Fields&strings

A series of short post and articles to inform, educate and discuss cool physics and mathematics with people of all levels.

[XKCD Comic @xkcdComic]

90's Kid Space Program https://t.co/xKT9WOWAJd https://t.co/ALchg1RtVq

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Very excited to give a talk to the #paa #peterboroughontario astronomy association tonight!

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

"The gravitational attraction of a star with a diameter 250 times that of the sun and comparable density to the earth would be so great no light could escape from its surface. The largest bodies in the Universe may thus be invisible by reason of their magnitude." (Laplace, 1796)

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

But they underline the importance of derivations in physics and mathematics and often point to the sore points in understanding.
*from Wolfram research/biographies ( my sources will get better, I promise)

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

"This derivation is left as an exercice to the reader", "It is easy to see" or as Laplace would say*: "Il est aisé à voia", are words that have haunted readers for generations and have given me more than one headache.

[Quanta Magazine @QuantaMagazine]

Everyone has stirred a drink. If you make the stirring a little more complicated, you might see what mathematicians have sought for centuries: a failure of the Euler equations that describe fluid flows. https://t.co/eQh9J5U5Ir

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Tea time thoughts:
I'm thinking of presenting a new physicist/mathematician each month and do a few posts of their contribution and their life.
This month, it'll be Pierre-Simon de Laplace, whose name appears in the laplacian operator and the Laplace transform. More to come...

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

and a new electron appears at the new energy level seemingly unconnected to the original one. #quantumfieldtheory #indistinguishability
#QuestionTime

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Tea-time thoughts: (ignore the planetary electron image which despite being wrong, looks cool)
What happens to transitioning electrons?
Electrons do not 'live between energy levels'. Then, how can they transition? The best explanation is that the original electron disappears

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Always code as if the guy maintaining your code is a violent psychopath who knows where you live... #codinglife #lifecodes #codecodes

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Quote of the day:
"What happens when you throw a cup of tea into a black hole?"
(Wheeler to Bekenstein, on the topic of black hole Thermodynamics)

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

@Karim_Mushani I would recommend having a look at this paper https://t.co/84xn88beFu though it is written for physicists. t'Hooft is remarkably clear

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

@Karim_Mushani ... Nothing is violated but your entangled state doesn't tell you anything either, your state is in effect decoherent again.

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

@Karim_Mushani ... The particle, on its way through the horizon scatters with these radiated particles. Through doing this, it transfers all of the entanglement information into those outgoing particles: information is not destroyed but is not retreavable either...

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

@Karim_Mushani Hi Karim, this is a great question and at the heart of gravity vs quantum mechanics problems. As such there are no straight answers. The most satisfying explanation I have found is the scrambling of the information: the Black hole radiates particles through hawking radiation...

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Morning thoughts. Non-commutativity: when the order of doing things matters. These objects are at the centre of quantum mechanics and our understanding of the universe. In terms of symmetries (see previous post) the order of symmetries matters! #theoreticalphysics #nonabelian

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

..in one of the most influential theorems for Theoretical Physics (imo) Emmy Noether related continuous symmetries to conserved quantities. This usually massively simplifies problems and gives a new meaning to conservation laws.
Ccl: Emmy Noether rocks and symmetries are awesome.

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

Symmetries:
Physicists are obsessed by symmetries. Theoretical physicists even more so: entire fields of physics extend the symmetries of space-time.
Why do we love them?
First of all, symmetries are pleasing to the eye and we tend to enjoy pretty things.
Secondly,..

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

An fascinating talk given at the @strings2019 conference by Nima Arkani-Hamed about string theory and experiments, very accessible and fun to watch!
https://t.co/ytzLYWBYjl

[Fields&strings @FieldsStrings]

A few numbers physicists use every day:
Irrational numbers (we give special names to the ones we use often)
Complex numbers (I still hate the name)
Grassmann odd numbers (numbers that change sign if you multiply them the other way around) #morningthoughts #numbers #physics