^(unintentional misspelling)

@Danu Ah, those. Yeah. Some of them are nice if they actually have answers based on the text and not retcons, but the vast amount of them make me just go "So you found a very minor plot hole. Have a cookie."

> retcon

so many new words today

@Danu "powergamer" is an accepted term for a particular play style!

@Danu lol

@ACuriousMind ...with a lot of power?

@Danu Nah, just one that is focused on optimizing the power of a character in one particular respect.

Lol

hi peeps

Does the average group of nerds have more people with glasses than the average group of people?

@ACuriousMind So why are they rule-lawyers?

Why does the prototypical nerd have glasses?

Reading too much.

@Danu Because many of the most powerful combinations of abilities arise from the specific way these abilities are worded

And in systems with a lot of interacting non-trivial rules, such as D&D, minor differences in wording can make a large difference in meaning. Most of the totally broken characters arise because a later supplement did not consider an obscure variant ability in some earlier publication, and the two together then break the game as written.

The pursuit of game-breaking/OP etc things seems totally ridiculous and futile in a game that the group itself crafts

How can this even be a thing?

I guess I have too little understanding of real life RPG stuff

@Danu Nah, your sentiment would be shared by many other players.

But there's a lot of different players and systems, and some play more for the mechanical/boardgamey aspects than for the narrative ones

@Danu Yeah, well...

@ACuriousMind Why?

@DanielSank Because I might just be logging off or not looking at chat or whatever, and if you raise a mod flag it can be seen by all mods.

@ACuriousMind Dude, I was just teasing you by pinging you unnecessarily.

My sarcasometer is not well-calibrated lately, please try again :/

Oh also, you never gave me your address, which is why you are not presently imbibing mead.

@DanielSank Right! How should I best give it to you?

@ACuriousMind My email address is findable.

Oh also, I found this rather funny:

Someone at Duolingo has a sense of humor.

Isn't it supposed to teach "common phrases" first? :D

Is cake or death a common choice on Russian streets?

I am now scared to be ambushed by Russian grandmothers with a cake in one hand and a gun in the other

@ACuriousMind Things got weird after the Soviet era ;)

@ACuriousMind they'll hack you first

@ACuriousMind That is not an unreasonable fear.

@DanielSank Is that any good?

I would like to be able to read French, at least a little.

@0celo7 Go for it!

French is worth learning

Do it for the Grothendieck memoirs ;D

@Danu Berger has a huge survey on spectral geometry, written in French

Berger seems to be a huge boss overall

Is he super analytic? Probably, right?

Grothendieck is too crazy for me

Not interested in that

I don't mean his math

His memoirs

they're really beautifully written

@Danu me too

The man was crazy

And an interesting insight into the mind of probably one of the strongest mathematical minds which at the same time had a lot of trouble in other areas

I find it very interesting.

He writes very poetically

hello everyone

@Danu I don't know how analytic Berger is. His EM book isn't of the "bound one norm by other norms" style

But I haven't read it. There's other things I want to understand first.

I'd really like Riemannian geometry if it wasn't for the analysis.

I haven't been able to really start enjoying that aspect yet

@DanielSank, sounds good - please do include basically every question listed except for some of the ones on the most downvoted question (I'd be willing to answer the Einstein or Bohr question from that one).

thanks again for volunteering to act as moderator!

@Danu I'm finding geometry less enjoyable because of the topology.

Sigh

That's the best part man

I strongly dislike algebraic topology and I don't know why.

The algebra part of algebraic topology is not so great

but mostly the results are what you want/hope them to be geometrically

and then you just forget about the details

except long exact sequences

never forget the long exact sequences

@0celo7 I had two years of Russian in college. I wanted to regain some of it, and Duolingo was ok for that.

I do it every day. The regularity has been very helpful.

@Danu it does bother me when algebraic topologists glue things together and there's no way to see what's happening besides a picture

@heather Sure.

And pictures are often misleading

But then you get to homology and it's arrows and, well, snore.

@heather I will mostly stay out of the way :-)

okay =)

@DanielSank is TOPT looking word cake?

Bbl is clearly you since the word for choose has Bbl in it and probably would have a literal translation of (your picking) or something along the lines

@Skyler Looking word cake wat?

торт means cake.

@DanielSank "does the word that looks like "TOPT" mean "cake"?"

@Danu Yes. When you read Russian, assume everything is a Greek letter.

р is an "r", just like you'd expect in Greek.

Similarly, в makes the same sound as an English v.

Oh, yes this may not be well known: in Greek, the letter β is pronounced "veetah" and makes a "v" sound.

I was translating what Skyler said :P

I already apply the pretend-it's-Greek technique ^^

@Danu Right. I was answering you both.

Quick question, if anyone can help me a bit: If a car or something with wheels is dragged/pushed purely by an external force, not acting on the wheels but on the front/back, is there no force whatsoever coming from the road on the wheels? If so, does anyone know why friction plays a role in making the wheels slide/not slide when doing this? Maybe a vague question, but yeah

Funny, the spanish word for cake is "torta", which kinda looks like topt

@AccidentalFourierTransform The German is Torte (though we also have Kuchen). That's no accident.

@AccidentalFourierTransform Yeah, and "tart" and "tort" are both used in English.

@AccidentalFourierTransform After using that p $\simeq$ ρ $\simeq $ r it is :)

@Danu derp, forgot "the"

duolingo looks cool though

@Max There certainly is a force between the road and wheels.

Mein Deutsch ist schlecht

Hahahaha

Schade...

</3

@ACuriousMind I might be misremembering, but I would not use those words interchangeably.

^indeed

I think I probably got close on some so i was a bit surprised

Btw my router is broken

that i got that far

after what, 8 years

Dont know what happened

@DanielS Really? But won't there be weird things occuring when taking N2 into account then? Like, if there is a force from the back/front and from the road at the same time? There's something I'm missing

It just wont turn on

@Danu Oh, derp. The appropriate vectors are those for which $\exp_xZ$ is defined

@0celo7 Yes, there is a difference in meaning.

@Max What the hell is N2?

Sorry, Newton's second law

So im typimg this on my phone

Both are baked goods "of the type cake", though :P

@ACuriousMind I dunno, in English we have "pie"

So, if someone could ask my quedtions to heather for me

Thatd be great

@AccidentalFourierTransform Put them on the meta.

Theyre there

I'm going to mod the AMA. Put things you want to ask on the meta post.

And then there's the Strudel, and I don't know where that falls in English

@AccidentalFourierTransform Then don't worry about it.

@AccidentalFourierTransform hello

I think strudel is an English word

@AccidentalFourierTransform you can also probably just ask her now ;-)

@0celo7 Pies are weird things that are sometimes Kuchen, sometimes Pasteten, and sometimes don't exist here

Hi heather

@ACuriousMind Right. I don't think our apple pie exists over there

@ACuriousMind What would you call an American apple pie?

Hello everyone! I'm looking forward this this chat

The cake is a lie

@ACuriousMind I remember having a really interesting talk about the etymology of the word cake

[cake,cake]=0

Like, as in this picture: prntscr.com/ebb0z5 I don't see how the forces from the wheels make any sense *with newton's second law, if they now exist

chat is filling up...

yup

hey @GraceNote fancy seeing you here

@0celo7 Probably an "apple pie"

@ACuriousMind Culture vulture!

High society gathering

the word gateux and the more cakey ways of saying cake may actually originate from a food from Armenia, "Gata"

@DavidZ It happens now and then.

i suppose vzn will start the AMA @DanielSank?

@Skyler Gateaux is complex geometry

"An event is starting in 6 minutes in The h Bar - "Chat AMA with heather""

@heather I was planning to do a very quick introduction and kick off the questions.

@mods nice job getting it to announce before the event starts

gata --> gateux --> g became k in some germanic tribes

:)

or scandenavian

I don't even see vzn here.

@DanielSank sounds good

then the word kake popped up somewhere there

@DanielSank yeah, that's why i was asking.

@heather Ok, so Banach spaces

@0celo7 we have nothing to do with that

@heather how much of Shankar have you read?

Кто здесь говорит по-Русский?

@DanielSank Hello comrade!

Guys hold off the questions for five minutes.

Some folks who would like to listen/read may not yet be here.

@heather don't you feel like such a celebrity?

@DanielSank, it's kind of weird that this many people are even interested =)

Allright, I'm going to set up the side chat.

@DanielSank sounds good - I assume you'll link to it here?

Yes, in two minutes.

When this is over, remind me to bookmark the conversation and link it in the meta post.

I have never seen a third row of users in the chat.

@DanielSank will do.

@heather You're just that cool.

;-)

@heather it's only two on my screen

Welcome the Physics Stack Exchange AMA with heather

@heather It happens sometimes

hi all/ heather thx so much for participating! 1hr chat session with heather as special guest. more info here. meta.physics.stackexchange.com/questions/9613/… DS volunteered to moderate. plz stay tuned for future sessions/ guests too. :)

lol

Please keep conversation unrelated to the AMA out of this chatroom until it ends. Thank you.

As the "moderator", I will be gently keeping us on track to address the upvoted questions from the meta.

Questions from the meta

quick side note: an hour goes fast. I would be very much willing to answer questions after the official AMA ends as well.

(though of course that will be non "moderated" time.)

There is also a side chat for people to discuss questions to ask here.

Side chat

Someone please pin those two links.

Let's get started.

Alright then.

Heather is a physics student who began using this site last year. In a short time, she has become one of the main participants in chat and has answered several good questions.

heather, there were a lot of questions on the meta about your physics studies.

How did you originally get interested in physics?

Well, my Dad is very interested in physics himself, so there's always been physics books around the house. But I really started getting heavily interested in the sciences starting in middle school, when I started to learn more complex math and could start understanding books about physics.

I really kicked into gear in studying physics the beginning of last year, though.

Interesting. Was math just a gateway to physics or did the math itself draw you in?

The math itself has drawn me in, but my main focus is physics.

(I'll keep asking stuff until others start joining in)

What does your dad do?

He's an electrical engineer, though he also has experience in plasma physics.

Mom?

She's a bank teller currently, but she's also been interested to some extent in the sciences (she took engineering classes in school).

Oh so they both have college+ degrees?

My mom has taught me a lot about writing and how to express my thoughts clearly, which is obviously really important.

@DanielSank actually, no. Neither have full college degrees, though they both took college courses.

Wow!

But they both encourage you in physics?

I didn't know you could call yourself an engineer without a professional degree.

@DanielSank definitely. They encourage me in all of my various interests, really.

What research fields interest you and why?

(noticed from chatting heathers dad is interested in amateur fusion!)

@0celo7 well, seeing as he's worked as an engineer for quite a few years, I think he can call himself an engineer. =)

@heather If you work as a doctor but never took the boards, you're not a doctor.

@JuanM Oh, gosh. Many different ones. Currently, quantum computing is at the top of my list, and because of my dad, nuclear fusion and plasma physics are also on the list. However, just in general, I love reading about physics, mathematics, and computer science.

@0celo7 Let's take that to the side chat.

she mentioned this site/ farnsworth fusor.net en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo_Farnsworth

@heather Someone in meta noted that your interests are very wide, and asked whether you feel a particular mastery of any particular subject.

@DanielSank, I don't think I have a mastery of anything - in fact (and this is dodging the question a bit) I don't think anyone really has a mastery of anything. To more directly answer the question, no, I don't - I dabble and skip around more than I should, which actually leads me to a deeper understanding, I think.

heather how did you hear about stackexchange? what were your initial impressions? fyi youve gained a lot of points on the site in a short amt of time, congrats on that!

As I come back to things, I notice things I haven't before, and make new connections, which helps me learn.

@vzn Thanks. Interestingly enough, my dad happened upon stack exchange, and I originally joined mathematica stack exchange, because that's what he joined. Then I found physics and I loved it! It was the summer, and during the summer I started to really start self learning, so it came at the right time.

One semi-negative impression I had, though, was confusion over what things were closed for, especially with regards to the homework policy.

LOLOL

You know how I feel about that...

Yep. Now, I kind of realize the irony of that impression =)

Since you mentioned math again, someone in meta wanted to know how your math knowledge compares to the usual curriculum at your school level.

Ah, good question.

@heather yes you seem to be highly motivated wrt self learning which is not common although theres a lot of commitment to that by many in this chat room which is inspiring to see at times. are any of your friends interested in some of these same STEM subjs you are? both girls/ boys? or do you find yourself different than your peers?

@DanielSank So, there's two parts to that. Currently, I'm in geometry, which as far as I know is technically a sophomore year highschool class. However, I'm not the only 8th grader in that class (in fact, there's quite a few in that accelerated track). With regards to my own studies, I've read about single-variable calculus, which I have a semi-decent understanding of, set theory, linear algebra, and dabbled in other areas.

Heh, so definitely ahead of the usual curriculum. Nice.

@vzn Yeah, I've got a good number of friends also interested in STEM subjects like myself, both boys and girls, though a few have turned to the dark side and befriended biology =)

Dude, biophysics is really interesting.

Though I do sometimes feel a bit extra nerdy compared to the average 8th grader =)

Good lord, I'm in time :). So how does this work? We ask heather questions or she will answer the questions one by one from the question pool ? :-)

what books have helped you to grown in an appetite for this subject?

@DanielSank I'm just joking around =)

@heather are you satisified with the classes available to you, are they challenging, do you wish they were different somehow? next year 9th grade youre going to new school? have you started looking into next years classes, any reaction?

@anonymous go here for a minute.

@DanielSank eg QM biology is an increasingly big deal! photosynthesis etc :)

@JuanM Oh, so many. I like the Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind, Apostol's Calculus, Halmos' Naive Set Theory, Chuang and Nielsen's Quantum Computing and Quantum Information (I'm going to stop here, I have a large bookshelf)

what do you see yourself doing in 10 years (academically speaking)

@vzn well. I could always hope for more science classes, for sure. In 10th grade, stuff gets super interesting, because that's when it switches over to block scheduling in my district (don't ask about 9th grade, the way the do it is funky) and I can take Chemistry I and AP Chem, AP Physics I and II, Precalc, AP Prob and Stats, so on and so forth. So I'm really excited for that.

@JuanM 10 years - oh, geesh, I'd be 24-25. That's almost scary to think about. So, I'd probably want to be researching physics, or be some sort of engineer, or getting a PhD if I need it in my field (I dunno how long these things take). I can't really give you a great answer here, because I'm still not completely sure exactly where I want to go. I just know I want to do something with math, physics, and programming.

@heather great to hear that you have a lot of options wrt college AP classes (fyi for nonamericans those are college level classes in HS).

@heather Experimental physics = math+physics+programming+engineering. Just sayin'...

@vzn oh, and I also get to take dual-credit college courses senior year from a community college nearby (the way I think I'll set it up, I'll be maxing out on the math courses offered at the highschool junior year).

Is physics an acquired taste or is it something that you think you're born enjoying?

@DanielSank Yeah, I know. I'm probably going to end up in experimental physics.

@JuanM Both, I think.

sorry, don't have much of an opinion on that one. =)

:)

From meta: Are there any real-world problems you find particularly compelling and would like to address as a scientist/engineer?

Do you have "laboratory sessions" at school? If yes, do you have to write reports of the sessions with the measurement results and some blah, blah?

@DanielSank Just for clarification, is that the global warming, diseases, pollution question?

@heather Have you completed Apostol's calculus? It is quite a high level book!

@heather yes

@ThomasKlimpel Not really. Last year we got to do a few things such as dissecting a chicken wing, but there we only had to identify a tendon, a ligament, etcetera. But there aren't nearly as many labs as I personally think there should be for a science class.

@anonymous Not rigorously, no, but I have worked on some problems from it.

@DanielSank Okay. Well, if I'm going to dream, break-even fusion would be an absolutely amazing thing to achieve.

helping solve the energy crisis and all that. But I think that's the sort of thing that will be solved incrementally, in bits and pieces, not in one giant leap (though it could be, you never know).

@heather So you'd like to work on fusion!

@DanielSank I have so many interests, I don't know what all I'd want to work on. But fusion is one of them, yes.

This leads into another question from meta: have you ever solved a real-life physics problem? In other words, have you used physics to solve a problem that came to you through life and not necessarily from a book?

Actually, yeah, a couple times, though not as many as I'd like.

go on...

Time number one, I was helping my dad with soldering, and he helped me use Ohm's Law to figure out what resistor we needed.

@DanielSank sorry, slow at typing.

I'm also working a bit on a program that simulates various ideal quantum circuits, which requires understanding the math and physics behind quantum gates.

@heather cool! python right? are you using a library for that?

@vzn Python 3, yes.

Using numpy to help with the matrices.

fyi some have mentioned this in here, re QM toolbox/ python qutip.org

I'd specifically like to answer John Duffield's question over on the meta post:

"How long will you retain your interest in quantum computing if it delivers diddly-squat?"

youve mentioned QM computing/ shors law quite a bit in chat. what drew you to QM computing?

@JohnDuffield your question is being answered

is the first part, and I'd say, it hasn't delivered diddly-squat. In fact, I'd say it's delivered a whole lot. Shor's algorithm, Grover's algorithm, many other algorithms, working qubits, and much much more - it's amazing we've come this far, and research is only increasing! I can't imagine quantum computing will end up delivering diddly-squat. In fact, I can't even see where that question is coming from.

@heather Has it produced economic value?

The progress being made in labs like @DanielSank's amazes me and only makes me want to go deeper into quantum computing.

Well, we haven't produced anything more useful than a silicon PC though... right?

I think his point was that while there's been progress, we haven't actually produced anything to the benefit of man kind (not that I agree with that statement).

@0celo7 as far as I'm aware, not yet, but the fact that we've come up with algorithms that will help break current cryptography - that seems like it could lead to some economic value.

@0celo7 aka "has it increased the GDP" :P

@heather Seems pretty nefarious to me!

@DanielSank Physics itself, and just the idea of exploring what's out there, benefits human kind, just as Beethoven or Mozart benefits humankind, in my opinion.

@0celo7 True. But what about simulating quantum mechanical systems? That could help with research that may have industrial applications.

@heather So your answer is that it has delivered something that malicious hackers (e.g. the government) would love to have access to?

Or more efficient search algorithms.

@heather yeah really wanna hear the details about your visit to DSs/ martinis lab (santa barbara/ google), ideally maybe you could even write a blog about it, & say put it on DSs blog. :)

@heather Do you have any idea how long/how expensive it will be to have quantum computers that can model quantum systems or search things quickly?

:35565288 I think there's a limit, so no, I'm not sure I would. But also, currently quantum computing is also funded by private researchers, so I'm not quite sure that's a fair comparison.

@0celo7 speaking as a non-expert, I don't want to say anything stupid/idiotic, so I'll decline on answering that. =)

@heather That's a really good point. Sorry for deleting the question. I deleted to avoid pummeling you with too many at once.

@heather So if by the time you are finishing undergrad, and there is still no progress in quantum computing, you'd still be interested?

(For the record, the deleted post by me above asked if heather thought it would be ok for Beethoven to receive millions in public tax money)

Do you know Scott Aaronson, and what he hopes to get from quantum computing? Do you think google is pursuing quantum supremacy for the same reasons as Scott, or just to have some achievable milestone?

@vzn It's kind of a funny story, actually. Khan Academy does this thing called the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, and I found out about it (it's basically where kids make a video about math/science and submit it in a contest) and thought it would be fun. I was trying to think of a topic and my dad said something along the lines of "I heard of this thing called quantum computing...why don't you google that?"

@0celo7 I don't know. Maybe not? It depends, really.

@0celo7 qm computing ultimate viability/ practicality an open question of the field & there is an active debate in this other room, feel free to join/ add anytime chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/13775/physics-meta

@ThomasKlimpel I know who Scott Aaronson is, but due to the risk of having an incorrect assumption, I'm not sure of his hopes for quantum computing.

@heather So what would you want to do if quantum computing turns out to be a hoax?

However, I think google's reasons go beyond just having an achievable milestone. As a company, they obviously would like to make money from it, and I think quantum computing has multiple avenues where that is possible or even probable.

@0celo7 The idea of quantum computing being a hoax I don't believe really makes sense at this stage.

@heather Humor me please

it's good to have multiple aspirations

The only way I can see it being a hoax is if the CIA already actually has a quantum computer and they're funding academic and private contractors to throw everyone off the trail :-P

@DanielSank I said that to push your buttons, but I guess it didn't work :P

@heather I meant "if quantum computing turns out to not work for you for some reason."

@0celo7, well if I didn't do quantum computing, I'd probably head into plasma/particle/nuclear physics, engineering, computer science - see the thing is, I don't know if quantum computing is my path as it is, so I have plenty of aspirations. Aerospace engineering and electrical engineering also interests me.

@0celo7 Oh, I see.

@heather are you thinking of participating in the khan challenge?

(realize bringing this up is a bit self-serving, but hey, it's the top post)

@vzn It already happened - I didn't finish the video in time. I'm hoping to do it next year though.

@DanielSank The most amazing thing that's ever happened to me. Period.

@heather My heart melts.

So, backstory: Daniel Sank very kindly invited me out to California to visit Google's Martinis Lab.

I got shown around their lab, including where they keep the quantum computers, their clean room, and their electronics/shop style area.

@heather Wonder how your mom feels about that, after the whole "giving you life" thing.

I certainly learned a lot about some of the problems facing quantum computists (if that's a word) today.

@0celo7 I considered that sort of a given #1 when making that statement - it's kind of hard to do anything without existing. =P

I also was lucky enough that when I arrived, one of the covers was off of the dilution refrigerators, so I got to see inside!

That was quite exciting.

@heather yep youre definitely a geek :P (welcome to the club!) :)

@vzn What, that wasn't clear already? =P

@heather Serious question, do you look and act like a nerd?

@heather you mean when you were born?

@AccidentalFourierTransform :D

@0celo7 Can we have some "serious" question please? What's going on! XD

@AccidentalFourierTransform

0celo7 is happy.

Well, in the meta, several folks were interested in your rock climbing experience.

Can you talk a bit about that?

@0celo7 well. I don't wear glasses with the tape on them, but I do wear glasses. I don't wear that short plaid mini-skirt thing with suspenders like the sterotype seems to be, and I don't generally wear a shirt with a pocket to keep a calculator/pencils in (everyone knows you keep those in your jeans pocket). Seriously, though, i do dress rather sloppily, I have a few quirks/etc, and I carry around nerdy books, so you could probably peg me as a nerd pretty quickly =)

@AccidentalFourierTransform Yeah, I was born in a dilution refrigerator, it was rough =P (Kidding, obviously)

@DanielSank Sure. I started rock climbing maybe...four and a half years ago? I'm on a climbing team, so we train together and go around and do competitions. I really enjoy it - it's a sport that challenges both the body and the mind.

Travel out of state?

If anyone else is a climber, I generally can climb V3-V4 bouldering, and 5.10c-5.10d toproping.

@DanielSank Sometimes, yeah. Divisionals this year was in Chicago, so that was pretty fun.

@heather is there much natural rockclimbing in iowa or is it more climbing walls?

@vzn well, the general stereotype is that Iowa is flat which isn't true - there is some natural climbing - but generally, you head to a climbing gym.

(the climbing is like 2+ hours away from where I am)

Climbing corn fields horizontally

lol

@AccidentalFourierTransform What did you think I meant by natural rock climbing? =P

@heather Do you believe in specializing in a particular sub-field of a subject (like QC) or do you feel that dabbling in various sub-fields helps one gain more experience ? Like you know they won't teach you QC atleast in the first 4 years of college. Would you have liked a QC course in your undergrad? Or would you be happy learning various other (maybe even unrealted) topics instead of QC ?

We're just about done. Thank you everyone for the questions. Obviously, the chat will not implode into a black hole at the official end time of the AMA, so please stay here and keep chatting as long as heather is willing to answer.