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2:20 AM
If I'm grading N papers with N large; but I don't have a rubric yet and I want to grade everyone an average of B+ with one standard deviation as one letter grade or something - I recall that the 'best' way to do similar kinds of problems (efficientlyish) is to grade sqrt(N) papers with no rubric as a guideline, then use the sqrt(N) to calibrate my grading to get a guideline. What is this kind of principle called again?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_problem
wait this is what I was thinking about
maybe not so applicable to grading
 
vzn
2:51 AM
@MoreAnonymous cf Bringing balance to the universe: New theory could explain missing 95 percent of the cosmos phys.org/news/2018-12-universe-theory-percent-cosmos.html
 
0
Q: What are the different kinds of stability that apply to planar periodic orbits, and what do they mean?

uhohThis is a question about terminology related to orbit stability. I had wanted to ask about stability of orbits described in the paper Three Classes of Newtonian Three-Body Planar Periodic Orbits Milovan Šuvakov and V. Dmitrašinović Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 114301 https://arxiv.org/abs/1303.0181 h...

 
 
2 hours later…
4:49 AM
@JakeRose Research in what field?
That's what I meant
 
 
4 hours later…
9:01 AM
morning
 
9:45 AM
You know I think the worst possible thing in GR was the introduction of the word "black hole"
A lot of confusion in GR seems to stem from people confusing the Schwarzschild, Kerr, Oppenheimer, Vaydia etc metrics together
 
10:07 AM
it's not really a good idea to regroup such different metrics so casually
 
@Slereah I think I remember watching some Neil DeGrasse Tyson video in which he uses "black hole" as an example for keeping terminology simple in physics compared to fields such as law
 
10:33 AM
why does vortex formation takes place in kitchen sink ?
 
10:44 AM
@AnshumanSinha vortices start because angular momentum is conserved.
 
11:10 AM
@JohnRennie then why is it not there during the start of the flow ? or is it always there ? could you share some relevant link
 
@AnshumanSinha in real flows there is always a non-zero angular momentum because it's impossible to get the flow completely radial. Since angular momentum is conserved the sideways velocity of the water increases as it approaches the drain, so even a tiny non-zero angular momentum causes a significant rotation near to the drain.
And once a vortex forms it drags on the water flowing in from the tap and the vortex self amplifies.
 
@JohnRennie flow radial or towards the z_axis ( i mean along the axis of the tube at the bottom of the sink ? why does it self amplifies? i.e why does it drags water ?
what will happen if I put an objext over the free surface of water in the kitchen sink; will it still form vortex ?
 
By radial flow I mean flow directly towards the centre of the drain
 
@JohnRennie what will happen if I put an objext over the free surface of water in the kitchen sink; will it still form vortex ?
 
@AnshumanSinha Do you mean something like a piece of wood floating on the water?
 
11:24 AM
yes
 
Generally speaking the vortex will still form. You could of course try the experiment for yourself. I assume you have a sink and something that floats to hand.
 
can you find me a proper paper where it's being discussed!
I've tried searching it myself
but the papers are more of related to natural vortex
 
Offhand I don't know of any such article. My guess is that anything that discusses vortex formation is likely to be quite technical.
 
like cyclones, where Coriolis force is a major force
could you explain why the vortex starts from the surface of the water in the sink, rather than starting from the bottom hole
@JohnRennie
 
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the vortex starts from the surface of the water. The vortex has one end at the surface and the other end in the drain. Is that what you meant?
 
11:33 AM
no the end is not at the bottom, but the top of the vortex is at the free surface
from 0:14 onwards
@JohnRennie
 
@AnshumanSinha you mean the way the surface dips downwards towards the drain as the vortex builds up?
 
@AnshumanSinha Remember that the vortex is forming in the water, but you can't see it because the water is clear.
As the vortex forms it lowers the pressure due to the Bernoulli effect. That pulls the surface downwards and that is what you are seeing.
 
11:48 AM
oh yeah ! you are right! Maybe if i use some kind of oil or color water, then I'll get the effect correct
 
@AnshumanSinha Typically we put mica flakes in the water so we can see the flow.
 
okay.
can you explain this formation more mathematically ? I mean with the help of vortex stretching and turbulence
@JohnRennie
 
As a general rule explaining any flows mathematically is hard. The flow is described by the Navier Stokes equations and they are fiendishly difficult to solve analytically except in the simplest cases. I doubt you'll find any simple explanation for vortex formation.
 
complex explanation would help me greatly! I'm in my 4th year of engineering
Navier stokes is an everyday event! I just wanted to get the staring points where I can build the mathematics by myself.
 
If you search the literature there must be loads of stuff on vortex formation because it is so fundamental. Fluid mechanics isn't my area so I can't help.
 
11:57 AM
okay
thanks
Your edit is asking for definitions, which your course material should provide. Usually such questions should be asked in chat. — GodotMisogi 2 days ago
@JohnRennie did you find an answer to this problem
-2
Q: Recurrence relation in thermal speeds

Anshuman SinhaProve the recurrence relation for averages of even powers of the thermal speend in an equillibrium gas https://imgur.com/a/igTPsJ2 Please refer the above picture for the relation. Is the thermal speed here means rms velocity of the gas ? What does m stands for ?

 
I think this is an interesting problem physics.stackexchange.com/questions/461480/…
 
@AnshumanSinha that's not something I know about. Sorry.
 
okay, thanks anyways
 
12:41 PM
hello?
is it correct to say:
I = Z Z* ?
where I is the intensity in optics
and Z is the complex wave?
 
12:59 PM
yo @ACuriousMind race you to the rep-cap
(sorry, I should stop. I just can't help it =P.)
 
hrllo?
*hello?
is what i said true?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor well, it isn't too wrong
 
well I tried googling the equation but I couldn't find any evidence that its true
 
for one "intensity" can mean a number of things
 
but in my home work, it gave the equation as such
I was wondering that this equation is applied to that specific problem or its a general case
 
1:05 PM
you probably mean irradiance
In radiometry, irradiance is the radiant flux (power) received by a surface per unit area. The SI unit of irradiance is the watt per square metre (W/m2). The CGS unit erg per square centimetre per second (erg·cm−2·s−1) is often used in astronomy. Irradiance is often called intensity because it has the same physical dimensions, but this term is avoided in radiometry where such usage leads to confusion with radiant intensity. Spectral irradiance is the irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength...
 
because I know the equation: I = |E part of EM wave|^2
 
but it's worth thinking carefully about what exactly you mean
i.e. whether it's a quantity that's over a unit solid angle illumination or not
 
I mean the definition of intensity is just Power over unit are aright?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor often, yes. But there's a number of radiometric quantities and you need to be careful in distinguishing them (so see in particular this table).
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor and, separately, saying "Z is the complex wave" is a very squishy statement and it could mean a number of different things
 
I thing in the question it said "complex space amplitude" of which I don't really know the meaning of
I just assumed that its just an amplitude of the wave
or at least the real part is the amplitude of the wave
 
1:08 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor so you're asking us to confirm a quote and you cannot recall the specific wording of the quote?
that doesn't tend to go very well
 
I mean that isn't so important though right?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor whether it's right or wrong?
 
because I want to know if its a general statement or a specific statement
 
I dunno, that's up to you
 
Question 2: Fabry-P´erot etalon interferometer
 
1:10 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor as a general statement, it is indeed true that there exist relevant intensity measures I in optics, and relevant complex-valued phasor quantities Z that describe the wave amplitude, such that I=ZZ*
as a specific statement, it is almost certainly incorrect
i.e. it is almost certainly missing a constant or geometrical factor of some sort
 
A Fabry-P´erot etalon interferometer has a transmitted spatial complex amplitude of
Z =
aT
1−Re−iδ .
 
but saying what that factor is depends on the details of what each symbol is taken to mean
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor that is unreadable.
 
Use MathJax for rendering
 
but thats basically a fraction
 
1:11 PM
instructions are here meta.stackexchange.com/a/220976
 
$Z = \frac{aT }{1−Re−iδ }$
...
I don't know why its not working but you get the idea right
Show that the intensity is given by
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor it's working on my system. You need to enable ChatJax to get it to work. Link in my previous comment.
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor ... where $a$, $T$, $Re$ and $\delta$ are, respectively...
 
$I = ZZ^* = \frac{(\frac{(aT)^2}{(1-R)^2})}{1 + F sin^{2}2(δ/2) }$
right?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor OK.
What about it?
 
so as I said the question is basically irreverent to what I want to know
but is $I = ZZ^*$ true in general case in optics?
 
1:17 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor it's irrelevant to the question you've been given
 
or is it just true for the Fabry-P´erot etalon interferomete
 
the question is defining $I = ZZ^*$
and asking you to perform further manipulations on it
 
but don't I need to explain why $I = ZZ^*$ if its specific to the problem?
 
It doesn't mean that the $I$ that they've defined corresponds explicitly to an energy flux per unit area or any other specific measure of energy flux
 
because I really don't know why $I = ZZ^*$ can be true I can see why $I = |Re[Z]|$ can be true
 
1:20 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor I don't think so. If you're in doubt you should check with your instructor, but the question as written is just asking you to perform specific manipulations on $ZZ^*$.
 
but he says "Show that the intensity is given by" meaning I is intensity right?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor why would $I = |Re[Z]|$ be true? That one is certainly wrong.
 
because in lecture he defined intensity of light as the square of the E part of EM wave
which is generally true so,
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor I can't speak to what the person asking the question meant by it or what they are looking for. I can provide the standard reading on the question. If you're in doubt about whether it applies, the only person who can settle that is your instructor.
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor so why do you think that $I = |Re[Z]|$, which doesn't have the square, work at all?
 
well Im not interested in how to solve the question
oh sorry I meant $I = |Re[Z]|^2$
 
1:22 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor In that case, for one, you can drop the absolute value - it's made moot by the square
but more importantly, what happens if $Z$ is pure imaginary?
 
then intensity is zero
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor why so?
what does it mean for $Z$ to be purely imaginary?
 
can I have a second
 
... and more importantly, what does $Z$ mean in the first place?
 
here I was looking at this
9
Q: Complex numbers in optics

IsaacI have recently studied optics. But I feel having missed something important: how can amplitudes of light waves be complex numbers?

 
1:24 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor There's no $Z$ in there, if you want to link there you need to be more specific.
 
The answer says that there is no imaginary part to a wave, its just convenient for doing some of the math
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor which answer?
 
the one with most upvote
Im guessing its convenient when you want to do reflection by mirror by multiplying z by i and stuff
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor That doesn't mean that $\mathrm{Im}(Z)$ can be disregarded at will
Basically, this is how you do it
when you say
> $Z$ is the complex amplitude of the wave
what you mean is
(something of the form)
> The electric field of the wave, as a function of time, is given by $E(t) = \mathrm{Re}\left[ E_0 Z e^{-i\omega t} \right]$
where $E_0$ is some pre-defined constant
the intensity that corresponds to that has the form
$$I = k \left< E(t)^2 \right>$$
 
can I have a second to turn on my mathjax plugin
 
1:28 PM
where the angled brackets denote time-averaging over one period, and $k$ is some constant whose value and physical dimensions depend on the details of what you're doing
when you do that, you get the following
$$I = k \left< E(t)^2 \right> = \frac{k}{T} \int_0^T E(t)^2 \mathrm dt$$
for $T=2\pi/\omega$ the period of the wave
with $$E(t) = \frac{E_0}{2}\left( Z e^{-i\omega t} + Z^* e^{+ i \omega t} \right)$$
so therefore
$$I = \frac{k}{T} \int_0^T E(t)^2 \mathrm dt= \frac{k}{T}\frac{E_0^2}{4} \int_0^T \left( Z e^{-i\omega t} + Z^* e^{+ i \omega t} \right) \left( Z e^{-i\omega t} + Z^* e^{+ i \omega t} \right)\mathrm dt$$
 
ok
sorry
mathjax is working now
 
$$I =\frac{k}{T}\frac{E_0^2}{4} \int_0^T \left[ Z^2 e^{-2i\omega t} + ZZ^* + Z^*Z + (Z^*)^2 e^{+2i\omega t}\right] \mathrm dt$$
here the time-dependent terms integrate to zero
and you're just left with the time-constant terms
$$I = k \frac{E_0^2}{2}ZZ^*$$
so, some constants in front
as I said before
but basically $I= ZZ^*$
so
why was your initial guess of $I = |\mathrm{Re}(Z)|^2$ wrong?
well, if you look at the electric field
$$E(t) = \mathrm{Re}\left[ E_0 Z e^{-i\omega t} \right]$$
having a purely-imaginary $Z$ just implies a time delay
 
Im reading from top right now
 
i.e. a $\sin(\omega t)$ time dependence instead of $\cos(\omega t)$ for real $Z$
that cannot change the intensity.
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor QED.
 
give me a min to read through top Im sorry
Ive got some questions already though
if $E(t) = \mathrm{Re}\left[ E_0 Z e^{-i\omega t} \right]$, then why can we say
$$I = k \left< E(t)^2 \right>$$ and not
$$I = k \left< Re(E(t))^2 \right>$$?
 
1:38 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor the second expression is superfluous
if you take the real part of a real number then you get the real number
why do you think the second one is needed?
 
but first term is oh....
so <sin^2(x)>= <cos^2(x)>
woops
sorry what I meant is
<sin^2(x)> = <sin(x)cos(x)>
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor what?
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor try this for further background
15
Q: What is the physical significance of the imaginary part when plane waves are represented as $e^{i(kx-\omega t)}$?

FedUserI've read that plane wave equations can be represented in various forms, like sine or cosine curves, etc. What is the part of the imaginary unit $i$ when plane waves are represented in the form $$f(x) = Ae^{i (kx - \omega t)},$$ using complex exponentials?

 
ok thanks but why would you say they are superfluous?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor (this is dead wrong, by the way. $\langle \sin^2(x) \rangle = 1/2$, while $\langle \sin(x) \cos(x) \rangle = 0$.)
2 mins ago, by Emilio Pisanty
if you take the real part of a real number then you get the real number
$E(t)$ is explicitly real
saying $\mathrm{Re}(E(t))$ doesn't do anything.
You just get $\mathrm{Re}(E(t)) = E(t)$.
 
Sorry I meant
<RMS[sin^2(x)]>= <RMS[sin(x)cos(x)]>
where RMS is taking the root mean square
 
1:43 PM
why is that relevant here?
I mean, it's also wrong (it's off by a factor of four), but that's beside the point.
 
I skim read the link but he also says its doesn't really play a role
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor OK.
so.
How about you sit.
then you read carefully
instead of skimming
and then you come back and ask?
It's all in the text I wrote above.
I have very little to add, beyond "see above".
 
well do you have the time?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor To do what? To repeatedly go over material that you would get on your own if you sat down to read carefully?
I don't, I'm afraid.
 
well thanks
everything in our analysis is linear, so it will automatically work for sums? but isn't the trig linear as well?
 
1:52 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor everything is linear except for the quadratic parts
which are basically everything
so.... no.
> isn't the trig linear as well?
I have no idea what you mean there
 
what do you mean by linear here? linear is the same meaning of linear in linear algebra correct?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor yes, obviously.
 
so the operation that he says to be a linear operation is taking the square of it self?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor what are you talking about?
 
In my mind, the definition of linear is that the equally same contribution is made towards a variable by components of another variable no matter the magnitude
So he is saying, you can add two waves together by adding the complex representation, multiply by the result of the complex conjugate and then take the real part?
 
2:00 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor I have no idea what you're on about. I can't answer without knowing what context you're trying to work in, or how it relates to what you're saying, so I won't try.
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor who is "he", and where is he "saying" this?
unless you provide clear context, it's impossible to help you.
We cannot see what's going on inside your head.
 
the one who answered the question you gave me on stack exchange
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor ... you changed the topic, but you couldn't be bothered to say so?
which question, and which answer?
i.e. give an explicit link
 
well Im still trying to understand the answer to my question
but you gave me a link
15
Q: What is the physical significance of the imaginary part when plane waves are represented as $e^{i(kx-\omega t)}$?

FedUserI've read that plane wave equations can be represented in various forms, like sine or cosine curves, etc. What is the part of the imaginary unit $i$ when plane waves are represented in the form $$f(x) = Ae^{i (kx - \omega t)},$$ using complex exponentials?

that I should understand
 
and if this "he" is just me, then why are you talking about "he"?
 
in fact "he" is you
I didn't realize you wrote the answer
 
2:03 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor ...
.....
..............
 
but the context is your answer to the link you gave me
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor it took you more than one full page of chat transcript to provide context. This doesn't make it very easy for other people to help you.
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor This is discussing other people's use of the notation
it means that the notation works IF everything that follows is linear
if it doesn't, then the analysis does not work
in your case, the stuff that follows from the introduction is not linear
more specifically, it's quadratic
so it is not appropriate to replace the real-valued physical field $E(t)$ with a complex-valued stand-in
instead, you need to start from the top and perform a careful analysis of what does happen
there's a useful, recent reference for that careful analysis
in this chat transcript
starting here:
41 mins ago, by Emilio Pisanty
Basically, this is how you do it
 
so you are saying I can't use f(x)=Aei(kx−ωt) where amplitude = Re|f(x)| can't be used for finding the intensity because calculating intensity is not a linear method??
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor No, that's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying you can't use $f(x)=Ae^{i(kx−ωt)}$, where the amplitude is $f(x)$, for finding the intensity because calculating intensity is not a linear method
see the difference?
 
well I see the difference in the text, specifically the definition of amplitude
but I don't understand why would I think the amplitude of wave as a complex number?
 
2:14 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor well, some people do
you included
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor "Z is the complex wave"
 
so you wanted me to say Re(Z) is the wave?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor No.
The wave is $\mathrm{Re}(Ze^{-i\omega t})$ (or something of that form)
"the complex wave" is a term that's too vague to mean anything specific
it would be accurate to describe $Z$ as the complex amplitude of the wave, though.
"phasor amplitude of the wave" would also work.
 
sorry Im just doing a bit of calculation before I ask
I assumed $Z = e^{i\omega t}$ but I'm guessing I assumed wrong
what is Z?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor that's up to you to say.
You brought it up.
 
2:25 PM
You bring up a symbol, you need to define it.
that's why I kept asking that same question from the very beginning.
 
I just thought Z is usually used to denote complex number
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor All sorts of symbols are used for all sorts of purposes in all sorts of different contexts.
 
the only way in which a complex number can do anything to do with wave is $Z = e^{i\omega t}$
 
You still need to define them when you bring them up.
Particularly when prompted to do so.
 
he says Z is transmitted spatial complex amplitude
 
2:28 PM
... where "he" is ... ... ... ... ... ?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor so then it can't be time-dependent, can it?
 
why? mustn't it be time dependent?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor an amplitude?
where have you seen amplitude used to describe an oscillating quantity?
 
oh I see sorry
so its a standing wave
 
2:30 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor what?
no
 
why would that be implied by the above?
 
because the only way in which a light wave to be not be dependent on time is for it to be a standing wave correct?
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor standing waves do depend on time
 
but the amplitude doesn't>
*?
 
2:34 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor the amplitude of a way is typically understood to be a number $A$ such that the wave signal $f(t)$ is given by $f(t) = A \cos(\omega t +\varphi)$
 
... so why would you think that the amplitude can depend on time?
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor (note that you can edit your previous messages by pressing the up key)
 
sure
but its a wave
I see so Z is not actually a wave
its just a constant
its the amplitude over position
which is a wave
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor if by $Z$ you mean this
11 mins ago, by Wanting to be anAndroidDevelor
he says Z is transmitted spatial complex amplitude
then yes
if by $Z$ you mean something else, then $Z$ means whatever that something else is.
 
ok
I see
so what did you want me to take away from physics.stackexchange.com/questions/316135/… ?
so is the statement I = ZZ* where Z is complex amplitude of a wave correct?
 
2:43 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor with a number of caveats, yes
but it really doesn't sound like you understand the caveats.
 
so this complex amplitude only make sense when I define wave as $Re(Ze^(iwt))$
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor as a general statement, yes
but frankly, why wouldn't you include an explicit statement linking the objects you've introduced (say, a complex amplitude $Z$) to the physical fields involved?
 
ok
it feels a bit awkward to make the imaginary part of the wave function contribute towards the wave's displacement by having an imaginary part as the amplitude
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor You're confusing the imaginary part of the complex wave function $Ze^{-i\omega t}$ with the imaginary part of the complex amplitude $Z$.
They're extremely different things.
The imaginary part of the complex wave function $Ze^{-i\omega t}$ doesn't contribute to anything.
The imaginary part of the complex amplitude $Z$ is completely different, and it contributes every bit as much as the real part.
 
but when you times the complex part of the complex amplitude with the complex part of $e^{-i\omega t}$ don't you get a real number that contribute towards the displacement of the actual wave?
 
user351417
2:59 PM
@EmilioPisanty Are you going to ask that thing about Dimethyl Hydrazine's melting point on Chem SE, or could I do that? I'm quite interested to find out the answer, and I've only been able to find a non-handwaving description of a difference between the two forms which suggests that the unsymmetrical form should have a higher melting point (which is not the case).
 
user351417
(sorry if that question sounds a bit forceful/impatient; I'm not sure how to phrase that :P)
 
@Chair if you want to ask, go ahead.
 
user351417
Cool, I'll put together some sources and do that. Thenx
 
user351417
I'll ping you if there're any answers.
 
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor The real wave is $\mathrm{Re}(Z e^{-i\omega t})$. In which way to you envision the imaginary part $\mathrm{Im}(Z e^{-i\omega t})$ contributing to the real wave?
 
3:04 PM
I meant so that $Im(Z) \times Im(e^-{i\omega t}) = Real$
 
@EmilioPisanty Well thanks for dedicating a large amount of time in answering my question, I think I now understand why I = Z Z* and I have a much better understanding about waves represented as complex numbers, really cleared some stuff up for me. I was lucky to have you answer my questions thanks
 
vzn
lol 1sthand knowledge of physics mafia/ omerta :P
@Slereah its a work in progress and there have been decades of paradigm shifts in the area, some theories superceding prior ones. a well written historical ref/ survey could help sort it out. yeah it would be nice to see one. maybe black holes for dummies :P dummies.com/education/science/physics/…
@AnshumanSinha wikipedia is often a great place to start en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex
 
vzn
3:42 PM
lol once got dinged for calling n00bz n00bz... who blithely assumed it was derogatory? :P
1 1
 
Anonymous
4:07 PM
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor To get an upright font you should use \text{} to enclose Im and Re, like \text{Im} and \text{Re}. Alternatively, you could enclose them with \mathrm{}.
 
Anonymous
@WantingtobeanAndroidDevelor Re(Ze^(iwt)) renders it as $Re(Ze^(iwt))$. Write it as \text{Re}(Ze^{iwt}) to get $\text{Re}(Ze^{iwt})$ i.e. with curly braces. Anyway, it's good that you're trying to learn! :)
 
Anonymous
2586
Q: MathJax basic tutorial and quick reference

MJD(Deutsch: MathJax: LaTeX Basic Tutorial und Referenz) To see how any formula was written in any question or answer, including this one, right-click on the expression it and choose "Show Math As > TeX Commands". (When you do this, the '$' will not display. Make sure you add these. See the next p...

 
@Blue Not quite. The primary choice is \mathrm
unless it's actual text
 
Anonymous
@EmilioPisanty I don't think there's any difference in the rendered output? But yes, I do think the convention is \mathrm{}.
 
4:16 PM
@Blue the rendered output is indeed the same, but the rendered output is not the only thing at play here.
MathJax and LaTeX are semantic markup languages
i.e. the markup is saying additional things about the content beyond just how it should be rendered
things like "this is text"
or "this is mathematical notation that should be typeset in upright roman font"
 
Anonymous
@EmilioPisanty Ah, that is indeed true!
 
So if there are two ways to get the same output, but one of them is semantically wrong and the other is semantically correct, you use the latter.
 
Anonymous
Indeed. I suggested using \text{} as its easier to remember for a beginner. It's easy to get confused about which to use for upright units, and which to use to upright text and which to use for these cases: Re and Im. I certainly wouldn't use \text{} for that in formal writing. But I get your point, yes.
 
@Blue sure
I mean, everything is up to a point
and if you're really being pushy about semantic markup, then you really ought to be using $\operatorname{Re}(z)$ ($\operatorname{Re}(z)$) instead
but I'd tend to discourage teaching the use of \text{} to newcomers
 
Anonymous
Hehe. That's there too. :P
 
4:23 PM
it's liable to create all sorts of misconceptions that rear their heads down the line
 
Anonymous
Right. It's better to learn the correct syntax from the beginning itself. I did have several misconceptions. as my learning of TeX was very haphazard (mostly included picking up bits and pieces from LaTeX SE every now and then). But staying around on SE has corrected a lot of them. :)
 
Anonymous
For example, the other day I was a bit uncomfortable about the large spacing between a and mod b in $$a\mod b.$$ So I tried to correct it using \text{}. Really shouldn't do that!
 
Anonymous
58
A: Writing mod in congruence problems without leading space

WernerThe spacing issue is an obvious indication that it's not meant to be used that way. However, you could wing your own, depending on the sophistication you're after: \documentclass{article} \usepackage{amsmath} \newcommand{\Mod}[1]{\ (\mathrm{mod}\ #1)} \begin{document} \begin{align*} a &\e...

 
Anonymous
4:38 PM
Anyway, I'll keep your advice in mind. "MathJax and LaTeX are semantic markup languages" is a very convincing point to change my habits for good. Thanks! :)
 
@Blue good thing :-)
@Blue huh
\pmod, eh?
that one's news to me
 
Anonymous
It's the one with parenthesis!
 
Anonymous
I learnt it from Mithrandir. :P
 
and I just put this in a paper I submitted last Friday
oh well
 
Anonymous
Heh. Well, you learn things everyday. :P
 
4:41 PM
indeed
  \def\pod#1{\allowbreak\if@display\mkern18mu\else\mkern8mu\fi(#1)}
  \def\pmod#1{\pod{{\operator@font mod}\mkern6mu#1}}
well, those are definitely fancier than straight user-defined spacing
though then again it prints well enough, so who cares
@Blue if you're looking for a good TeXing exercise, finding those definitions is a good one ;-)
 
Anonymous
4:55 PM
Yep. Lots of useful ones out there!
 
Anonymous
3
A: How to typeset the following table in MathJax?

Willie WongSuch complex tables are not supported by MathJax, and it is outside their intent: it is supposed to be a software package to help the presentation of Mathematics on the internet, not a generic typesetting language to replace HTML. As I answered here, tables are potentially supported by MarkDown...

 
Anonymous
Reminds me. There is a workaround to typeset such complex tables, using array, in MathJax albeit it's not without flaws.
 
Anonymous
5:08 PM
Oh, robjohn has already covered it.
 
Anonymous
147
A: MathJax basic tutorial and quick reference

axblountArrays It is often easier to read tables formatted in MathJax rather than plain text or a fixed width font. Arrays and tables are created with the array environment. Just after \begin{array} the format of each column should be listed, use c for a center aligned column, r for right aligned, l for...

 
Anonymous
That is one place where \text{} really comes handy. I remember creating this table for a PSE question.
 
Anonymous
\begin{array}{|c | c | c | }\hline \dim M & \# & \\ \hline 1 & 1 &
\text{Morse-Radon theorems} \\ 2 & 1 & \text{Morse-Radon theorems}
\\ 3 & 1 & \text{Morse-Radon theorems} \\ 4 & \text{uncountably
infinite} & \\ 5 & \text{finite} & \text{surgery theory} \\
6 & \text{finite} & \text{surgery theory} \\ \vdots & \text{finite} &
\text{surgery theory} \\ \hline\end{array}
 
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