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4:10 PM
I can almost hear the crickets :D
 
It's 5pm and people are already starting rockets and small explosives. That's nuts
 
I never really understood the fun of rockets and small explosives
A flash, a bang, it smells bad and leaves junk everywhere. ANOTHER!
 
well, I kinda do, even though some of them exploded in my hands as a child. But well ... all things in moderation and at their time
 
I just wish the people weren't drunk when handling explosives.
 
small explosives are rather boring, but rockets or volcanoes with lots of colourful sparkle are kind of nice
@Mladen eh well, that's another issue
people here usually get wasted before midnight
 
4:18 PM
People here probably already are wasted since yesterday.
 
so much the better, sheesh ...
 
On the other hand, explosives probably are a matter of taste I guess. I never really enjoyed full-blown fireworks either.
And we have some pretty nice fireworks every year.
(Or so I've been told)
 
well, in the city there's usually an hour of fireworks - just after 10 minutes, there's too much smoke to see much :D but the first colourful stuff is always kinda nice to look at
 
I've been wanting to write this post for a looooong time.
 
@DanielSank doesn't look bad. I just don't really see how there is more physical insight in there...?
 
4:25 PM
Instead of those horrible prefactors, the only dimensionful constant we have is the zero point fluctuations!
Also, whoever downvoted the question, please tell me why.
 
I'm gonna check real quick if I didnt do it by accident
Nope, wasn't me
The hats are cute though :)
 
hello
 
hi there
 
Holy crap, that post just got blasted to hell.
wtf
 
it seems good to me...+1 on both question and answer
 
4:30 PM
Yeah I have no idea why it's so unappealing!
 
I have too low reputation to contribute lol
 
its ridiculous that the question is at -1
 
@heather I would like to understand the downvotes on the question.
 
maybe meta question if it keeps getting downvoted
 
So are you guys professional physicists?
 
4:36 PM
how would you define "professional physicist"?
But most people here are probably students or have a degree in physics or closely related subjects.
 
Acquired some academical degree and working in some field of physics I guess
 
i'm in middle school @Mladen
so...nope
=)
 
Seriously?
 
@Mladen I think there's a lot of graduates working somewhere in business
 
@Mladen yup
 
4:38 PM
@Mladen heather's always depressing me ;)
 
I am a professional physicist.
 
@Sanya, sorry =/ i really shouldn't, i don't know much about physics.
 
I wish I was that cool when I was in middle school :/
 
Don't feed heather's ego too much.
 
@Mladen exactly, right!
 
4:39 PM
@DanielSank, thank you
 
@heather come on, I'm joking a bit; don't apologise earnestly, you'll make me feel bad :D
 
Well she spends her time in a physics chatroom. I spent my time drinking and smoking and being a social retard.
 
@Sanya, gotcha =P
 
@heather ... :'( sniff
 
@Mladen wat?
 
4:40 PM
@Mladen may I just point out that you are currently in a physics chatroom. =)
 
yeah, after 4.5 years of studying physics
physics is love, physics is life <3
(which is probably why I suck at it lol)
 
physics is the best <3
 
@Mladen what's your deal? Student?
 
Yup. Almost finished my bachelor's degree (a bit stuck on my thesis, it needs a lot of time...) and doing some master classes atm.
Currently I'm stuck on general relativity. The math is just... killing me inside.
 
Get Sean Caroll's book.
However you spell that.
The first couple chapters teach you the math.
 
4:46 PM
Sean Carroll, I know. On it already.
 
@Mladen I blame it on Wilhelm Killing
(awesome pun)
 
I guess I'm more tired of the exhaustive study sessions than the material. (Although math never reaaally was my thing)
 
vzn
@Mladen hi, doing undergrad thesis? whats it on? whats your grad work on? youre physics major?
 
^ I am so confused.
If someone's doing an undergrad thesis, why would they know what their grad work is on?
 
@vzn not sure we have the same school system. But yeah, I'm doing my bachelor's thesis, and I study only physics, so you can say it's my major.
 
4:52 PM
@DanielSank, now your question's on the upswing.
that's good.
 
I'm still interested in why that kind of question would get down votes.
Is it because it's not specific enough?
 
@DanielSank well, most people agree that the downvotes are undeserved (see JR's comment)
Im not sure what happened there
 
vzn
@Mladen what country? yeah physics is very math-heavy these days esp "after" undergrad. do you have plans to stay in academia?
 
So there is this astro simulation code RAMSES that my professor wrote (https://bitbucket.org/rteyssie/ramses/).
For dark matter particle simulations, it had a segmentation tool to find density clumps. My job was to implement a tool that checks if the particles are energetically bound to those clumps. It gets a bit more complicated than that, but that's the main outline.
 
@AccidentalFourierTransform Regardless, there are 2 down and 3 up. That indicates that roughly half the user base (on a 5 sample experiment, lol) thinks it's a bad question.
 
4:55 PM
i think a few people just downvoted/didn't read.
 
@DanielSank not bad, my bet is that some users found it slightly vague
 
::shrugs::
 
Switzerland.
Yeah, I know, but I'm more drawn to the computational aspects.
I'm not sure yet if I want to stay. I'm currently not sure whether I can handle it.
(last post was @vzn)
 
vzn
@Mladen ah we have a lot of comp experts around here crossing with physics, lots of comp talk. what areas of comp physics are you delving into? dark matter?
 
@Mladen, stick with it, I'm sure you'll make it through
 
4:59 PM
@vzn Nothing very specific at the moment, but rather not (experimental) data analysis. Probably more into simulation and high performance computing.
 
vzn
@Mladen is your thesis on dark matter or computing/ simulation etc?
 
@vzn but yeah, dark matter, accretion disks, star/planet formation.... something in there :)
@vzn sorry, I forgot to tag you in the response about the thesis. I'll copypaste it real quick: So there is this astro simulation code RAMSES that my professor wrote (bitbucket.org/rteyssie/ramses).
For dark matter particle simulations, it had a segmentation tool to find density clumps. My job was to implement a tool that checks if the particles are energetically bound to those clumps. It gets a bit more complicated than that, but that's the main outline.
 
@Mladen that actually sounds incredibly interesting.
 
vzn
@Mladen sounds interesting. fyi we have a special chat session with guest speakers, let me know if you have any interest, always looking for volunteers, we have had a graduating undergraduate host it before, plz let me know if you have any interest meta.physics.stackexchange.com/questions/7783/…
 
@heather thanks, but it's not much, at least yet ;)
@vzn thank you, I'll think about it, but I'm not sure I'd have anything of interest to say...
 
5:06 PM
@DanielSank, question: does entanglement of qubits affect the math in any way?
 
wat?
 
I'm still agonizing over that bit-flip code =/
 
vzn
@Mladen youre an advanced physics student, assure you clearly you already have something of interest to talk about :) ... its generally informal/ medium profile/ not sizeable audience yet. what language(s) is the simulation in?
 
in the beginning the qubits get entangled
 
@vzn also I'm not really often here. I'm here right now mainly due to procrastination :P
@vzn My thesis you mean?
 
5:07 PM
and so i'm wondering if that entanglement causes gates to do something different or something, I dunno.
i didn't think it would.
but then, i also thought the math would come out correctly.
 
vzn
@Mladen lol everyone always has excellent reasons for not participating... our last session was last summer :|
@Mladen your thesis is on the dark matter prj?
 
@vzn ask me again in the summer, I'll have more time then. It is finals time after all... exams in a few weeks and I still dont know shit about general relativity nor theoretical astrophysics.
@vzn Sorry what?
 
vzn
@Mladen ok. fyi the session is not (nec) to try to delve into deep cross-physics stuff. its partly a way to meet new people etc., different aims, not merely physics minutia etc
 
@heather I'm not sure what you mean.
 
@vzn You wouldn't get much out of me anyways. Apart from some minor basics, I'm helpless without a book.
 
5:10 PM
FWIW AMA's aren't lectures.
Whether or not you know tons of physics isn't really the point.
 
@DanielSank, so for the bit flip error correction code, the first thing that is done is entangling three qubits.
 
I get it i get it...
 
i am wondering whether this entanglement changes how the gates operate on the qubits at all.
 
vzn
@Mladen alas, false modesty is a real impediment :| ... if youre working on a senior thesis & taking grad level classes, like to chat etc, think you "qualify", & are above average participant on the site etc... unf this prj tends to require a lot of "persuasion" by us so far :|
 
@heather nope.
If you represent your gates as matrices on the full 3-qubit space, then they work no matter what the input state is, whether it's entangled or not.
 
5:13 PM
ack, i'm not sure if i'm doing that.
 
Alternatively, if you're working with single qubit gates, just operate term-by-term on the entangled state.
There's nothing secret going on there.
 
i have no idea what i'm doing anymore =P
 
nice
 
yup
 
@vzn Again, I'd be up to an AMA if you want me to, but it'll have to wait a few months.
 
vzn
5:16 PM
@Mladen its up to you, dont want to be pushy, ideally participants might/ will find it enjoyable some )( to meet our crowd & vice versa, thx for your openness, might ping you again sometime, thx for considering it, know its a lot to ask early on, anyway welcome to the site, hope to see you around, let me know if any questions etc :)
 
@vzn sure, no problem. I'll be around, the questions will start piling up, no worries ;)
Now I gotta stop being a whiny little bitch and study before I head out for tonight. See you next time guys 'n'gals!
 
vzn
@Mladen questions piling up? you mean by you? about physics?
 
@vzn exaclty
questions like these fore example: physics.stackexchange.com/questions/299718/…
So, i'm out. Happy new year 'n' stuff!
 
in Zero term algebra, 5 hours ago, by Secret
(Revised) Corollary 3.2: Zero inverse are permutations in finite structures: Given an associative division by zero algebra $S$ with an underlying set of cardinality $n \in \mathbb{N}$. If there is a left (right) zero inverse $c$ and left (right) identity $1$, then the semigroup action of $c$ on $S$ is a permutation.
in Zero term algebra, 56 mins ago, by Secret
Theorem 8: Cyclic subgroup implies one sided null subsemigroup: Given an associative division by zero algebra $S$ containing a subgroup isomorphic to the cyclic subgroup $(\mathbb{Z}/n,+)$, then the elements in this subgroup induces a left or right null subsemigroup of the same size in the addition structure.
in Zero term algebra, 29 mins ago, by Secret
Corollary 3.3: Commutative zero terms implies cyclic subgroup of order $\geq 3$ Given an associative division by zero algebra $S$ of size $n$, where all zero terms commute, then it contains a cyclic subgroup of order at least $3$.
in Zero term algebra, 8 mins ago, by Secret
Theorem 8b: Decomposition theorem for finite associative division by zero algebras with commuting zero terms: Given a finite associative division by zero algebra $S$ with commuting zero terms, it is always possible to express them as a direct product of a semiring $R$ of the form where the multlplicative structure contains a cyclic subgroup of order $3 < x \leq n$ and some other ringnoids $X$. In symbols:$$S = R \times X$$
in Zero term algebra, 8 mins ago, by Secret
Theorem 6c: Division by zero no-go theorem (Commutativity) Associative division by zero with commuting zero terms are not interesting
 
0
Q: Best of PSE 2016?

Quantum spaghettificationI noticed that ' Programming Puzzles & Code Golf' have a best of 2016 meta competition kind of thing (see here for the post). Should we do the same? If not why not?

 
vzn
↑ explainable via QM or a "new sub-QM" effect?
 
 
1 hour later…
6:42 PM
hmm, quiet today
 
Happy new year!
 
@SwapnilDas, happy new year to you too! Not quite there yet though...still have 12 hours to go.
 
Ooh. Its 12:13 AM here.
And, crackers..
 
crackers?
 
Crackers blasting in the air. And yeah! I got my integral right!
 
6:50 PM
oh, that kind of cracker...i was thinking of the food.
=P
very different.
 
Lol. I guessed.
 
7:44 PM
I think this "best-of" thingy is a good idea.
 
i agree
 
I think it could be really fun.
At first I didn't think so, but with specific categories I think it would work.
 
right. i think a meta post (if there is enough agreement) would decide upon the best categories.
 
Meh, might as well just make the meta post and see if there's interest.
No?
 
i would suggest, for example, "best use of a diagram", "best layman's explanation", "best mathematical explanation", "best simple question", "not obvious (complex question)", "most in-depth answer", "most clarifying comment" - stuff like that.
@DanielSank true.
 
7:52 PM
Alright, heather, let's get this party started.
Oh by the way, I've been meaning to ask you:
Do you prefer "heather" or "Heather"?
I realize that might seem like a ridiculous question, but it's been bugging me that when I address you without an @, I'm not sure which to use.
 
on here, probably heather. besides, it means people don't have to exert as much effort typing my name =)
 
Yes, I'm a crazy, obsessive scientist.
2
 
though honestly, whichever you prefer is fine.
 
@heather ok
 
@DanielSank no, it's not a ridiculous question at all; I have the same sorts of things that bug me =)
 
7:54 PM
Well you know what they say, "Great minds think alike".
LOL
 
::shakes head:: lol
alright. so. best question time.
do you want me to type up the post, you, someone's imaginary friend...?
;)
ack, there's no way to make a winking equals sign.
this is a terrible tragedy =P
 
@heather imaginary what?
I'm confused.
 
@DanielSank, imaginary friend - i was joking.
like, an invisible person you pretend is real because why not.
and you make them your "friend".
kinda like calvin makes hobbes his best friend.
 
ok....
o_O
Anyway, I am typing up meta post.
Please post categories in a minute when it's up.
 
sorry, perhaps a poorly placed joke.
@DanielSank will do.
i'm sure others will suggest some.
 
8:08 PM
Am I missing something here, or is it really this obvious?
0
A: Is there an electron capture occurring in beta plus decay?

John RennieSuppose we do a simple mass balance on the reactions for beta plus decay and electron capture. We'll ignore the kinetic energy of the reaction products to get the minimum energy required. The neutron is heavier than the proton by $1.293$ MeV, so for beta plus decay the reaction is: $$ p + 1.804...

 
Particle physics!
::turns brain off::
::and hides::
Heheheh, actually:
::shoots cloud of ink and jets away to safety::
2
 
:-)
 
I think this is going to be my theme for 2017: all my little chat narration thingies will respect that I am, in fact, an octopus.
 
A useful tactic for physicists :-)
 
^ LOLOL
Seriously though, I can review that if you can help me out.
What's $\nu_e$?
 
8:13 PM
@DanielSank electron neutrino
which is effectively massless, though it can carry off surprising amounts of energy as kinetic energy for a near massless particle.
For the purposes of this answer I'm assuming the KE of the reaction products is negligibly small so the extra energy I've calculated is the minimum extra energy required.
 
@heather here it is
@JohnRennie you too ^
@JohnRennie ok, lemme think...
I got another hat!
JR, looks right to me, but I'm not used to this stuff.
 
8:29 PM
Hi @DanielSank thanks for putting your meta post together!!
 
No problem. This is going to be fun and I'm excited about the opportunity to recognize good contributions, particularly from newer users.
 
@DanielSank Thanks :-). The argument is so straightforward it's hard to see how it's wrong. I guess it's more a matter of whether this is a correct interpretation of the question.
 
Ooooooh, @heather I like that "Best Question" one.
 
::takes a bow::
thank you
@DanielSank i like the rookie one
seems like a good idea
 
When I am here I may as well thank the three of you (heather DaielSank and John Rennie) for taking the time to answer my often odd and poorly worded questions throughout the year :). THANKS
 
8:34 PM
@heather Yeah, I want to really gear this toward rookies, if possible.
 
@DanielSank why so?
 
@Quantumspaghettification Have I ever answered your question?
@heather because we have a bit of an issue with driving n00bs off by being curt.
Actually, I should say I think this has gotten much, much better in the last few months.
 
Can we do a "Best Englishman" category (ahem, John Rennie = winner)?
 
@heather You can post it. I might down vote that though.
;P
 
@DanielSank it would mainly be a joking category, but i think i will just for kicks =P
 
8:37 PM
@heather most stereotypically English Englishman perhaps :-)
 
@JohnRennie =) sure
 
O
M
G
@heather you've only been here for six months!?!?
wtf
 
@DanielSank You have certainly edited and commented on a fair few :)
 
@Quantumspaghettification Ah, yes. I do lots of edits.
 
0
A: Best-of PSE 2016: description and categories

heatherBest Most Stereotypically English Englishman Ahem, John Rennie, I'm looking at you. (Seriously, 209,107 rep? Stop embarassing us, please! =)

@DanielSank yeah...I thought you were aware of that for some reason.
also, why is that wtf/omg/other exclamatory phrase here?
 
8:41 PM
@heather You are rather strongly integrated into the community in a short time.
 
i don't know how to respond except to say thank you @DanielSank
 
I feel like you're part of the furniture around here.
Like ACM or JR, etc.
 
lol, "furniture"
 
what kind of furniture is heather
 
great description though
can i be, like, a bookshelf or something?
no, that should only be for people who answer lots of questions
that's like JR
 
8:44 PM
oh god
 
and then ACM is like a computer/desk, because he's an AI
 
I think @heather is a coffee table. Not sure why I think that.
 
@mochacat what?
 
2
Q: Best-of PSE 2016: description and categories

DanielSankAs suggested in another meta post, let's do a Physics Stack Exchange "best of 2016". There's a nice precedent for this in the Puzzles and Code Golf site. Objective We will vote for the best posts of 2016 and rewarded them with bounties and challenges. In this way, we reward and draw attention t...

 
@DanielSank coffee table, sweet =P
 
8:45 PM
or maybe a toaster. I know that's an appliance but same idea...
 
everytime i hear jr my ego atrophies and dies
instantly
 
@mochacat, mine melts into a puddle and evaporates
 
LOL but it will circulate
your ego will rain from above
 
evaporates and then somehow ends up in the vacuum of space, frozen and dejected.
 
Good grief, you guys.
We might as well hook up a hot air blower into @JohnRennie's ears at this rate.
 
8:47 PM
@DanielSank, okay, let's have some fun: what's John Duffield, as furniture?
@DanielSank well, really, all should bow to <strike>the Empire</strike> @JohnRennie
 
a potted plant
 
A really loud record player that has an obsolete form factor and accepts only ancient, oddly shaped records.
 
because he's so round y'know
 
@DanielSank lol
 
and when you try to fix it, it actively fights back.
 
8:48 PM
with an Einstein decal on the front
 
I'd go on but I think we're in danger of violating the "be nice" policy, so I'll quit.
 
I think @DanielSank should be the lab table (that's a standard piece of furniture in households, isn't it? =P)
 
Intriguing. Why am I the lab table?
 
well, you work in a lab
 
^ truth
 
8:50 PM
and also it just seems to fit
it represents intelligence but also practicality
(in my mind, anyway)
 
:D Thanks!
 
@DanielSank it also hasn't seen rogue one yet. have you seen rogue one yet?
 
I know why I see you as the coffee table. It's because the coffee table is in the center, and everyone wants to put something on it, just like we all want to help you learn.
Your enthusiasm and young age are unusual and make people want to help you.
 
deep
mariana trench
 
@mochacat Yeah I saw it.
 
8:51 PM
what's your rating out of 10?? i'm considering going to the late party
 
@DanielSank thank you.
@mochacat 10000000000000000000000000000
okay, okay, maybe not that high
 
LOL
 
but it was pretty great
maybe more like 100000
 
@mochacat I'd say: definitely go see it. If nothing else, it didn't suck, which is excellent for a Star Wars movie in the last few years cough.
In fact, I thought it was rather good.
 
@DanielSank ::The Force Awakens winces::
 
8:52 PM
hahaha
 
I'm very critical of movies but I enjoyed it and would see it again.
 
seriously, though, TFA wasn't bad.
 
^ People have very different opinions on that, of course.
 
i mean, it was uber-repetitive, but not bad. plus BB-8!
 
i'm not a big star wars follower but yea i loved bb-8
 
8:53 PM
Any one else here has this Darth Vader hat
 
I thought the acting in TFA was rather good. I liked the characters. I really think John Boyega and Daisy Ridley did their characters very well.
 
and I liked Finn. It was also rather quotable ("That's not how the force works!")
 
But, the plot was SO BAD.
 
@DanielSank, yes, the plot was terrible.
 
@WiCK3DPOiSON wow that fits perfectly
 
8:54 PM
@heather I have a hard time liking a movie with a crap plot.
 
it did introduce some nice mysteries
 
@WiCK3DPOiSON Shall we all wear our Vader hats?
 
@DanielSank yes, Vader sounds good, one moment
 
Just asking
 
yea one sec
 
8:55 PM
I can't help it, I think TFA's plot sucked.
 
hmm, it's on, should load in chat momentarily
 
Come on, Death Star #3?
Really?
 
that was a bit much, yes.
but, characters!
quotable-ness!
 
yes, the characters were ok.
 
it wasn't the best, but it got things rolling again.
 
8:56 PM
Kylo was awful though, IMHO.
 
okay, yeah, Kylo was terrible.
he needed to look creepier.
 
@heather Indeed it did, but frankly, if that's the best it can claim, it's not a great movie.
He was emo! I don't want emo villians!
 
what does "emo" mean?
 
Like... emotional angsty teenager.
 
my favourite movie is still ratatouille
nothing will ever change that
 
8:57 PM
That was an excellent movie.
 
not even a bee movie 2
 
I've rewatched it several times.
 
ratatouille was good.
bee movie?
 
yea
 
what...
a movie.
 
8:58 PM
The whole thing about Luke being missing and they needed the map made no sense at all.
 
about bees?
 
Why did R2D2 wait around the entire movie before showing them the map?
 
yep
 
@DanielSank yeah, that was a bit...
meh.
 
yea that was definitely really stupid
 
8:58 PM
@mochacat, nice hat placement
 
thanks. it doesn't fit very well
 
@DanielSank, very styling octopus
 
Yeah, Vader's helmet certainly wasn't designed for cephalopods :|
 
nope
 
Doing what I can with what I have.
 
8:59 PM
not really designed for smoke clouds/rockets either.
 
LOL
 
it works perfectly for dogs
 
IMHO, the really big problem with TFA was that the hero just... wins.
 

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