and nonlinearity sciences. At first I assumed it was just another way of saying Hamiltonian, but I also heard it in the context ...
1k views

### How do Anamorphic images work? [closed]

I found the following anamorphic image on this site Can anyone explain the physics behind the working of such images? Can we create our own anamorphic images? If so how? Thanks in advance.
3k views

### Finding the tension in rope tied to ladder using the principle of virtual work

A ladder $AB$ of mass $m$ has its ends on a smooth wall and floor (see figure). The foot of the ladder is tied by an inextensible rope of negligible mass to the base $C$ of the wall so the ladder ...
907 views

### Why is the crust of my meat pie only slightly warm?

I just cooked a meat pie in the oven. Almost immediately after pulling it out of the oven, I felt that the crust was only slightly warm, but when I cut it open the filling felt very warm. I can't ...
403 views

### Can a free hydrogen atom constitute ionizing radiation?

Radiation is basically just particles flying around, right? Are free hydrogen atoms just typically not moving fast enough to be considered "radiation"?
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### Combining Proportions to get Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation

I've read a little on the history of Newton's Law of Gravitation and noticed that the formula can be separated into 3 distinct parts that lead to the end result of $F_g = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}$; the ...
I'm specifically looking for Schrödinger's Cat states involving superpositions of two, or if it's been done more, coherent states, i.e. monomodal states of the form |\psi\rangle=a|\alpha\rangle+b|\...