UPDATE JULY 4, 2022 • CERN > “The Higgs boson, ten years after its discovery” (July 4, 2022) The landmark discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider exactly ten years ago, and the progress made since then to determine its properties, have allowed physicists to make tremendous steps forward in our understanding… Continue reading Not so deific particle – Higgs boson
In reading Louisa Gilder’s book The Age of Entanglement, I was reminded of Bohr’s correspondence principle1 (originally analogy principle and also referred to as “Bohr’s magic wand”). I hadn’t thought about it much lately. Other than a few times in Lederman’s book Quantum Physics for Poets, the term wasn’t referenced in the other physics books… Continue reading Correspondence principle RIP?
Fermilab has an amazing presence on the Web. One of their sites is Fermilab at work. There’s a YouTube channel as well. There’s a splendid 10.5 minute video by Dr. Don Lincoln on “Why is the Weak Force weak?” Excellent graphics (including Feynman diagrams) and well presented. Published on Apr 14, 2017 The subatomic world… Continue reading Why is the Weak Force weak?
In the chapter “Beyond this horizon,” Sean Carroll discusses two related problems involving properties of empty space. Before discussing the vacuum energy problem, he profiles the so-called hierarchy problem in the cosmic energy scale. It’s about the effects of virtual particles. The energy scale that characterizes the weak interactions (the Higgs field value, 246 GeV)… Continue reading Sisyphean hierarchy
In previous posts, I’ve discussed how important nature’s symmetries are to modern physics. So critical, in fact, that Nobel laureate PW Anderson wrote in his widely read 1972 article More is Different that “it is only slightly overstating the case to say that physics is the study of symmetry.” “It is increasingly clear that the… Continue reading Symmetry → conservation laws
[“Models of the quantum vacuum” series] A theoretical physicist walks into a bar. The bartender says, “What can I get you?” The physicist says, “Nothing.” The bartender gives the physicist an empty glass. The physicist says, “Thanks, that’s plenty!” Physicists take emptiness quite seriously. So-called empty space is an important area of study and research.… Continue reading Empty dumpty
Here’s my take on gauge symmetry after reading about the concept (some references are listed below). There are mathematical frameworks for space, and in physics there are equations of motion for space. A mathematical framework deals with geometric and numeric objects. In everyday life we basically equate these objects with a Euclidean space using the… Continue reading Symmetry → connection field → force of nature
In reading about vibrations in fields and wave functions and wave packets, some words that start with ‘e’ occurred a lot: eigenvalue, eigenvector, eigenfunction, eigenvalue equation, eigenequation [1]. I needed to refresh my understanding of the mathematical models for macroscopic and microscopic systems [2]. Everyday we are surrounded by things that vibrate when excited. Some… Continue reading Eigen what?
Over the weekend, I started reading Sean Carroll’s The Particle at the End of the Universe. Well written [1]. At times his colloquial description of a concept prompted me to: (1) wonder if he was referring to a particular technical phenomenon; and (2) explore the specialized, technical background of that concept. In either case, quite… Continue reading Vocabulary at the end of the verse
So, here’s the thing. If I roll with Quantum Field Theory (QFT), how do I reconcile my macroscopic and microscopic views of things. Simple things. Like looking at a tiny candle across the room? “P vision” Imagine if we could see individual photons (without being overwhelmed by visual “noise” in very low light). Where might… Continue reading Beyond frog vision
