Category Archives: physics

Invariants

Posted on November 18, 2023 by Suresh Emre

Invariants are the conserved quantities (time-independent, space-independent). Invariants in particle physics Invariants in graph theory There may be invariants of neural networks. We can develop algorithms to discover them. These algorithms may employ AI. The invariants of neural networks can … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Invariants

Update on electron’s electric dipole moment

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Suresh Emre

Theoretically electron is a point particle but in reality it has an effective size due to flickering quantum fields around it. If electron has an effective size what is the shape of it. Is it round? Is it elongated? Physicists … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Update on electron’s electric dipole moment

Update on major US accelerator projects

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Image credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory (the internal quark and gluon substructure of the proton grows more complex when probed at increasing center-of-mass energies). Fermilab Progress Update Fermilab PIP-II project Brookhaven Electron-Ion Collider LCLS-II Free Electron Laser Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Update on major US accelerator projects

Free textbooks in the field of particle physics

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Suresh Emre

https://scoap3.org/scoap3-books/

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Free textbooks in the field of particle physics

Is interaction a computation?

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Suresh Emre

My understanding of Seth Lloyd’s thesis [1][2][3] is that information is fundamental and any interaction (change, dynamics) involves computation. This is in line with John A. Wheeler’s “it from bit” program. You can reach Wheeler’s classic essay from the link … Continue reading →

Posted in metaphysics, philosophy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Is interaction a computation?

Why did God make the world quantum rather than classical?

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Suresh Emre

I saw the question “Why did God make the world quantum rather than classical?” in John Horgan’s Scott Aaronson interview in 2016. In that long interview Scott Aaronson takes great care to provide answers to Horgan’s questions.  The responses to … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Why did God make the world quantum rather than classical?

On the conservation of information

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Is there a physics law that dictates information cannot be destroyed? No. But some physicists invoke the 2nd law of thermodynamics and the unitarity principle of Quantum Mechanics to support the claim that information is conserved. It is easy to … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on On the conservation of information

What is information?

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Suresh Emre

There is no consensus on the definition of “consciousness”. The situation is not that bad with “information” but still a vague concept despite great advances in the quantification of information by scientists and engineers. Philosophers are getting into this game … Continue reading →

Posted in linguistics, philosophy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on What is information?

Physics of Life: A Free Book by the National Academies of Sciences-Engineering-Medicine

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Suresh Emre

“Biological physics now has emerged fully as a field of physics, alongsidemore traditional fields of astrophysics and cosmology, atomic, molecular and opticalphysics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, particle physics, and plasmaphysics.” https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/biological-physicsphysics-of-living-systems-a-decadal-survey You can follow the links View Report –> … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Physics of Life: A Free Book by the National Academies of Sciences-Engineering-Medicine

Update on neutron lifetime (mirror neutron hypothesis falsified)

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Bound to the atomic nucleus neutron is stable. Free from the nucleus neutron decays into (proton + electron + electron type antineutrino) in about 15 minutes.  Free neutrons inside a bottle decay in 877.8 ± 0.3 seconds. [1] Free neutrons … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Update on neutron lifetime (mirror neutron hypothesis falsified)

Higgs boson, ten years after its discovery

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Suresh Emre

The discovery of the Higgs boson was announced on July 4, 2012. Today, on the 10’th anniversary of the announcement, CERN released articles. The CMS and ATLAS experiments released statements as well. Higgs10: When spring 2012 turned to summer The … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Comments Off on Higgs boson, ten years after its discovery

Closure Problem of Emergence

Posted on May 7, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Abstract: Aristotle stated that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Modern scientists came to the same conclusion. Phillip W. Anderson wrote an influential article titled “More is Different” in 1972 [1]. Many other scientists joined him in … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Closure Problem of Emergence

Excitement about the new value of the W boson mass

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Tevatron was the highest energy accelerator in the world for 25 years between 1986-2011 colliding protons and antiprotons at the center-of-mass energy of 1.8 Tev. CDF was one of the two detectors (D0 being the other one) performing measurements using … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Excitement about the new value of the W boson mass

Zero mass but non-zero weight

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Photons have zero rest mass but non-zero weight. There is a tutorial paper on this by M.B. van der Mark and G.W. ‘t Hooft titled “Light is heavy“. Physicists do not use the term “rest mass” anymore. More appropriate term … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Zero mass but non-zero weight

Symmetry Magazine’s “Quantum Ecosystem” articles

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Suresh Emre

The Symmetry Online Magazine published a series of articles to educate public about quantum computing. Playing by the quantum rules The second quantum revolution From bits to qubits What is quantum information? More than one way to make a qubit … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Symmetry Magazine’s “Quantum Ecosystem” articles

Latest on proton and antiproton charge-to-mass ratio

Posted on January 15, 2022 by Suresh Emre

Latest results from the BASE experiment at CERN published in Nature [1] shows that the charge-to-mass ratios of protons and antiprotons are the same to a precision of 16 parts per trillion. This is a new record in precision. (charge_proton/mass_proton) … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Latest on proton and antiproton charge-to-mass ratio

Different kinds of entropy

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Suresh Emre

More than ten years ago, I have written a blogpost titled “Confusion about Entropy” and brought readers’ attention to the fact that even scientists are confused about entropy. That’s because there are different kinds of entropy: 1) entropy as dispersal … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Different kinds of entropy

Neutrino resources

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Suresh Emre

Read this first Scientific Background on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 Fermilab All things neutrino Neutrinos (Fermilab experiments) T2K The FAQ page at T2K Matt Strassler Neutrino Types and Neutrino Oscillations How to make neutrino beam How to detect … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, tutorial | Tagged | Comments Off on Neutrino resources

Three kinds of neutrinos – no more, no less

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Suresh Emre

I never understood the search for sterile (right-chiral , 4th kind of) neutrino. I understand the search was prompted by anomalous data from the earlier MiniBooNE and LSND experiments and the desire to explain dark matter in the universe but … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Three kinds of neutrinos – no more, no less

CERN LHC beams return after 3 years

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Suresh Emre

The CERN complex – chain of accelerators and all experiments – went through major upgrades in the last three years. And finally, on October 19, 2021, counter-rotating protons were injected into the LHC.  After two weeks of beam tests including low-energy collisions in … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on CERN LHC beams return after 3 years

Hubble tension

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Suresh Emre

Shown above: values of the expansion rate of the universe (Hubble constant H0) from direct and indirect measurements by different missions, with the grey and pink bands showing the 68% confidence-level values from SH0ES and Planck, respectively. Problem “Local measurements … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Hubble tension

It is all quiet on the particle physics front

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Suresh Emre

Experimental side of elementary particle physics is very expensive and technically challenging. Theoretical side involves very difficult calculations requiring supercomputers. Esoteric BSM (beyond Standard Model) theories are waiting for confirmation. It seems that there will be decades before we find … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on It is all quiet on the particle physics front

Can electron be split in topological insulators?

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Suresh Emre

I was shocked when I saw John Preskill’s tweet shown above. I am no expert in condensed matter physics. I was a professional physicist in the past specializing in beam-beam interactions (accelerator physics) and I follow particle physics very closely. … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Can electron be split in topological insulators?

First results from Fermilab muon g-2 experiment: more confusion

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Suresh Emre

Particle physicists have been waiting for the results from the Fermilab muon g-2 experiment with great anticipation. Results from the first run of the experiment were announced on April 7, 2021. I congratulate the E989 collaboration for performing this extraordinarily … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on First results from Fermilab muon g-2 experiment: more confusion

John Preskill’s lectures (CALTECH quantum computing course)

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Suresh Emre

John Preskill’s lectures from the first term of CALTECH quantum computing course have been posted on YouTube. Ph/CS 219A Quantum Computation – YouTube John Preskill is Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at CALTECH and the director of IQIM … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on John Preskill’s lectures (CALTECH quantum computing course)

Number of papers published by the Large Hadron Collider collaborations

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Suresh Emre

“2852 papers: from the first publications in 2008 that described the detector designs, through 2012’s discovery of the Higgs Boson, all the way to CMS’s 1000th publication in 2020.” – CERN “…along with the 2852 publications by CERN’s LHC experiments, … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Number of papers published by the Large Hadron Collider collaborations

A survey of young particle physicists in Europe

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Suresh Emre

A diverse group of about 180 early-career researchers in particle physics (mostly experimental physicists) provided feedback as part of the recent update of the European strategy for particle physics (ESPP). I wanted to share their executive summary and few statistics. … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on A survey of young particle physicists in Europe

A brief history of hadron colliders

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Suresh Emre

The CERN Courier has a nice article summarizing the history of hadron colliders. Discovery machines – CERN Courier written by two leaders of the Large Hadron Collider project Lyn Evans (former LHC project director), Imperial College London  Peter Jenni (former ATLAS spokesperson), … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A brief history of hadron colliders

On vacuum fluctuations

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Suresh Emre

In my post titled “How do we know vacuum fluctuations exist?” [1] I was careful to add the terminology “zero-point fluctuations in quantum fields” in parenthesis right after “vacuum fluctuations“. According to Arnold Neumeier [2] the terminology of “vacuum fluctuation” … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on On vacuum fluctuations

My response to Wolchover’s question: What is a particle?

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Suresh Emre

In her recent Quanta Magazine article titled “What is a Particle?” Natalie Wolchover lists the main categories of answers by the professional physicists as follows: A Particle Is a ‘Collapsed Wave Function’ A Particle Is a ‘Quantum Excitation of a … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on My response to Wolchover’s question: What is a particle?

How do we know vacuum fluctuations exist?

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Experimental evidence for vacuum fluctuations (zero-point fluctuations in quantum fields) come from the observations of the Lamb shift in the energy levels of the Hydrogen atom, observations of the Casimir effect and the g-2 experiments with electrons and muons. Lamb … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on How do we know vacuum fluctuations exist?

Reading CERN Courier (2)

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Suresh Emre

The online magazine CERN Courier is the most informative resource in particle and accelerator physics. This is the second installment of my “Reading CERN Courier” series. Most read articles at CERN Courier Why does CP violation matter in the universe?  (John Ellis) The … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Reading CERN Courier (2)

Tropes in Physics

Posted on November 14, 2020 by Suresh Emre

This article is not about literary tropes nor about tropes mentioned in the context of computer software. This article is about the concept of tropes discussed in philosophy and physics. The SEP article titled “Tropes” [1] is very detailed and … Continue reading →

Posted in metaphysics, philosophy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Tropes in Physics

Reviewed and updated QM articles

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Suresh Emre

I reviewed my earlier blogposts related to Quantum Mechanics and updated some of them. I did my best to turn these articles into tutorials. There are few philosophical (euphemism for speculative) pieces. I clearly indicated those. Pure States and Mixed … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Reviewed and updated QM articles

Bifurcating self-interaction concept of Frank van den Bovenkamp

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Suresh Emre

I have brought your attention to Frank van den Bovenkamp’s work before. Pioneers of Microvita Research (2): Frank van den Bovenkamp Microvita links He recently published an important paper. The Hydrogen Atom as an Integrative Eigenstate of the Bifurcating Quantum … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Comments Off on Bifurcating self-interaction concept of Frank van den Bovenkamp

Roger Penrose wins the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Roger Penrose became a Nobel laureate at the age of 89. His contributions to physics and mathematics are well recognized. He has many awards, just look at the “awards” section of the Wikipedia article about him. Please also take a … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Roger Penrose wins the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020

Do not confuse spin direction with spin magnitude

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Suresh Emre

A fermion will impart  units of spin angular momentum irrespective of its energy when it interacts with other particles or fields. The direction of the spin angular momentum is discussed below. A gauge boson will impart  units of spin angular … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Do not confuse spin direction with spin magnitude

Experimental verification of Higgs boson couplings to elementary particles

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Thanks to the heroic efforts of thousands of experimental physicists, engineers and technicians we have learned that the Higgs field is real. Experimental exploration of the Higgs field and its quantum Higgs boson is an ongoing effort. At this point, … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Experimental verification of Higgs boson couplings to elementary particles

Physics Education in the United States (statistics)

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Suresh Emre

In the last two decades there was a sharp increase in the number of physics degrees. Physics PhD is 5-7 years of hard work. Data on graduate education in Physics Data on undergraduate education in Physics I published a physics … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Physics Education in the United States (statistics)

First observation of W-boson pair creation from two photons

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Photons do not interact with each other because photons do not carry any electric charge. In the presence of very strong electric and magnetic fields, however, there are possibilities for two photons to interact indirectly. In the presence of strong … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on First observation of W-boson pair creation from two photons

Latest on the Element Lithium

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Suresh Emre

The diagram above shows the relative abundances of the elements. Elements Li (Lithium), Be (Beryllium) and B (Boron) stand out. Theoretically, they are supposed to be more abundant than C (Carbon) but they are not. The smaller the atomic number … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Latest on the Element Lithium

Fourth type of neutrino does not exist

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Suresh Emre

I have been betting against the fourth type of neutrino. You don’t have to be a seer to make this prediction because there is overwhelming evidence against the existence of the fourth generation of fermions. Now, there is more experimental … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Fourth type of neutrino does not exist

Lepton universality is verified (no new physics)

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Suresh Emre

In my December 27, 2015 post titled “Lepton Universality” I reported about the early experimental signs pointing to a possible violation of the lepton universality. More data and analysis from the ATLAS experiment at CERN showed however that the lepton … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Lepton universality is verified (no new physics)

Semiotic Closure

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Suresh Emre

The concept of “semantic closure” was introduced and developed by Howard H. Pattee in the context of Biology [1][2][3][4]. L. M. Rocha called this concept “semiotic closure”. In a special issue of Biosystems journal (Volume 60, No: 1-3) edited by L. … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, physics, science | Tagged | Comments Off on Semiotic Closure

Confinement and Liberation

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Suresh Emre

As I study natural processes, especially in the context of physics, I see 2 fundamental explanatory factors in play. I have referred to these factors as ‘Binding Action‘ and ‘Freedom Seeking‘ in the past. Perhaps a better terminology for these … Continue reading →

Posted in metaphysics, philosophy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Confinement and Liberation

Comments on universe being a fluctuation

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Richard Gauthier has responded to my post titled “Universe is not a fluctuation”. Please find his comments below. This inspired me to recollect my thoughts on the emergence of the physical universe. This is a subject I have been avoiding. … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Comments on universe being a fluctuation

Universe is not a fluctuation

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Andromeda galaxy (credit: NASA) “We therefore conclude that the universe is not a fluctuation, and that the order is a memory of conditions when things started. This is not to say that we understand the logic of it. For some … Continue reading →

Posted in cosmology, physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Universe is not a fluctuation

Happy to learn Maldacena’s thoughts on the relationship between vacuum fluctuations and spacetime stretching

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Natalie Wolchover wrote another excellent article. This one is titled “Why Gravity Is Not Like the Other Forces“. She talked to 4 well-known physicists about gravity. This is what Juan Maldacena communicated to her. “Furthermore, from the perspective of particle … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Happy to learn Maldacena’s thoughts on the relationship between vacuum fluctuations and spacetime stretching

Theoretical value of muon g-2 updated

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Fermilab E989 experiment This is a follow-up on my post titled “Muon g-2 mystery“. FERMILAB announcement on June 11, 2020: FERMILAB announced that the latest consensus theoretical value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (published on June 8, … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Theoretical value of muon g-2 updated

The non-gauge nature of the newly discovered forces

Posted on June 6, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Gian Francesco Giudice is the head of CERN Theoretical Physics Department. He has written an important essay titled “On Future High-Energy Colliders“. This is not about the technical details of future colliders. He discusses the current state and the future … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The non-gauge nature of the newly discovered forces

Concept of Gauge Invariance

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Suresh Emre

I agonized over this post. I thought I could explain the concept of “gauge invariance” in simple terms but I couldn’t. This subject requires a lot of background. So, I will not attempt to present a tutorial here. Instead, I … Continue reading →

Posted in mathematics, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Concept of Gauge Invariance

Stephen Wolfram’s Theory of Everything

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Stephen Wolfram On April 14, 2020 Stephen Wolfram published a long article summarizing the results of his research towards a fundamental theory of physics. He does not use the terminology “ToE” (Theory of Everything) but many science journalists and scientists … Continue reading →

Posted in computer science, physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Stephen Wolfram’s Theory of Everything

Guest Post by Richard Gauthier on Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Today I am happy to publish a guest post by Richard Gauthier. I follow his physics research very closely.  After receiving a B.Sc. degree in physics from M.I.T in 1967, Richard Gauthier earned a M.Sc. degree in physics from University … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Guest Post by Richard Gauthier on Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Notes (May 2020)

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Suresh Emre

John Baez keeps educating us tirelessly. There is a treasure of knowledge in his website and blogs. I particularly follow his diary. The image above is from his April 13 section of April 2020 diary. Baez tells the story of … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, science | Tagged , | Comments Off on Notes (May 2020)

Reading CERN Courier (1)

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Suresh Emre

For those who follow particle physics closely the online magazine CERN Courier is probably the most informative resource.  I thought it would be a good idea to communicate my picks from CERN Courier. I hope to do this few times … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Reading CERN Courier (1)

Neutrinos and Antineutrinos Change Flavors at Different Rates

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Suresh Emre

image credit: Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Quanta Magazine. The T2K experiment in Japan reported in Nature (April 15, 2020) that neutrinos have a higher probability of oscillating than antineutrinos. There is great excitement about this result. Until now CP symmetry violation has not … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Neutrinos and Antineutrinos Change Flavors at Different Rates

Quantum Mechanics, Probability, Covid-19 Analogy

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Suresh Emre

I hesitated to include “Covid-19” in the title. This is not a commentary on the scientific, social, economic aspects of the Covid-19 crisis. This is about an analogy between the probability of catching Covid-19 and the concept of probability used … Continue reading →

Posted in mathematics, physics, probability | Comments Off on Quantum Mechanics, Probability, Covid-19 Analogy

Interesting anecdote about Roger Penrose as told by Carlo Rovelli

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Suresh Emre

image credit: F. Viadotto The highlight of the “Twistors and Loops” conference (September 2019) was Roger Penrose’s talk. Carlo Rovelli summarized Penrose’s talk in a CERN Courier article and mentioned this amusing incident: “The best moment came during Roger Penrose’s … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Interesting anecdote about Roger Penrose as told by Carlo Rovelli

On the transformation of neutrino into electron

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Neutrinos rarely interact with matter. When they do a neutrino can transform into an electron if the neutrino is very energetic (see details below). An electron, on the other hand, does not transform into a neutrino so easily. Empirically speaking, … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on On the transformation of neutrino into electron

Conservation Laws of Particle Interactions

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Suresh Emre

Definitions: Lepton number : +1 for the particles in the green boxes (see the diagram above), namely, electron, muon, tau, electron type neutrino, muon type neutrino, tau type neutrino, -1 for their antiparticles, 0 for others. Baryon number = 1/3 … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Conservation Laws of Particle Interactions

How to create antiprotons

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Suresh Emre

I was a post-doc at FERMILAB between 1988-1992. I worked on the Tevatron which was a proton-antiproton collider. In those days I took the presence of antiprotons for granted. I knew, of course, how difficult it was to produce, collect … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on How to create antiprotons

Brookhaven Electron-Ion Collider

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Suresh Emre

After many years of evaluation the United States Department of Energy decided that EIC (Electron-Ion Collider) would be built at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island in New York in the next 10 years. Brookhaven Lab currently hosts the … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Brookhaven Electron-Ion Collider

Dark Energy Controversies

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Suresh Emre

In a recent post titled “Recent discussions on dark energy” I discussed various speculations on the nature of dark energy assuming dark energy is real. It never occurred to me that the data analyses of 2 independent teams lead by … Continue reading →

Posted in cosmology, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Dark Energy Controversies

Useful metaphysics

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Suresh Emre

I envision a new discipline that would be a unique blend of physics, metaphysics and spiritual philosophy combining the analytical approach with the synthetic approach. A practitioner of this new discipline would not be shy about using mathematical language and … Continue reading →

Posted in metaphysics, mind, philosophy, physics, science, society | Tagged , | Comments Off on Useful metaphysics

Mirror World

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Suresh Emre

NBC News article (June 2019): “Scientists are searching for a mirror universe. It could be sitting right in front of you“. This article was about the neutron lifetime puzzle. Natalie Wolchover’s February 2018 article at Quanta “Neutron Lifetime Puzzle Deepens, … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Mirror World

James Schombert’s lectures on cosmology

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Suresh Emre

Abundance of elements in the universe as a function of the atomic number.  I have discovered James Schombert’s web pages on astronomy and cosmology. Prof.  James Schombert is an observational astronomer whose research focuses upon galaxy evolution and formation, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, cosmology, physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on James Schombert’s lectures on cosmology

Univon

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Suresh Emre

Cosmology is developing into an experimental science thanks to revolutionary observational techniques by the astronomers, physicists and engineers. The amount of data collected by the space-based as well as the ground-based (optical, gamma, infrared, microwave, radiowave, CMB) observatories plus the … Continue reading →

Posted in cosmology, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Univon

Did you know electron can pass through the proton in a hydrogen atom?

Posted on November 9, 2019 by Suresh Emre

In school, we learn about the energy levels of the electron in a hydrogen atom but it is never explicitly mentioned that the electron can pass through the proton in the nucleus of the atom. Why is this important? Well…it … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Did you know electron can pass through the proton in a hydrogen atom?

Only integer changes of spin are observed in particle interactions

Posted on November 2, 2019 by Suresh Emre

Tommaso Dorigo expressed this physics law in many of his blog posts in many different ways. This expression is from one of his recent posts: “all reactions among particles involve only the integer changes of the total spin of initial … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Only integer changes of spin are observed in particle interactions

Latest news and discussion on Google’s quantum supremacy experiment

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Suresh Emre

image source I follow the developments in quantum computing from various sources. My starting point is always the same: John Preskill’s Twitter feed. The term “quantum supremacy” was first used by John Preskill. He explained his reasoning and concerns in … Continue reading →

Posted in computer science, physics, science | Tagged | Comments Off on Latest news and discussion on Google’s quantum supremacy experiment

Hydrogen molecule looks like this

Posted on October 24, 2019 by Suresh Emre

image source: phelafel.technion.ac.il I would like to thank John Baez for bringing this image to our attention. This is the hydrogen molecule (H2) not the hydrogen atom (H). Two hydrogen nuclei are located within the green areas on the image … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Hydrogen molecule looks like this

Richard Gauthier’s “Them from Ylem” proposal

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Suresh Emre

I have previously published a blog post titled “A Guide to Richard Gauthier’s Electron Models“. Gauthier’s models have been evolving. He will present his latest thoughts at the American Physical Society Western Region Meeting on November 2, 2019. You can … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Richard Gauthier’s “Them from Ylem” proposal

Notes (October 2019)

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Suresh Emre

Physics Japan’s gravitational wave observatory KAGRA will start its operations in December 2019. KAGRA will be the fourth gravitational observatory. KAGRA will share data and coordinate activities with the US-based LIGO observatories and the Italy-based Virgo observatory. There is a … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, science | Tagged | Comments Off on Notes (October 2019)

On the emergence of space and time

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Suresh Emre

I have read Lee Smolin’s latest book “Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution“. I highly recommend it. In this post I wanted to contrast his ideas to other speculations regarding space and time. Note 1: Scientists strive to find theories (models) of Reality … Continue reading →

Posted in metaphysics, philosophy, physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on On the emergence of space and time

Few reminders about quantum teleportation

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Suresh Emre

image credit: Nature People have the notion that the process known as “quantum teleportation” allows us to send messages (information) instantly. Wrong! I thought it would be a good idea to share few facts about quantum teleportation. Here’s a short … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Few reminders about quantum teleportation

Recent discussions on dark energy

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Suresh Emre

Almost a century of astronomical observations have firmly established that galaxies are receding from each other. More recent observations which were awarded with a Nobel prize have shown that the speed at which the galaxies are receding from each other … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Recent discussions on dark energy

Can you explain why the diameter of the observable universe is 93 billion light-years?

Posted on May 25, 2019 by Suresh Emre

image credit If the universe is 13.8 billion years old how come the diameter of the observable universe is 93 billion light-years? The diameter should be 27.6 billion light-years, right? The answer is no. We have to consider the expansion … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Can you explain why the diameter of the observable universe is 93 billion light-years?

Best Explanations of Renormalization in Quantum Field Theory

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Suresh Emre

image credit Renormalization in Quantum Field Theory is a complex subject. I tried to collect the accessible explanations. I hope this helps. John Preskill in “We are all Wilsonians now” John Baez on renormalization Sean Carroll’s explanation Renormalization for philosophers … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Best Explanations of Renormalization in Quantum Field Theory

J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Interview

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Suresh Emre

We read about the important scientists of the 20’th century but rarely get an opportunity to hear their voices. Here’s a voice recording from 1965 as well as the transcript. https://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/j-robert-oppenheimers-interview The direct link to the sound recording is the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Interview

CERN FCC (Future Circular Collider) Design Reports

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Suresh Emre

“The Future Circular Collider (FCC) Conceptual Design Report (CDR) is a four-volume document that demonstrates the technical feasibility and identifies the physics opportunities offered by the different collider options that form the core of the FCC study. It is the … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on CERN FCC (Future Circular Collider) Design Reports

Jagdish Mehra (1931-2008)

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Suresh Emre

Words have power! This is true in all subjects not just spirituality. Sometimes a technical book or even a collection of physics papers can be inspiring too. Today, I remembered reading the book titled “The Physicist’s Conception of Nature” edited … Continue reading →

Posted in history, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Jagdish Mehra (1931-2008)

Kolmogorov Complexity

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Suresh Emre

Kolmogorov Complexity of a mathematical object is defined as the length of the shortest possible computer program needed to describe it.  For computer scientists, Kolmogorov Complexity which is also known as Algorithmic Complexity is a measure of how compressible a … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Kolmogorov Complexity

CERN LHC Long Shutdown 2 (LS2)

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Suresh Emre

Note: this article was written on Dec 5, 2018 Run 2 (2015-2018) of CERN LHC operations ended.  There will be no physics experiments for the next 2 years. CERN accelerator complex will be upgraded during the long shutdown between now … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on CERN LHC Long Shutdown 2 (LS2)

Anti-photon, anti-neutrino

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Suresh Emre

image credit Reminder 1: there are no right-handed neutrinos Reminder 2: only left-handed fermions (and right-handed anti-fermions) participate in “weak nuclear” interactions. This violates P-symmetry which is the symmetry under parity transformation. Electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces do not differentiate … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Anti-photon, anti-neutrino

Microcausality

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Suresh Emre

image credit: Rolf Landua In my blog post titled “Short descriptions of Quantum Field Theory” I have quotations from famous physicists. The first quotation is from Lisa Randall’s book “Warped Passages” (Harper Perennial, 2005) “Quantum field theory, the tool with … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Microcausality

New upper limit for electron EDM

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Suresh Emre

Update: please see this for the latest update. ACME II experiment at Harvard reports a new upper limit for the electron EDM (electric dipole moment). Electron EDM The previous upper limit was . According to SM (Standard Model) of particle … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on New upper limit for electron EDM

3 No’s of Quantum Physics

Posted on September 22, 2018 by Suresh Emre

image credit ♦  No particle can be entangled with more than one particle at a time. This is known as the “monogamy of entanglement“. “If two systems are strongly entangled then each of them cannot be entangled very much with … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on 3 No’s of Quantum Physics

Fractional Spin

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Suresh Emre

Image credit: University of California – Santa Barbara The term “fractional” in the title of this post should be read as “any”. Frank Wilczek called the quasi-particles that can have any spin anyons in a 1982 paper. The “any” in … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fractional Spin

Chris Quigg’s Summary of the Evolution of Particle Physics

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Suresh Emre

I follow Chris Quigg’s Twitter feed. I have learned a lot from his wonderful observations. Chris Quigg is the grand wise physicist of Fermilab. Over the years he has made many contributions to physics and even greater contributions to the … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Chris Quigg’s Summary of the Evolution of Particle Physics

Free version of the Feynman Lectures on Physics

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Suresh Emre

There is a free version of the Feynman Lectures on Physics provided by Caltech. http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/ See also http://www.feynmanlectures.info/ Image credit: http://www.theory.caltech.edu/~preskill/talks/APS-April-2018-Feynman-4-3.pdf Caltech reminds that: “However, we want to be clear that this edition is only free to read online, and this … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Free version of the Feynman Lectures on Physics

Final reports from the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background Measurements

Posted on July 21, 2018 by Suresh Emre

ESA (European Space Agency)’s Planck mission studied the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) fluctuations with an accuracy set by the fundamental astrophysical limits. In other words, it will be hard to beat the accuracy of the Planck measurements in the future. … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Final reports from the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background Measurements

The Centennial of Julian Schwinger

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Suresh Emre

The celebration of the centennial of the birth of Julian Schwinger was organized by Harvard University in February 2018. I am a little late writing about it because I was on hiatus from blog writing. Nevertheless, I wanted to do … Continue reading →

Posted in history, physics | Tagged | Comments Off on The Centennial of Julian Schwinger

Etymology of elementary particle names

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Suresh Emre

Symmety.org is an educational outreach program funded by the US Department of Energy. Educational material are prepared by SLAC and FERMILAB writers and physicists. Daniel Garisto has done great service by preparing a web page explaining the etymology of elementary … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Etymology of elementary particle names

On the concept of scalar field

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Suresh Emre

In physics (cosmology) “…scalar fields—fields that look the same no matter how you view them, but can contain energy or pressure. Their high level of symmetry suggests that one would be most likely to find them in the earliest moments … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on On the concept of scalar field

Is there a particle that interacts with muons but not electrons?

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Suresh Emre

Please see the updates in each category below. This is a big if but if there is an unknown force that interacts with muons but not electrons then the following anomalies could be explained in one sweep: broken lepton universality … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Is there a particle that interacts with muons but not electrons?

Updated links: LHC (Large Hadron Collider) operation

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Suresh Emre

Update: 26 August 2022 CERN has a new link that shows performance graphs going back to 2015. https://lpc.web.cern.ch/plots.html?year=2022&runtype=protons You can change the year from the pulldown menu (top left). You can watch the live status of LHC operations from the … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Updated links: LHC (Large Hadron Collider) operation

Ernst Mach

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Suresh Emre

Ernst Mach Ernst Mach (February 18, 1838 – February 19, 1916) was an Austrian physicist, philosopher and experimental psychologist. In physics, he was the first to systematically study super-sonic motion. He also made important contributions to the understanding of the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Ernst Mach

A rare good news from Middle East: SESAME opens

Posted on May 13, 2017 by Suresh Emre

image credit I mentioned SESAME in a post last year. SESAME is the Middle East’s first synchrotron light source.  It is located in Allan, Jordan. SESAME is a joint project of Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and also … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, society | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A rare good news from Middle East: SESAME opens

Polyakov classic: Confinement and Liberation

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Suresh Emre

The subjects of confinement and liberation are dear to my heart. Many of my posts are centered around these concepts. When I came across the review paper titled “Confinement and Liberation” by the famous Russian physicist A.M. Polyakov I was pleasantly … Continue reading →

Posted in history, physics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Polyakov classic: Confinement and Liberation

Most watched physics videos (compiled by TrueSciPhi)

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Suresh Emre

TrueSciPhi is a website organized by Kelly Truelove. He describes his website as “A window on science and philosophy communities on Twitter and YouTube.” Among other things he compiles a list of the most watched physics videos. http://truesciphi.org/phyvid_sy.html The top 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in physics | Tagged | Comments Off on Most watched physics videos (compiled by TrueSciPhi)