[“Quantum foundations” series] As noted in my post “Proton Soup,” a quark – another so-called elementary point particle – is typically discussed in the context of an atomic composite particle’s roiling quark-gluon dynamic [1] – rather than in a solitary state. Stable matter depends on stable protons, a quantum “soup” held together by quantum chromodynamics… Continue reading Quarks – extremely inseparable
A portrait of creative chaos, yet so zen – at least from 6,500 light-years away 😉 • NASA > APOD > Pillars of Creation (2022 October 20) Explanation: A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope featured these star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula, dubbed… Continue reading JWST’s Pillars of Creation – a star hatchery
[Draft] [“Quantum foundations” series] [“What’s changed in the last ~50 years” series] TABLE OF CONTENTS The buzz Proving that quantum entanglement is real Media articles Takeaways Notes Related posts THE BUZZ Much buzz on Tuesday October 4, 2022, as media marked the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics. So many articles – a hopeful indication regarding… Continue reading 2022 Nobel Prize – ‘spooky action’ pioneers
[Draft] A recent Caltech News article profiles some research in squeezed states of light. And why that is useful. • Wiki > Squeezed coherent state • Wiki > Squeezed states of light (quote) In quantum physics, light is in a squeezed state if its electric field strength Ԑ for some phases ϑ has a quantum… Continue reading What is ‘squeezed light’?
[“What’s changed in the last 50 years” series] As noted in my January 17, 2019, post “Cosmological fact and fiction,” the Big Bang theory poses questions on “whether terms like ‘origin’ or ‘creation’ even apply; and the limits of language to even discuss the topic.” [1] So, perhaps a rethink was overdue on the topic,… Continue reading RIP ‘Big Bang’ singularity?
[“Quantum foundations” series] TABLE OF CONTENTS Quantum field theory (QFT) landscape Is QFT incomplete? Light speed sans mass The math of fields Excitations in cosmic microwave background Questions Visualizing wave packets QUANTUM FIELD THEORY (QFT) LANDSCAPE Some recent articles prompted me to further explore (revisit once again, eh) some key features of quantum field theory… Continue reading QFT – fields and wave packets
Index of refraction In this Wired article, there’s a useful recap of how and why the speed of light changes in various mediums. • Wired > “What an iPhone Lidar Can Show About the Speed of Light” by Rhett Allain (Aug 12, 2022) – Why does light travel slower in a material than it does… Continue reading When light speed changes?
Is communication at faster than the speed of light possible – actual, instantaneous communication across vast distances using entangled (so-called) particles? After a conversation with an acquaintance last June … He was reading Katie Mack’s book re cosmology, and said that entanglement permitted instantaneous communication. He referenced information theory. And that information requires no “embodiment.”… Continue reading Spooky action vs. spooky communication
[Communicating science series][Gobbledygook ahoy, PopSci call-outs, …] “Can particles really be in two places at once?“ So remote from everyday experience: How to describe physical behavior that human communication never evolved to describe? To describe something that the mere act of observation extinguishes? Use an abstract symbolic framework like mathematics? And then “convert” mathematical expressions… Continue reading In two places at once – popsci call-outs
[Draft – more citations to come] Lately I’ve encountered many articles about research on the Higgs boson. Retrospectives, ongoing discoveries, and expectations for the upgraded LHC and its third run. The stuff of careers for 1000’s of scientists. This research is a fascinating effort akin to “particle archeology.” Inferring – detecting evidence for – the… Continue reading Higgs 10 years on – expectations for a path beyond
