Why is there something rather than nothing?????????

the most perplexing question of not only physics but the entire science is:
 WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING???????????

well i dont have the answer but i can assure you tht u still havent got the feel of the question........................

recently NASA released photos taken by the hubble telescope and made them public............looking at these photos one realizes how vast the universe is.............
almost 90% of the entire universe is empty........sheer nothingness..................
about the rest 10% can be categorized as matter...............
matter is made up by atoms which are further made up by eletrons and protons................

now 99.99% of the atom is empty........again sheer nothingness..............and according to quantum mechanics the electron's position and velecity cannot be determined accurately, so we speak of the probability of finding the electron in a certain position...............now quantum mechanics also says that the electron exists only if it is obeserved............the observers being us(assuming no other life in this universe)
the observers hardly form 1 by 1 trillionth part of this universe(i trillion is an approximation made by me, actually it is far more)....................

now 90% of the universe is empty....out the remaining 10%, 99.99% is also empty and the rest remaining 0.001% exists only because we observe it(and the observers being a negligible part of this universe)...............

so is there something or nothing at all is the question to ask.....................

Physics Facts

Here r some facts abt physics u shd know if u r studyin the subject:

1. We all knw tht the universe began with no net charge, i.e. charge ws conserved ....................
     but wat ws the ratio of electrons to that of protons in the beginning?????????
     1:1 u say............wrong!!!!!!!!
there were 1 proton for every 10000 electrons.........even more so...........
at the beginning there were majorly electrons and positrons and photons and neutrinos................
it ws after a long time of 700 million years that the first atom came into being after the big bang


2.Why r the equations given by einstein to explain the transformation of frames known as lorentz tranformations????????
actually these eqns were discovered by lorentz long time before Einstein even thought of no ether medium..........
however these eqns were given to explain some phenomenons exhibited by electrons and protons..................but somehow lorentz gave a very complicated explanation regarding the derivation of these eqns(Currently known as S.T.R) and wasnt accepted............it ws poincare who named these eqns given by einstein as lorentz eqns to honor the scientist............


3.Quantum mechanics is the second most experimentally verified theory after relativity................but there is no way to obtain the newtonian picture frm it as we do frm relativity wen we put v<<c.............its as if there is no transformation btw quantum mechanics and newtonian mechanics............
Do njot froget that even the largest of our stars r still made up of tiny particle that r governed by quantum mech. whereas the star is governed by newtonian mechanics..............


4.The basic fundamental pillars of physics r missing....................as of now basic fundas lack a clear definition..............try for urself.......answer these questions
              1.what is mass???
              2.what is charge????
              3.what is a wave????
              4.what is energy?????
if u hv an answer then plz let me knw..........................


5.Michelson ws the 1st american to get the nobel prize for physics................he go that for his famous experiment named after him..............michelson morley experiment............an experiment tht ws intitially carried out to detect the presence of ether............
FACT: he got the prize 2 years after einstein gave his special theory of relativity................


6.Gravity as such doesnt have an equillibria in the universe............there is no force opposing it.............yet the universe expands!!!!!!!!!!


7.the spiral arms of spiral galaxies lack an explanation...............


8.if there is any possibility of ever meeting with aliens the most advanced civilization tht we will ever encounter would be tht of a bacteria.................


9.which terrestial object in our solar system has a bigger possibilty of supporting life???????
mars?????WRONG.............................
the answer is a small moon of jupiter Europa which is covered in ice............scientists think that there may exist water at a depth of 32 kms from the surface..................first life on earth emerged in the water............however such a life on europa would not be able to contact us because of the 32 km ice sheet above them......................


look out for more................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quantum non-locality:Defiance to Special theory of relativity?????

In a seminar Being attended by two most renowned physiscts ever Niels Bohr and Einstein the former asked the latter a question which was to become a sensation throughout physics......................................
the question was simple but has eluded an answer by evn Einstein himself...................
here goes......................

"consider a thought experiment in which there is a machine that can give two electrons opposite spin thereby making the total spin zero......although the electron will not show only one spin throughout its lifetime the electron will adjust its spin as such that the total spin is zero......................now wen the total spin has been made to zero take one electron far away frm the other one................now wen we measure the spin of one electron the spin of the other is automatically found out to be just opposite bcoz the total spin has to be zero..........................this result has been proven experimentally...............


Now the question is:
                    "if nothing can travel faster than the speed of light then how did the other electron know wat spin to take almost(well exactly) instantaneously????????????

lets c if an answer cms up.....................

Superstring Theory: The theory of everything??????

When Einstein gave his famous General theory of relativity he was dreaming of a unified physics...............
A single Equation to describe the four fundamental forces of nature: Weak forces, Strong nuclear force, E.M, and gravitational....................
However gravitational force has resisted all attempts on the same................
After giving his famous theory Einstein began to work the Grand unified theory that could explain all phenomenon on the basis of Geometry: a tool which he had employed for the general theory of relativity.................
he had employed a metric tensor given by Reimann for a n- dimensional space......a very powerful tool....
all einstein had to do was extend the metric tensor for 4 dimensional space...........
not very long after he recieved a paper from a physicst kaluza that if we extended the reimann geometry to a 5 dimensionla space we get a tensor that unifies E.M and gravitational field very beautifully.................
althugh at tht time there was no need to believe tht space could have more than 4 dimensions so the theory remained dormant for a century known as kaluza klein theory................
Quantum mechanics took over the work of einstein but still gravitational resisted persistently...........
E.M., weak nuclear forces, strong nuclear forces were unified under a model known as the standard model...............
soon it became evident taht gravitational force could not be united coz it yielded non sensical answers..........
but interest rose again in the kaluza klein theory( it still had some unexplained phenomeon and needed corrections drastically)............
The kaluza klein theory had nothing to do with strings.................but in the 20th century an unexpected thing happened..........some scientists derived entire formulations of gravitation based on the basic properties of strings..............
apllying kaluza klein theory to the strings yeilded us the first form of superstring theory called as string theory which claims to have united the four forces of nature.......................
after much more refinement the theory ws rechristened as superstring theory.........................................

bcoz the theory was a result of an accident in the 20th century the exact mathematics required to solve the theory completely has not been formulated as yet...........yet some results r evident in the form tht the strings require at least 10 dimensions for self sustained vibrations...............
haower the energy required to prove this theory is correct or not is about the order of planck's energy which is exceptionally high considering the fact that even our biggest atom smashers run at lower than half the plancks energy.................................
so superstring theory has unified the forces under one single banner and tht too very beautifully but we still lack an experimental proof to it..................

Unreal but fascinating...............

Free will is no longer free

We all know wat free will is.............its something that gives us the power to choose over circumstances............rather its something that makes us so different than the stars frm which we r born......

but.........is free will real????? or just a figment of our imagination; a projection of a bigger power at work...........

i as physics student do not believe in things which cannot be proved....but yes i can prove free will doesnt exist using physics again........
so here goes.............

consider an atom in free space with nothing around it......as can be proven the atom is neutral and under no influence frm anything as thre is nothing around(even the vacuum is full of particles, but lets assume here it isnt).  let us place another another atom in its vicinity........the first atom is sudenly influenced by garvity and other forces...........we can easily calculate the influence.........
now consider not an empty space but a region full of atoms...........can we calculate their influences, locations and velocity????????
the latter two are impossible to calculate due to a ban put on by the most experimentally proved Heisenbergs principle of uncertainity............however the ban is on us.....not on the particles themselves, they will have a velocity and a location at some time but we wouldn't be able to calculate it.........no wonder even the greatest computer can hardly calculate a three body problem..............
as for the influences they r clculable...........

so the gist is: each particle follows a certain set of laws and goes according to them never showing a deviation...............so can be said abt a region full of atoms............
now consider tht region full of atoms as a human...................
so my friends r we any different????????????
the same laws apply for us........however incalculable due to zillions of parameters involved!!!!!!!
free will doesn't fit int this picture at all..........     

The girl with no past

We all know that special theory of relativity imposes a ban on time travel............
but Einstein's second theory: General theory of relativity predicts or rather incorporates time travel as a basic fundamental of the theory........................
well here goes one simple story of a girl so maddeningly lost in time its gonna set your mind racing.............


There was a orphan girl by the name of Jane. At a very young age she was abandoned at the orphanage by some mysterious person. wen she ws 18 she left the orphanage to fall in love with a drunken mechanic. soon she got pregnant and the mechanic disappeared nowhere to be found. at the time of her delivery there were complications and the doctors found out that she had both sets of sex genes and decided to convert her into a he. soon after delivery Jane's(who's now a he) child gets kidnapped by a mysterious person. dejected by life he becomes a drunkard and starts working as a mechanic like her(his) ex lover. one day he finds himself at a bar telling his story to a bartendr who offers help by gifting him a time machine on one condtion tht he become a part of an organization tht calls themselves time corps.
so having got the machine Jane goes back into the past to find the unfaithful lover..........in a series of events Jane falls for a orphan girl who eventually gets pregnant. but due to some technical problems in his time machine he is forced to return to the present where he finds that the bartender has disappeared. as promised he joins time corps and is given the first mission to go into the past to steal a child frm the hospital and to put the child into more past in an orphanage..................after having done that he rises prominently in the corps when finally he is given the mission of meeting a drunk mechanic at a bar posing as a bartender.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So the final question is: who is Jane's mother, father, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, and so on or who is Jane???????

it seems out that the answer to all the questions is Jane...........

Universe as a quantum liquid: The new Superstring theory

Co-authors Shou-Cheng Zhang and Jiangping Hu of Stanford University suggest thinking of the universe as the surface of a so-called “quantum liquid,” whose interior has four spatial dimensions instead of the usual three. Gravity and electromagnetism then reveal themselves in the form of tiny quivers at the edge of the liquid.

In search of symmetry Zhang and Hu took their inspiration from solid-state physics, the relatively tangible world of semiconductors and other solids. These systems involve the behavior of many objects, usually electrons, whizzing around in a confined space.

In these systems, which obey the rules of quantum mechanics, “symmetries” can appear under certain conditions — meaning that seemingly different things turn out to be essentially the same, and thus interchangeable.

For example, after a system is changed from one energy state to another through a quantum phase transition, differences among individual electrons lose their significance in light of the greater similarities they turn out to share. Each electron starts acting like a member of a cohesive group, in which one electron can influence another even if the two are far apart.

In their Science study, Zhang and Hu noted that special and general relativity are both statements of symmetry.

The main idea in special relativity is that any event will appear differently to various observers, depending on their locations and the speeds at which they are moving. Using this logic, Einstein showed mathematically that energy and mass are fundamentally the same thing. (In the famous equation, E=mc2, “E” stands for energy, and “m” stands for mass.)

According to general relativity, space and time form a four-dimensional surface that is distorted by the presence of mass. This distortion goes by the name of gravity. In yet another example of symmetry, the force of gravity is the same as the force caused by some other acceleration. For example, the earthward tug an astronaut feels during liftoff could be attributed to either gravity or the acceleration of the spacecraft.

Could the symmetries within special and general relativity have come about as a result of some type of quantum phase transition? If so, it would mean that you could start by studying a system in which the laws of quantum mechanics prevailed, and then logically arrive at relativity theory. The tension between quantum mechanics and general relativity would ease.

Jiggles in a liquid universe Zhang and Hu started with a phenomenon called the Quantum Hall Effect, which concerns some peculiar behavior of electrons confined to a two-dimensional interface between semiconductors. This type of system has offered up many important insights into quantum mechanics, so the scientists expanded it to a theoretical four-dimensional space. The result was an “incompressible quantum liquid,” whose fourth spatial dimension functions like a vacuum.

In this fluid, nothing can happen, energywise, except at the boundaries. There, tiny excitations occur, which are similar, in a sense, to tugging on one end of a spring. The excitations distort the shape of the liquid without changing its volume.

According to Zhang and Hu, we see these excitations as photons and gravitons, massless bundles of energy that travel at the speed of light. Physicists have determined that streams of photons make up a light wave, while streams of gravitons make up a gravitational wave.

In Zhang and Hu’s calculations, the math that describes the photons in this system satisfies Maxwell’s equation, the classic equation for electromagnetism.

And, in an important step toward a possible grand unified theory, the math describing the gravitons turned out to satisfy an equation called the “linearized Einstein equation” — which is the starting point for relativity.

These findings suggest that, for a grand unified theory that unites quantum mechanics, and special and general relativity, “maybe you don’t put everyone on equal footing together,” Zhang said.

Instead, it may be possible to nudge forth the preliminary elements of relativity out of quantum mechanics.

Zhang stressed that their work is still quite preliminary, and has some important problems yet to resolve. For example, their model also includes other massless particles, in addition to the photons and gravitons, which the authors don’t understand yet. “We have an embarrassment of riches,” Zhang said.

Another challenge will be to find a way to test the concepts in this model with real-life experiments.

Zhang doesn’t necessarily think that his work will ultimately rule out superstring theory. In spite of the differences in the number of dimensions involved, the two approaches do share some concepts that are deeply related.

“Our theory is at a much more primitive stage (than superstring theory). My feeling is that they could still be somehow related to each other,” Zhang said.

New frontiers in physics

Scientists generally believe that everything happening in nature, from the birth of galaxies, to the hiccups of subatomic particles, obeys the same fundamental laws. An ultimate “theory of everything” that ties these laws together into one elegant package has eluded its pursuers for decades. A study in Friday’s issue of Science may provide a new route toward solving this tantalizing puzzle.

To find out how most anything works, you’ll eventually get to physics if you probe deep enough. (In this spirit, Ernest Rutherford supposedly pronounced, “All science is either physics or stamp collecting.”)

At the heart of modern physics are three basic principles, each of which has its own logic and distinct set of rules. Quantum mechanics describes the behavior of extremely small objects. Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity deals with very fast objects, and his theory of general relativity typically involves very large ones.

Scientists have managed to blend the first two principles, quantum mechanics and special relativity, in ways that account for some of the most fundamental forces in the universe, such as electromagnetism.

General relativity, however, the only one to explain the gravitational force, has steadfastly resisted efforts at unification. When scientists have tried to tie together quantum mechanics and general relativity, their efforts just produced mathematical nonsense.

Thus, we can’t answer key questions about the universe, such as what ultimately happens to matter inside a black hole, and a theory of everything (also called a “grand unified theory,” or GUT) continues to elude us.

One promising approach to this problem is called superstring theory, in which the universe consists of tiny loops, or strings, vibrating in 10 dimensions. The new Science study proposes an alternative scenario, however, in which the universe is more like the surface of a water droplet — albeit one with some very unusual properties.

Gauss's law and applications

Gauss’s law and applications

            Suppose a aphere enclosing a charge q of radius R

Electric field at the surface of the sphere at all points is:

                        E=q/R²

            Because of the spherical symmetry of the electric field of the charge.

Flux through sphere is:

                        Φ = ∫E.da = (q/R²)(4пR²)

                                      

                                         = 4пq

Hence

                        Φ = 4пq

Therefore we have a general law known as the gauss’s law which states that:

“The amount of electric flux through a closed surface is equal to 4п times the total algebraic sum of the charges enclosed by that surface in vacuum.”

Gauss’s law is a very effective way to calculate symmetrical fields. However for unsymmetrical fields the law becomes exceptionally difficult to solve although it still holds for them.

Applications:

            Field of a spherical charge distribution          

                       

                        Assume a sphere of radius R and volume charge density ρ

                        Take a Gaussian surface in the form of a sphere of radius r as shown.

Two cases will arise here:

                        A) r<R and

                        B) r>R

                       

                        Case A:

                        Flux through the surface is

                                    Φ = ∫E.da

                                    Φ = E(4пr²)      …..1

                        According to gauss’s law

                                    Φ = 4пq

                       

                                    q = (ρ) x (Volume)

                                       = ρ x (4/3)пr³

                                   

                                    Φ = 4пρ((4/3)пr³)   …..2

                                   

                        Equating 1 and 2

                       

                                    E(4пr²) = 4пρ((4/3)пr³)

                                   

                                    E = (4/3)пρr

                                    ρ = q/((4/3)пR³)

                                    E = (qr/R³)ř

                        Case B:

                                    Φ = ∫E.da = E(4пr²)    ……..1

                        According to gauss’s law

                                    Φ = 4пq = 4пρ((4/3)пR³)    ……….2

                                    Equating 1 and 2 we get

                                   

                                                E = (q/r²)ř

RESULT:  This is as if the entire sphere behaves like a point charge of magnitude q placed at its center.

Similarly we can say that the field of a hollow sphere with a surface charge q the electric field is zero inside it, which is in accordance with the result we have already proven.       

Introduction to E.M.

Quantization of charge

Electric charges always come in integral multiples of charge on an electron/proton. However quarks(building blocks of electrons) have charges n(e/3) where n=1, 2. because they have not been isolated they are counted as the quantized charge.

Coloumbs law

            Coloumbs law into its simplest form can be written as:

                       

                        F=(Qq)ř/r²

            The force is always along the line of separation between the charges

Energy of a system of charges

The energy of a system of charges is defined as the amount of work done in bringing the charges into the required configuration without acceleration.

We know that work done

            W=F.ds

Let two charges Q and q be brought from infinity to a separation r without acceleration.

Work done is:

            W=∫(Qq)/r²(-dr)

The negative sign indicates that there is a decrement in the distance

Solving we get

            U=W=Qq/r

Generalizing

            U=(1/2)∑∑(Qq)/r

Flux

Flux of an electric field is the amount of electric field lines passing through a

given surface area.

            Φ=∫E.da

Physics and scientists

Once a scientist decided to perform an experiment on a flea.

He trained the flea such that whenever he rang a bell the flea jumped.

Next he tied one of the flea's leg and rang the bell.....the flea jumped.

Again he tied another leg and tried again......the flea still jumped.

He carried on until all but one of the flea's legs were tied......the flea still jumped whenever he rang the bell.

Lastly he tied the flea's last leg and rang the bell.......the flea didn't jump..........

The scientist concluded:

                     "Fleas listen through their legs"

And the truth is no different from this