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12:30 AM
@0celouvskyopoulo7 So I have read up to page 16. I don't think I have seen integrals cast this way up in physics text yet. So I take it this is the right way to look at integrals in the language of measure theory and characteristic functions
@0celouvskyopoulo7 Quite interesting I did not know there is this much to just an integral lol
 
12:45 AM
@Cows It is not, actually.
Their approach is...unique.
Most people think about integrals in terms of Theorem 1.18.
That is, a limit of simple functions.
 
My friend with insomnia sent me this:
> you ever wonder if mirrors can hear us, but can't respond? i mean, if you stand in front of a mirror, your reflection will have ears. what good are ears if not to hear things?
At 4:30am
 
@Slereah you still here?
 
maybe
 
Ok, so we have $K=fg+\phi\otimes \phi$, in theory
So we raise an index and have $K=fI+\phi\otimes \phi^\sharp$
Now...what about we pick a basis in which $K$ is diagonal.
 
$\phi^\sharp$ still has the metric components in it, though
So is that really better
 
12:51 AM
The metric is known
So the question is, can we diagonalize $K$ in some frame in the whole chart?
That's an ACM question
 
I think there's always a transform to diagonalize a symmetric matrix, yes
 
...
how do tetrads work
 
$\langle e_\mu, e_\nu \rangle = g_{\mu\nu}$
 
yeah but how do you construct the tetrad
I want to diagonalize $K$ in the coordinate chart
 
take that equation, solve it
I don't know if there's an easy trick to solve it
Just do the usual matrix diagonalization tricks?
That works fine
you will just have functions instead of scalars
 
1:07 AM
Question: I notice on particle physics papers that the experiments usually have dozens of authors. Is it tough for an experimental physicist to stand out?
 
@dmckee @DavidZ ^
 
Well, do you know any famous experimental physicist?
especially in the field of HEP
 
Well, I am in contact with a distinguished chemist
She mentioned that it's very hard to be a lead author for a physics experiment
 
@Slereah I got an answer
Also I continued to work on it just now and we both concluded it's not true as stated.
 
@AlfredCentauri Long time no see :)
 
1:15 AM
What about this
Take two vectors $(K_{11} - f g_{11}, 0)$ and $(0,K_{22} - f g_{22})$
And you pick the factor $f$ such that $f g_{12} = K_{12}$
Would that not work
Wait no, wrong product
nvm
I am tired
"On quantum and parallel transport in a Hilbert bundle over spacetime"
What would be the connection of the Hilbert bundle anyway, the propagator?
 
1:31 AM
9
A: Standing out in the era of big science

dmckeePrimarily by succeeding in the informal respect economy that operates in these fields. He or she needs to impress the people they collaborate with (especially those who work with them daily or weekly) by some set of Playing an active part in a large number of useful side projects and analyses....

Short answer: yes and it only gets worse as the collaboration gets bigger.
 
that's why you should work in theory
all the cool kids do it
"Radiations produced by neutrino-antineutrino annihilation at the $Z^0$ pole can be used to heat up the primary stage of a thermonuclear warhead and can in principle detonate the device remotely. Neutrino-antineutrino annihilation can also be used as a tactical assault weapon to target hideouts that are unreachable by conventional means."
Good paper
 
@SirCumference It's been an 'interesting' few months. All good here?
 
@AlfredCentauri Yup. How bout you?
Oye, anyone like JS?
Or at least can help me with something?
 
@SirCumference Getting old is bit of b**ch but otherwise, no complaints.
 
@AlfredCentauri Huh? Your health ok?
 
1:45 AM
"THE 192 SOLUTIONS OF THE HEUN EQUATION"
a fun paper
 
hello, anyone online?
and knows about light
 
@alan2here I can try and help you
 
Could a physical fresnel lens overlay be used to allow several gamers located horizontally across a room to have independent, if lower resolution, full screen views on one monitor?
Thanks majesty :)
 
I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you asking if a split-screen could be made into four separate full-screens so four-player games on a single screen can be played on four separate screens ?
 
yes
a fresnell lense placed/clipped over the top of one monitor
and colums of pixels being displayed apropreatly by the game to devide up the horizontal viewing angle
 
2:01 AM
Well, theoretically yes. You could position four high quality fresnel lenses onto a screen to enlarge the split screen into four "full-screens" but how you'd get the enlarged screen to be somewhere else could need a bit of clever finagling.
 
such that, for example quarters of a typical room would see 4 different images
I think one lense would be enough
 
You mean one fresnel lens to make the whole split screen big and then shine that bigger split screen onto four different areas ?
 
I've seen freznell lenses attached to cardboard that can be tilted to animate an image
this works because the lense alows various images broken up on one image to be directed in different directions.
I've also seen a 3D monitor not requiring any 3D glasses that works in the same way that used a frezness lens
 
Hmm, gimme a second
Let me confirm; you want a single four-way split screen to project in a wide-angle like way such that the four split screens are enlarged into full screens respectively ?
 
I think each pixel on the image behind the lens is broken into an n by n grid of points, each being directed in a dofferent X by Y direction. So the screen is mapped from X, Y, Color to X, Y, Direction_x, Direction_y, Colour. Some X and Y resolution is lost but in return a 2D array of light direction is gained for what becomes equiverlant to each pixel.
 
2:09 AM
Yes, you could "relocate" each pixel to a new place. What you suggest I say is possible but you'd lose "resolution", which is just saying that the image quality is going to drop.
 
in effect yes, it must be possible or those freznell lense animated card things wouldn't work
the reason why I don't think that the drop in resolution would be a big deal is because it's increased so dramatically over the last few years
If it drops from 4k to 1k for 4 players, it's still 1k in X and 4k in Y, which is good enough, certainly an improvement on each player loosing 3/4 of the screen.
 
There are definitely high-quality fresnel lenses out there that can make a split screen big enough that it's full screen for a player but the math is nowhere as simple as 4k to 1k. You have light loss and reflection and rainbow lines (which are common with fresnel lenses), you have dimmer screens and fuzzy edges, etc.
but you'd be right if you meant that if the fresnel lens is of a good quality and the source video is also of high quality, the enlarged screens would be clear
 
:) It's good to know and a shame that more quality is likely to be lost than I calculated.
 
If you're willing to spend more time and effort, I think you'd have a better bet for quality if you tried some kind of emulator or something that takes the software of the game and spits it out onto four actual screens.
You have so many experts on the SE networks that I highly doubt you wouldn't find anyone capable of helping you.
 
It's just an idea :) One of those things that it's crazy that nobody is doing, like retinal painting.
 
2:21 AM
Sounds like a retro-gaming kind of idea, or a retro computer revisit-ish thing to do. I've always thought physical device solutions to things that could also be solved by software were mad cool, like building a battery-powered button presser as opposed to installing an auto-clicker.
 
lol
4 way splitscreen is not great in purely software on a nirmal screen unless said screen is enormous
 
I mean you could take the information output of that fourway split screen and somehow feed it into something that separates it into four cables that you then plug into four monitors. I'm fairly confident this could be done.
 
and you might quite like the android/IOS property that a sausage also has the appropriate properties to successfully tap the screen, as well as a finger, good for a robot to do so
thats true, much less accessible though and much more expensive, users have to buy 3 new monitors as opposed to one lens thats like a plastic sheet, although and possibly change the software too
 
Harder to do, definitely.
 
2:37 AM
@SirCumference no health problems that I know of other than the usual for an old fart like me. Thanks for asking.
 
3:17 AM
@dmckee This stresses me out, and I'm just a first-year PhD student!
 
@GPhys What uni?
 
@GPhys Everyone starts there. Build up to it. Start building specific skills; perhaps leveraging things you already know or by getting help from colleagues and mentors. Always be on the look out for chances to take a leading role—even if it is just being the one grad student out of three who knows where the cables you are pulling need to be routed. Start thinking about the big picture as soon as you start on a new experiment; ask why things were done this way and not that way.
Find out what the big goal is: not just what are we measuring with this project, but also why do we care enough right now about learning it to spend all this money? Where does it lead?
 
3:38 AM
@Slereah were you saying something about the use of chinese in math?
what does that... even say
ok nvm
so confused
 
4:38 AM
@JoshuaLin Why would you read that
it's just algebra, not even math anymore
 
4:56 AM
@0celouvskyopoulo7 why not?
whats the difference between algebra and math?
 
@0celouvskyopoulo7 algebra isn't math?
 
i was thinking useless thoughts one day and realised that all definitions of math either fall short on capturing what math is; or "dilate" it so much that everything becomes math

i guess thats true of defining anything though
 
5:43 AM
@JoshuaLin one is useful, the other is algebra
 
useful... to like physicists or something?
 
Engineers
 
hate to be the devil but why care about what's useful to engineers
 
user228700
6:04 AM
Morning! :-)
 
Morning
A holiday morning, since it's a bank holiday here in the UK
 
user228700
Ah, yes, I remember!
 
Though I'm working. But then, that's what I do :-)
 
user228700
:-) You work everyday!
 
It's that or lie in bed wishing I had something to do :-)
 
user228700
6:07 AM
Right :-)
 
user228700
...contemplating which animal to eat for lunch :-P
 
It's funny, normally I plan my weekend meals and look forward to them but with an extra day of the weekend, as it were, I find myself uncertain what to do about lunch.
I don't have any immediate plans. I'll probably just wander round the shops and see if anything catches my eye.
 
user228700
@JohnRennie Hmm, nice :-)
 
I have to admit that I don't feel terribly hungry having eaten myself to a standstill yesterday.
 
user228700
x'D "Eaten myself to a standstill" is my new favorite phrase!
 
6:11 AM
My favourite quote is from Miss Piggy (of the Muppets fame):
Never eat more than you can lift
 
user228700
x'D That's great advice!
 
I've been training at lifting heavy weights :-)
 
user228700
Good man :-P
 
How are things back in Chennai? Much the same as they were before I guess ...
Oh, while I remember ...
 
user228700
@JohnRennie The same, yes. I went out to the doctor via train by myself so that was nice! (I greatly enjoy riding the trains here)
 
6:15 AM
Your laptop has bluetooth built in, but I've never tried connecting bluetooth headphones.
 
user228700
@JohnRennie Right, I know. I will look for a pair of headphones able to connect to laptops. I'll figure it out after this mess is cleared...
 
I don't know that much about the different kinds of bluetooth kit, but I believe there have been two revisions of the bluetooth standard since your laptop was made.
 
user228700
Ooh, I see...
 
user228700
I'll figure it out after my exam!
 
Before you spend a lot of money it might be worth checking to make sure they will work.
 
user228700
6:16 AM
Right, right.
 
But yes, add this to the (long) list of things to do on that mythical day when all the exams have finished :-)
 
user228700
Done! :-)
 
I do know you can can get USB headphone adaptors i.e. plug one end into a USB socket and your headphones in the other end, because a friend uses one.
This sort of thing:
 
user228700
Ah, OK...
 
user228700
6:23 AM
Oh, wow, thanks! I will be sure to check it out :-)
 
user228700
Ooh, it's not costly at all!
 
That isn't a recommendation - it was just the cheapest I found after a quick look on amazon.in. But it has four good reviews ...
 
user228700
Wokay. I will do some more research later, then :-)
 
user228700
Ooh, my sisters are on the phone!
 
7:47 AM
I am in lack of a complete quantum mechanics textbook.
I don't like Griffth. (and my prof said Griffith got sth wrong in his QM book)
 
there are no complete textbooks
 
any covers all the basic stuffs? (at least undergrad + advanced undergrad)
I am thinking of Townsend's A Modern Approach to QM.
 
depends what you mean by "the basic stuff"
Landau is fine, though it never once mentions Hilbert spaces
 
8:39 AM
@Shing try Ballentine's "A modern introduction to QM"
or "QM - a modern development"
I'm not sure about the exact title anymore
 
9:12 AM
 
9:32 AM
hellooo
Light is emitted when an electron jumps from one level to another. Right?
What happens in plasma?
 
@MYGz Not necessarily light, but yes
in plasma the light is emitted either via electron transitions or just Brehmstrallung radiation
 
hmm. let me check Brehmstrallung.
From a simplistic perspective I thought that photons bounce of objects and we see the object. Can we bounce off photon from an electron to see an electron? Does this even makes sense? :P
 
@MYGz a plasma radiates mostly by black body radiation. The radiation originates from acceleration of electrons so I guess it is Brehmstrallung although I'm not sure we'd normally call it that in a plasma.
@MYGz photons will scatter from electrons in a process called Compton scattering, but this isn't really electrons reflecting light in the way light reflects off e.g. a mirror.
In general a plasma will radiate more light than it reflects so we would be seeing the plasma by it's own glow.
 
hmm
 
In principle plasmas will have some reflectivity, but they aren't (normally) dense enough to reflect much.
 
9:49 AM
Thank you Slereah and John. Gave me a better understanding of plasma.
Quantum physics is hard to grasp. I was wondering if it's possible to see an electron.
 
well it depends what you mean by "seeing"
 
Like we see bigger objects for example chair.
 
1
Q: Why can't we see electrons with our naked eyes?

HiggsWhy can we not see electrons or any other subatomic particle with our naked eye, without using any apparatus?

Not a great answer though ...
Reflection, in the sense that mirrors reflect, is a collective phenomenon i.e. it requires coherent scattering from many electrons over distances large compared to the wavelength of the light.
If you have a single electron it will scatter light but the scattering is essentially isotropic i.e. the electron acts as a point source for the scattered light.
So if you focussed that light onto a screen you'd just get a featureless point. I guess this is sort of seeing the electron.
 
8
Q: Advice on doing physics under the umbrella of mathematics and the converse

user4235In the current scenario of research in QFT and string theory (and related mathematical topics), which of the following would an undergraduate student, like me, be advised to do and why if s/he is interested in both the foundations and pushing the frontiers of these subjects and doesn't differenti...

Primarily opinion-based?
 
Makes sense.
Thanks for the info John.
 
10:10 AM
@Shing What you're looking for is definitely Shankar's Principles of Quantum Mechanics.
 
10:59 AM
DAE use the stackexchange question writing box as a tool to Format things to make going back over and checking easier? if so, nice, if not, is there a better thing for it?
 
11:25 AM
Oh, that's a weird experience, just read through some of my questions I asked before, and I guess I had some answers from people in the chat before I encountered them. Spooky
 
11:52 AM
@Slereah What property exactly?
 
Hello @JohnRennie
 
@Phase "DAE"?
 
Oops
It was supposed to be @0celouvskyopoulo7
Not you
 
Does anyone else
 
12:09 PM
@Phase I see. There's StackEdit if you want to type SE-style markdown with a preview somewhere other than the question/answer box
 
Ah nice
 
Jim
12:21 PM
why do I always get the fringe physicists commenting on my stuff?
2
 
@Jim Please don't call other users crackpots, regardless of how much you think they deserve it. Also, remember your own advice ;)
 
Jim
@ACuriousMind well, I can't argue with me. Kudos for playing the perfect strategy
wanna delete my comment?
 
Morning
 
Jim
@ACuriousMind that works too
 
@AlbertEinstein We used to have your biggest fan here
 
12:29 PM
@Jim I've edited it - if you don't like me putting words into your mouth I could also delete it, though
 
@ACuriousMind Is a chess master
But he didn't get me any birthday gifts
 
I'm pretty bad at chess, actually :P
 
@ACuriousMind So you're as good in chess as you are in getting me a birthday gift
 
Jim
Jim's tip #106: Sometimes the only way to win a fight is to deny your opponent the conflict. Telling a fringe physicist or a "new Einstein" every reason why they're wrong feels like a good idea, but remember that they're already a bit gone. If you want to hang on to your sanity, try giving them a logical reason why you shouldn't have the argument and they should accept what you say but without telling them they are right or wrong
 
You are very wrong and I'll tell you why
 
Jim
12:33 PM
@AccidentalFourierTransform That means you don't think I'm fringe or a "new Einstein". Yay! This has been a good day!
 
I don't think you're the next Einstein either, @Jim :P
 
Jim
@ACuriousMind if I'm not the next or the new, am I at least the "previous Einstein"?
 
You can be zombie Einstein, yes
 
Jim
Still a good day
 
12:36 PM
I don't think I could invent a fridge
 
Jim
@Slereah if it has to be a practical fridge, neither could Einstein
 
but he could boil eggs in his soup, so that's something
 
Don't you think it's slightly odd that Einstein and Gödel knew each other, Einstein invented an ammonia-based fridge and Gödel was scared that his fridge was poisoning him
 
@ACuriousMind, you're a chess enthusiast ?
 
I'm not saying Einstein was trying to murder Gödel
But that is odd
 
12:38 PM
@HsMjstyMstdn not at all
 
I haven't played chess in...eight years, I think
 
Jebaited by chat again
 
@Slereah You may be on to something there
 
Jim
12:40 PM
@Slereah I AM saying Einstein was trying to murder Gödel
::Clears throat:: Einstein was trying to murder Gödel
 
"But Gödel was not promoted to professor until 1953 — the same year he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences — in part because his expressed fear that poison gases were escaping from his refrigerator aroused continuing concern about his mental stability."
 
he wanted to take the case to court, but he knew he wouldn't be able to prove it anyway
 
I think Gödel was right all along
 
Jim
didn't einstein die in 55? 2 years after Gödel became a professor. Clearly, Gödel figured out what Einstein was trying to do and killed him first
 
how did Tesla die
I want to blame Einstein too
blood clot, apparently
"In a box purported to contain a part of Tesla's "death ray", Trump found a 45-year-old multidecade resistance box"
 
12:44 PM
@Jim imo worse than 'new einsteins' are the people who just take pop-sci and analogies at face value. I had someone who derided me for talking about electrons and atoms not behaving like planets, and that they don't 'exist' in well defined locations with well defined momentum, quantum behaviour bla bla bla and they instead posted pictures of the bohr model that's taught to high schoolers, and Quotes from neil degrasse tyson about the planet analogy.
They also somehow thought that electrons were a type of light
 
Adults reading pop science is quite possibly the worst thing
 
Jim
@Phase was their name gabor fekete?
 
Nope, is that a joke / reference?
 
Jim
@Slereah no, adults taking pop-sci at face value instead of understanding that it is a simplification of more advanced things is the worst. Pop-sci is not inherently evil. It should be used as an introduction, though, not as a sole source of info
@Phase yes, but it takes a while to explain
type "gabor fekete" into google. A bit of research on him will illustrate it
 
@Jim if you give me the choice between eliminating Malaria or IFLScience... Well... Don't
 
Jim
12:48 PM
also worth knowing: I am one of the people on his enormous list
 
Oh jeez. Sounds ominous
 
Jim
@Phase I've never heard of IFLScience before now. At first glance, it looks like a big cluster-intercourse of click bait
 
Jesus christ
What the hell is wrong with this guy
 
Jim
@Phase he believes he deserves a nobel prize and that the only reason he hasn't gotten one is because of a conspiracy to prevent it
he has slowed down recently. I'd say I only get 2 or 3 emails from him a month, instead of the 10-20 I used to get
 
@Jim IFLScience usually only features "fun" science that is easily accessible to the general public. It also sometimes employs clickbaity titles to an entire article when what they really want to show could be summarised into a sentence or two.
 
12:52 PM
That's funny because it's like someone took all the crackpots about Tesla, redirected their adoration and crackpottery to themselves, and fused them into one human being
Also @Jim your answer that attracted the "new Einstein" or whatever, actually confuses me: shouldn't an account like his [all but one of the things he's posted have been downvoted, the only thing that hasn't is a short question, that then goes into crackpottery] be closed?
 
Jim
@Phase I love his emails. They're so deliciously transparent, awful, ineffectual, and persistent. If he put as much effort into actual physics that he put into convincing others he deserves the nobel prize, he'd probably have earned a nobel by now
 
SE is designed to help propagate useful information right?
Is Gabor an actual physicist?
 
Jim
@Phase we don't use capital punishment here. There's always the possibility for redemption. A poor user can become a good user some day, but not if we close their account (unless they are constantly being an abusive user)
@Phase No, if you can find his "papers", they're worth a read. Always brighten my day
 
Still... Shouldn't there at least be some privileges taken away? Like only being able to ask questions rather than post answers, or something idk
Do you have any links to any?
 
@Phase We do not delete accounts that are not violating SE policy. Deletion is mostly reserved for spammers and sockpuppets
 
12:58 PM
I guess a slew of downvotes will have to suffice then
 
@Phase Accounts that post low-quality answers and questions are hobbled by several automatic restrictions, and eventually barred from posting any content whatsoever if they do not improve
 
why do we need a new Einstein anyway
is there something wrong with the old one
He already discovered relativity, we don't need to discover it twice
 
Jim
@Phase nope. It's not good form to search out a user's posts and downvote them. Downvotes on posts that you come upon naturally are okay, but not actively seeking them out
 
@ACuriousMind Ah right ok
@Jim no no no I didnt mean that
@Jim I meant the amount of downvotes on a shitty answer will have to suffice as a warning of "this is nonsense"
but the automatic softbanning thing clarified it for me
 
Jim
cool
here's just one of Gabor's papers. It's his own site and probably tracks how far you read through it. Perhaps more. But I'm already on his list, so I don't care about going to it
 
1:06 PM
that loading bar sure is professional
inb4 malware
is it meant to take ages..?
 
Jim
you should abandon all line of reasoning when visiting the page. More things make sense that way
 
Hi, could anyone show me how to go from
$\partial _\alpha F^{\alpha \beta} = J^\beta$ to
$\partial ^alpha F_{\alpha \beta} = J_\beta$ easily using g metric?
$\partial ^{\alpha} F_{\alpha \beta} = J_{\beta}$ for second line!
 
hint: $A^\mu=B^\mu\,\Leftrightarrow\,A_\mu=B_\mu$
 
its still loading
 
$$\partial_\alpha F^{\alpha \beta } = \partial_\alpha \eta^{\alpha\gamma} F_\gamma^{ \beta } = \eta^{\alpha\gamma} \partial_\alpha F_\gamma^{ \beta }$$
Apply $\eta_{\beta\delta}$ on both sides
 
1:14 PM
Is there PhysicsOverflow x Phys.SE policy on cross-posting? I.e., posting the same question on both sites.
 
$$\eta^{\alpha\gamma} \partial_\alpha F_{\gamma \delta} = J_\delta$$
$$ \partial^\gamma F_{\gamma \delta} = J_\delta$$
And then call the indices as you wish
Basically you just play around with the metric tensor and the fact that it commutes with the derivative
 
@RobinEkman That's completely fine (given that they are free to import the physics.SE question anyway, it would be pointless to try to prohibit that)
 
Great
 
Yes I was trying, but I got stuck because I need 2 tensors to lower the indices on F, but I'm not sure on the rules to multiply across by 2 tensors
Thank you btw, I can see it clearer now
 
when you have to do tensor gymnastics like that, it is best to not give the indices the same name, by the way
To avoid variable collisions
Use $\partial_{\alpha} F^{\alpha \beta}$ and $\partial^\gamma F_{\gamma \delta}$
Same equation, but you don't have to worry about what to call your intermediary indices
 
1:34 PM
@Jim Wow. how much wasted time is in this single webpage
 
Jim
@Phase I think he has at least 2 or 3 other papers somewhere. Can't find them though
They'll be in the next email I get from him
 
i feel bad for this guy
Uhhhh
I go to press ctrl, to ctrl prt scrn and post the screenshot of something here
and I realise pressing ctr, alt etc will all make gifs appear on the paeg
*page
 
@Slereah are you teaching someone SR?
@ACuriousMind Could you please take a look at this please?
 
1:58 PM
@0celouvskyopoulo7 bit of an overstatement
 

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