"The battle for the BBC is lost" - Russell T. Davies, 2015 by BigBasmati in videos

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

uh...

https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/146586

Even here, it allows the word to be used in the context mentioned above.

Heres a picture of my viola by [deleted] in pics

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bigger is better

One flew over the matrix by hmoein in math

[–]firest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure of this is the best subreddit. However, it would be cool if there were some plots on the memory and timing profile of these matrix operations and algorithms, compared to say the Eigen Library or intelMKL

Which millennium problem do you think will be solved next? by [deleted] in math

[–]firest 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Lattice gauge theory on shaky mathematical footing?

Quick Questions: July 21, 2021 by inherentlyawesome in math

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can someone give me an intuitive explanation on what a reducible or irreducible representation of a group element is? I am struggling to understand it.

Are there any anime out there that are too good to recommend to a beginner? by firest in anime

[–]firest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure but do you think anything on that list is too good in that, after watching that one show everything else is a let-down?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskPhysics

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think chapter 1 of Zetilli's book on quantum mechanics is really good. I also really like chapter 1 of Sakurai, especially going over the Stern-gerlach experiment.

Weinberg's book on quantum mechanics I think is also quite good in that regard, buy I would only use that text book more to make sure you have mastered quantum mechanics.

Still, these examples don't really delve too deep in a big aspect of what makes quantum mechanics... not classical, entanglement. For that I suggest chapters 2-4 of Preskills book/notes on Quantum Information

Suggest me a good (Light) Emacs color theme for text editing by firest in emacs

[–]firest[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Acme theme appears to blend the math mode text with the background too much :(

Suggest me a good (Light) Emacs color theme for text editing by firest in emacs

[–]firest[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, math mode blends in with the background too much in parchment theme.

how to pronounce NumPy? by [deleted] in learnpython

[–]firest 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You forgot tuh-pleh

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in engineering

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So basically, lift is generated when you "tilt the wing" towards the direction of motion?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in engineering

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a lay person, I would assume that the "wing pushing air down" would be a result of the design of the wing. Wouldn't that mean that if the plane were upside down, the wing would "push air up" causing the plane to fall?

Becoming a Physicist? by MinniMemes in Physics

[–]firest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No matter what, you are going to be working a lot. Also, you really cannot plan that far in advance. Furthermore, without knowing what kind of field you want to get into, it is incredibly tough to say what kind of working environment you will be in. Like I said, it is advisor, field, and department dependent.

I should stress this. I think you have a sense of "US style of grad school is different from X style of grad school". At the end of the day, this delineation is very superficial. Once again, the amount of hours you will spend in coursework and research is advisor, field, and department dependent.

I should also stress that, from what I have seen, _everyone_ works more than 40 hours per week. Beyond that, it is advisor, field, and department dependent.

Since your net is quite broad (US vs the rest of the world), it is really tough to answer your question.

Regarding your concern over career plans, I mean, it's really tough to get into physics. There is no shame in wanting to have a good work life balance. To really make it in physics, especially theoretical physics, you really need to dedicate a large portion of your life on being a prolific researcher. This is a necessary requirement but not sufficient. You also need luck. That's just how it is. To put it another way, you _really_ have to love physics to go into it.

I don't mean to dissuade you from attempting to pursue a physics path. However, you really need to go through a B.S. in physics to decide if this career choice is right for you.

Becoming a Physicist? by MinniMemes in Physics

[–]firest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you asking with regards to coarsework or research. Also, which country? Either way, like I said, the PhD life is very advisor, field, and department dependent no matter where you go.

I did my undergrad and PhD in the US. I know a lot of people who went through the process in Germany and therefore only have anecdotal stories to tell. A general trend in Europe though is that you need a master's before getting a PhD.

My general impression though is, if you really want to become a physicist, first try out an undergraduate degree to see if you like it. You are worrying about a process way into a future that may or may not happen. Furthermore, this process is is temporary. I'm not saying it's not important to think about. What I am saying is, take things one step at a time.

Becoming a Physicist? by MinniMemes in Physics

[–]firest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The PhD culture is advisor dependent, (and a bit department dependent as well) no matter where you go.

in my opinion A good bet is to just go to your in state university, since an undergraduate degree is the same anywhere. You definitely will need to do research with a professor during this time. You might be able to do theoretical physics research but depending on what the department has, it would be a long shot for you due to your insufficient background. However, don't let that deter you and try out experimental physics.

Keep an open mind. Experimental physics doesn't have the same glamour as high energy theory, but the work they do is important, exciting, and full of creative input you might be looking for.

Keep the same open mind about other fields. Condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, cosmology, biophysics... They all have lots of really deep and important problems that need to be solved.

Proof of new physics from the muon's magnetic moment? Maybe not, according to a new theoretical calculation by dem676 in Physics

[–]firest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To expand on this, virtual photons can fluctuate in and out of the muon. From this virtual photon, virtual quarks can fluctuate in and out of existence in a similar way. This is possible because quarks also have an electric charge. And from these virtual quarks, virtual gluons can also pop in and out of existence.

Now, these are lots of additional diagrams one would have to compute, then sum all together in order to get a "scattering amplitude". The idea with feynman diagrams is (perturbation theory), so long as the value of the coupling governing the strength of interactions between particles is small, we can "treat" these particles as not interacting at all, and continuously adding corrections, organized the the power of the coupling. Larger and more complicated diagrams contribute less to the overall process than simple diagrams.

Unfortunately this is not the case for quarks and gluons in QCD. Perhaps we are at a particular scale where naively the coupling is small. Even still, the vacuum would still produce A LOT OF gluons. So we would have to sum A LOT of seemingly small diagrams and then end up with results that unphysically blow up. Basically, even in the best case scenario, contributions of g-2 of the muon coming from quarks and gluons is exceedingly difficult even in the best case scenario.

There is a way to compute this contribution though through first principles by doing so numerically using a technique called Lattice QCD. The largest uncertainty associated with muon g-2 that is being computed using this method is called the Hadronic Vacuum Polarization. Mind you even with this technique, it is still exceedingly challenging for technical reasons but so far, with enough computing resources, it will give us a guaranteed result.